I see far too many leaders who view their role as overly hard and a burden. While there will undoubtedly be moments of challenging work, leadership should not be excessively difficult. There should even be many more moments where it feels easy, and you enjoy what you are doing. If you get minimal joy from your work and increasingly believe the rewards aren’t worth the effort, then you are doing something wrong.
I recommend that before taking on anything important in business (or life), you step back and consult the affected parties. Ask them for feedback on what could cause it to fail, what steps are necessary, and whether it’s a good idea.
A leader mustn’t become too isolated from their employees and the front lines of the business. Instead of spending all his or her time in the corner office or attending high-level meetings, it’s critical that he or she walk the four corners of the building, regularly interact with all levels of staff, and get out to meet with clients.
When you are a leader or manager, part of your job is to listen until it hurts. You need to force yourself to pay full attention to what the other person is saying and then ask clarifying questions to make sure you fully understand them. It’s essential to pay attention to body language and tone, as well as spoken words. Both provide clues as to what is important to that person.
History books and business journals are full of examples of leaders who ignored reality at enormous peril and plowed forward with narrow-minded or misinformed agendas that were doomed to fail. Your job as a leader is to constantly broaden your circle of advisors and challenge status quo thinking.
People are complex. Every person you lead, manage, do business with, or meet in life is an individual. Like snowflakes, we are all different in some way, shape, or form. Experts often try to categorize people or attempt to make it easier to interpret and predict their actions and motivations, but it is never quite that simple.
We all need to be inspired from time to time. Leaders, in particular, need to find sources of inspiration, as the very nature of their role is to inspire others. There are many ways to trigger inspiration, but you must always find it within yourself. Everyone is different in terms of what truly resonates with them.
The objective of a leader, especially a public figure, should be to bring people together and foster a dialogue that strives to bridge our differences and find areas of agreement. The result should be tapping into the greater good rather than pursuing a Win-Lose agenda.
One of a leader’s primary roles is to make the important decisions. Of course, these decisions should not be made without the input of the affected parties and/or others with expertise in a given area. It is also important that these decisions are made with an appreciation of the risks and benefits related to a given situation. And, the bigger the risks or potential benefits the more thoughtful the decision making process should be.
Leaders who try to get the world to conform to a static view of reality only end up frustrated and left on the scrap heap of history.
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