Thursday, April 16, 2015

We Who Are About To Die (from your noise)

I've recently made a breakthrough...of sorts. It turns out that despite all the different kinds of people in the world, there are actually only two types of leaders. It wasn't a research study that I stumbled upon that opened my eyes. It wasn't a fascinating journal article that raised my level of awareness. Nor was it some ancient text that was discovered in a far off land.

I learned this from experiencing the same behavior over and over, and I could no longer deny the truth.

Talk
One of the most important skills leaders must possess is the ability to influence others with their words. Inspiring those around us, motivating our teams, and supporting our own leadership team is a core competency for the contemporary leader.

There is a significant risk however at only being a skilled communicator, let alone someone who throws around the latest jargon but clearly has no idea what they're talking about.

Execution
We all recognize those leaders that are not able to move from talking...and planning...and talking some more...

...with those leaders that demand action.

Planning appropriately, and following that plan is always the best path. However, the balance point between planning and paralysis can be a fine one. The action oriented leaders sometimes need to push across that line in order to maintain momentum.

"If there is no momentum, there is no execution. If there is no execution, there is simply no need for that leader."

Noise
For those leaders that can not move from words to action the result is a swirling cauldron of noise. Noise damages credibility. Noise forces team members to critically examine if they can still believe in that leader.

Noise kills.

The secret sauce of leadership if finding the balance point between words that inspire action, and the ability to make decisions to ensure momentum and execution.

How About You
Do you find every excuse in the book to avoid leading? You may think "following up with your team" or "looking into that issue" is part of leading.

Well, you're wrong. That's not leading at all. That's actually killing the rest of us.

Don't be that person. Lead the way instead.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.






No comments:

Post a Comment