An Actionable Solution to the Mistakes Leaders Make
There are many paths to success, but the options for screwing up are limitless. You screw up by leaving things undone, or you do the right thing in the wrong way.
It’s usually easier to spot mistakes of action than mistakes of neglect.
The mistakes leaders make are deadly because they harm others.
You’ve probably made all the mistakes listed below.
Reasons for the mistakes leaders make:
You do the wrong thing for two reasons, ease or ignorance. Sometimes the wrong thing is easier than the right thing. Other times you’re just ignorant.
Mistakes of ease are caused by lack of courage or short-term wins.
Sincere ignorance doesn’t do the right thing because it’s busy doing other things.
7 mistakes of ease:
- Not giving feedback.
- Not seeking feedback.
- Postponing tough conversations.
- Ignoring problems.
- Allowing fuzzy accountability.
- Not defining the win.
- Not setting priorities.
Mistakes of ease sacrifice the future on the altar of the immediate.
7 mistakes of ignorance:
- Confusing busy with getting things done.
- Working hard on the wrong things. Doing someone’s work for them, for example.
- Hanging on too long. Mistakes of endurance wear you down.
- Trying harder. Pedaling faster when you’re going the wrong way doesn’t help.
- Going it alone. Isolation intensifies ignorance.
- Waiting for the perfect decision instead of moving the ball forward.
- Allowing double standards. You notice the mistakes of others and make exemption for your own.
The worst mistakes leaders make are a combination of ease and ignorance.
Solving the mistakes leaders make:
Lack of self-reflection prolongs mistake-making.
Invest 15 minutes a day asking yourself questions.
- What’s working?
- What’s not working?
- What are my frustrations?
- What am I learning?
- What could I try that I haven’t tried yet?
- What’s giving me energy?
- What’s draining my energy?
Self-reflection protects you from repeating the same mistakes.
What are some mistakes in leadership/management you have made?
Still curious:
Self-Reflection: The Secret to 23% Improvement in 10 Days
The Self-Reflection Sandwich
Where Leadership Starts – The Surprising Practice You Can Begin Today
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4 Ways to Lead with Courage Today
Skills are a car without gas. Courage to act is gas.
Imagine you learn how to make the best possible decisions. Apart from courage you’re still stuck.
Winston Churchill said, “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because, as has been said, it is the quality which guarantees all others.”
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4 ways to lead with courage:
#1. Stand up for something that matters.
“Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
It takes courage to:
- Stand up for people on your team.
- Build a future different from today.
- Challenge yourself to contribute to others.
- Let yourself be seen.
- Declare what makes you afraid.
12 Courageous Acts of Leadership with insights from Simone Sinek and Malcome Gladwell.
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#2. Know why you’re here.
Purpose is fuel for courage. Give yourself to something that matters.
You find yourself when you give yourself.
Sometimes you give yourself and come up empty, but when you give yourself to something that matters, you feel fulfilled.
You don’t find yourself in isolation. You find yourself in contribution.
- Artists give themselves to art.
- Parents give themselves to their children.
- Leaders give themselves to a future ideal. It might be a vision, the team, a challenging goal.
#3. Engage, don’t withdraw.
Fear wins when you withdraw. Courage gets dirty.
Quiet reflection serves you, but isolation is detrimental for your health, mind, relationships, and contribution.
Meaningful leadership and isolation are mutually exclusive.
#4. Know what you want today.
Purpose is lived in small moments every day, not giant leaps.
Know purpose before you:
- Have tough conversations.
- Make change.
- Reject the present.
- Lead.
Courage is where leadership begins and ends.
How do people become courageous leaders?
Still curious:
Courage to Become a Leader
How to Find the Courage to Lead
7 Ways to Feel More Courageous
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4 Ways to Quickly Change the Future
The terrible thing about the future is its predictability.
Yesterday returns until you change the future today.
Lousy relationships will be disappointing tomorrow unless you treat people differently today.
Boring meetings will drag on if you lead meetings like you did yesterday.
4 ways to quickly change the future:
#1. Reject consistency.
Consistency is the enemy of change unless you consistently change things.
Repetition congeals the past.
Stopping is a beginning.
Stop:
- Having the same conversations over and over.
- Doing the same things and expecting different results.
- Thinking the same way about situations that aren’t changing.
