Leadership is Rarely Smooth and Easy

All of us are leaders in one way or another. We all lead, either formally or informally, constantly or occasionally, officially or unofficially. But we all lead.

No two leadership situations are exactly the same, because every company, team and colleague represents a different organism, and every new situation represents a different challenge. And you, as a leader, are constantly evolving and changing as well. In other words, leadership is a constantly changing landscape, because the people and the situations we deal with are in a constant state of change.

Which means what, exactly, you ask? It means that it is really hard to get it right all the time. I am a huge sports fan, and a massive stat nerd. (Side note… Just ask my friends in our ten-year old fantasy football league. The comprehensive league stats provided by ESPN were not enough to scratch my “nerd itch.” So, several years ago, I created our own league stat package in a spreadsheet, with several proprietary statistical measures and detailed historical data going back to the beginning of the league. Yes… this is the very definition of obsession and nerdishness.)

Back to the story… the constantly changing landscape of leadership means you can get it wrong a lot, and still be doing a good job. In baseball, if you get a hit 30% of the time over a long period of time, you have a decent shot of being elected to the Hall of Fame. In other words, if you fail less than 70% of the time, you are one of the all-time greats.

I am not suggesting that a 70% leadership failure rate is what we should be shooting for. But I am suggesting, that you may read a situation entirely wrong, make a major miscalculation, forget to do something that becomes a really big deal, say the wrong thing, or in some way really screw things up. And even if you screw up royally, it still may be appropriate to look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that you are doing a good job.

Leadership is hard. Success is not automatic. And when you are working with really smart, talented people, it can be easy to get out of alignment. Doing a good job and being a good leader does not mean that everything is always smooth and easy.

Anything worth doing rarely is.

Have a great day.

Does your team:
– Take too long to make decision?
– Fail to ask for what it wants or needs from you?
– Make things too complicated?
– Deliver unconvincing or disorganized presentations?
– Have new hires who are unprepared to communicate in the workplace?

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Comments

4 responses to “Leadership is Rarely Smooth and Easy”

  1. Steve Fenske says:

    “You miss 100% of the shots you do not take” Wayne Gretzky

  2. Greg Brunts says:

    Let Me give you the Technician’s point of view…..”We have to learn by our mistakes if we didn’t it is because we are no longer around to make the mistake again”

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Dean Brenner

A book about change

The Latimer Group’s CEO Dean Brenner is a noted keynote speaker and author on the subject of persuasive communication. He has written three books, including Persuaded, in which he details how communication can transform organizations into highly effective, creative, transparent environments that succeed at every level.