You are a leader. And you are likely an excellent problem solver.
What many new leaders must learn is: what is needed most from you is different than it was when you were closer to the actual problem.
As a leader you may feel under a microscope. All. The. Time.
Guess what, you are! It’s part of the role you’ve stepped up and into.
This doesn’t mean, though, that you’re leading well if you’re focused primarily on you. To lead better, take the focus off of you.
Sometimes, everything feels like an obstacle or a distraction. This happens when we are not focused on our own purpose—the steps or tasks we are completing are aimless.
But other times, everything in a day seems to fall into place. Great things come one after another like dominos, and you can’t help but think, “yes!” That feeling comes when you are in flow. You are able to navigate your day with a sense of ease, achievement, and excitement.
Getting to that place—being in flow—requires you to be both open minded to possibilities, and focused on what you want. And once you are in that state, you will feel that “yes!” continuously.
In your strategic planning, do you consider:
- Your workplace culture?
- Your ability to adapt talent to what your future vision will require?
- What learning or innovation is required to execute your strategy?
Everyone experiences overwhelm at some point. There will be times when all that is happening weighs heavily on your ability to show up in the way you want to be perceived. Your emotional intelligence may suffer.
It may be that you close up and avoid showing any of the emotions you feel.
Or you say something you wish you hadn’t.
Leaders have tenacity. Tenacity means you have what it takes to get through ridiculously tough stuff as you strive to achieve your goal.
Great leaders also inspire others to build tenacity in themselves, so that everyone crosses the finish line together.
When you look back at your journey, can you recall times when you pushed through what was ridiculously hard?
We expect managers (with teams) to lead better, but are we providing them with what they need to do so?
Management is not leadership.
Most organizations have many means to manage work, which includes asking people to share, measure, and report on their progress.
What holds you back from stepping into a better future? It may be that you are avoiding disappointment.
“That sounds like a personal issue,” you might say. Yes, it is. Avoiding disappointment shows up often in the workplace too, including in the C-Suite.
Have you heard this statement before? “We tried that before, and it didn’t work.” Or how about this one: “That won’t work here.”
When such idea-crushing statements are made in strategic settings, avoiding disappointment is at play.
You may have only recently heard the term “ESG” (Environmental, Social and Governance), but it isn’t new.
What is new: Pivots to ESG commitment. That is a Pivot from earnings-driven leadership and reacting to ESG regulations to leadership committed and proactive to stakeholders and ESG.
Perhaps the most obvious Pivot is in who is selected to lead and govern a company; the C-suite and Board, respectively.
You can make better decisions when supported by diverse minds working together toward a common goal. That is, when they are Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive (DEI).
I know this to be true because I’ve been supporting decisions my entire (long) professional career. Nearly half of my career was in large corporate offices, which at the time were not great models of DEI.
More recently I’ve done so as a software-company CEO, a consultant, and as coach for a diverse group of leaders in a peer group.
So let’s talk about the groups you may lead, consult with, or are part of.