- Asking the same questions.
#2. Act differently.
Someone said, “The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams.”
Dreaming is a source of frustration for those who refuse to change.
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you always get what you’ve always gotten.” Uncertain attribution
The future is created now.
#3. Welcome new people into your life.
- Invite people from other departments to attend your meetings.
- Listen to children’s books.
- Ask the clerk at the store for the secret to success.
- Take a casual introduction to the next level. Have coffee, for example.
#4. Try one new thing today.
Tomorrow will be the same as today unless you do something differently today.
Exercise:
Create two columns on a sheet of paper. Make a list of everything you would love to change about your organization or team in the left column. In the right column list everything a new leader might do to produce those change.
Choose one small thing you can do today to change the future. Don’t ask permission. Don’t violate established policies. Don’t step into someone’s turf.
“The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented.” Nobel Prize winner Dennis Gabor.
How can you change the future today?
Still curious:
10 Ways to Change the Future Today
Future-Back: How Leaders Create the Future Today
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5 Secrets to Working Relationships
I love the feeling of being seen and recognized when I show up at any place of business.
We frequent the local Rita’s Italian Ice which is run by a couple from India. Her English is passable. He smiles and nods a lot. But they both give us a look of recognition when we walk up to the window. It feels like they’re glad to see us.
They remember that we like long-handled spoons. Short-handled plastic spoons are monstrosities.
I like people who like me.
Build working relationships by liking people.
5 secrets to working relationships:
#1. Notice others:
Strong working relationships begin with noticing people.
I ask the owners of Rita’s about business and personal things. For example, I ask them what they do when the store closes for the winter. By the way, she works at Walmart.
#2. Notice things that matter to others:
I notice the weather. When it’s warm and sunny, I say, “Business is going to be good today!”
Compliment good work. We recently had landscaping done. I walked around complimenting good work.
Compliment good work, even when you’re paying for it.
#3. Be playful:
At Rita’s I compliment the owner’s summer shorts and give him a thumbs up.
#4. Be glad to see others.
When you’re glad to see others, it’s easier for them to feel happy to see you.
I often begin coaching calls by saying, “I’ve been looking forward to our conversation.” Or “It’s good to see you.”
Be genuine. Before coaching calls, I think about things I respect about the person I’m speaking with.
#5. Give what you enjoy receiving.
I enjoy feeling special.
What you give to others often returns to you. When you make people feel special, they are more likely to treat you special.
How do leaders build strong working relationships?
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Get the Feedback You Need to Grow – Podcast ]]>
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Ashley is a young woman with an impressive past of overcoming difficulties and circumstances. She’s been speaking on behalf of a well know youth organization and wants to transition to becoming a speaker in her own right.
She asked me how to make that shift.
There are a number of factors in becoming a successful speaker. Whether you speak as part of your job, part or full-time professionally or simply as a platform to share your ideas, it is essential to identify your most important messages.
I asked Ashley to reflect on the ten most important lessons she’s learned so far that would help her future audiences. From those ten messages, she could design the best keynote she is capable of at this point in her life.
The best presentations are driven by the most important messages the speaker wants to convey.
You can use this same technique when you design a presentation.
I often being with what I call “the never again speech.” I assume that most audiences will never hear me speak again (although I work hard for and have enjoyed many repeat clients over the years).
By assuming this is my only change to share my ideas with them, I identify what I know that can most help them with their present challenges and aspirations. If there’s not going to be a part two, I better be careful in choosing what I share.
There have been so many times that my original design for a presentation has morphed into something completely different. As I started to compare ideas I wanted to share (my needs) to ideas the audience most needed to hear (their needs), my presentation inevitably improved.
But to do that, you need to know your most important messages.
Keep a running list of your 10 MiM so you’ll always know what is most important to share with a child, team member of colleague. Over time what were once primary messages in your work might become secondary as you learn new things.
We all have learned much in our lives but few have mined the lessons.
Mark Sanborn is an award winning speaker and Leadership Expert in Residence at High Point University, the Premier Life Skills University. For more information about his work, visit www.marksanborn.com.
Author: Mark Sanborn
Mark holds the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association (NSA) and is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Cavett Award, the highest honor the NSA bestows on its members, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the speaking profession. In 2020, Global Gurus named Mark the #5 Leadership Authority in the world.
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