“Leadership meant restoring balance without breaking the vessel…I did not come to revolutionise—I came to repair. The treasury was strained. Officials were complacent. The people were burdened by outdated practices. But change must come like rain—steady, nourishing—not like a flood.”
Virtuous leadership offers a path to success that is sustainable, ethical, and deeply rewarding. By embracing virtues like honesty, integrity, humility, and compassion, leaders can inspire trust, foster a positive culture, and lead their organizations to achieve remarkable outcomes.
Business leadership isn’t easy. If it were, everyone would be able to do it. Some talented people make it look easy, but we often don’t see all the effort that goes into making it look that way. Most leaders struggle at some point and must learn some difficult lessons as part of their journey. Experience can be the best teacher if you are open to learning. I’ve observed the following twenty-five ways (in no particular order) that leaders tend to get themselves in trouble:
We are all earning our business stripes these days. There is considerable economic uncertainty. It’s challenging to make sense of both the short-term and long-term implications. When do you pivot? When do you cut costs? Where do you invest? How do you make the best use of your existing talent? Many questions need answering.
None of us knows how long this current crisis will go on. As leaders, we need to provide a positive way forward for those around us. This storm will pass, and another one certainly looms on the horizon. It’s not the vagaries of the external environment that are the problem. Adversity is a part of life. How brightly your leadership lighthouse shines will impact whether we navigate the coronavirus journey successfully, or the ship runs adrift, or sadly, even crashes.
Leadership isn’t rocket science. Creating the conditions for business success is actually pretty basic: be clear about where you are going and why; define what success looks like and track performance; make sure all of your key people on the same page; don’t “wing it” when it comes to important decisions; ensure that every single employee knows how they fit in the big picture and what they are supposed to be doing; create a process for providing on-going performance feedback; hold people accountable for results (including yourself); be careful about who you hire and put in supervisory roles; provide extensive training and support; never stop communicating with your customers; and make sure everyone shares in the success of the business but also feels the pinch of nonperformance.
When I meet a leader for the first time, I typically ask them what they are passionate about in their business. How they answer the question is usually a useful guide as to where the conversation ends up going and how their business is doing.
A significant portion of life is trial and error. Our goal is to grow stronger and become wiser through life experiences, whatever that may mean. However, making and repeating certain business mistakes is a clear road to leadership frustration and failure.
When you assume a leadership role, you must put yourself out there. Like it or not, the job requires taking risks under public scrutiny. Most people shy away from the spotlight, but leaders don’t have that choice. You need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. The good news is that courage is often rewarded in life. That’s why you have your leadership role.
I frequently observe individuals getting into trouble because they refuse to acknowledge their lack of knowledge on specific topics. At a minimum, they make their lives harder than they need to be. They also make things more challenging for the people around them because someone usually must pick up after them or cover up the mistake.
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