3 Killers of Leadership

The audacity of leadership is rooted in possibility, a bold stand for what could be.

Business in the 21st century needs audacious leaders who are willing to step away from the comfort of tried-and-true. Possibility is constrained by tried-and-true. Yet it’s unwise to turn one’s back on the past.

Between possibility and tried-and-true is a whole lot of gray. It takes leadership to guide us through the grays, to strike a balance between respect for what was and creating a spark to light the way to what could be. And the wiser leader is the one who can continue to light the way forward despite the foggy grayness that shrouds any path to a shared goal.

But this is a cautionary message.

Leadership is much more difficult than management. People don’t come with an Undo Button, or aren’t easily analyzed like a spreadsheet. In short we are unpredictable. This is precisely why your audacious leadership is necessary.

And it is up to each of us to mindfully not kill our leadership. These are three killers of leadership.

Gossip

Set the tone for how you want people to interact and for what you want people to pay attention to. If you gossip then you’ve lowered the bar. You’ve signaled it’s okay to be distracted by meaningless information.

“Me against you” thinking

Conflict at work is good if it’s respectful and emerges to resolve differences. When conflict is allowed to be against a person and not against a problem the leader has lost control of creating an environment that unleashes talent.

Insistence on rightness

There’s no room for growth. There’s no listening. In fact there’s no room for anyone but the leader’s ego who insists on being right. This will limit possibility, the team, results, and obviously the leader.

Are there just three killers of leadership? That would be convenient. These three deplete relationships and exhaust people. The familiarity of tried-and-true overshadow possibility. Mediocrity becomes acceptable. Progress is strained. This is not acceptable to a New Era Leader.

 

Art courtesy of  Rupert Ganzer