by Carey Nieuwhof: Let’s face it, you’d love to have ideal conditions to lead in. Who wouldn’t?
And while, ideally:
Your team would be perfectly motivated to achieve the mission
No good team member would ever leave
You’d be inspired to write every day
The people you’re trying to reach would be open and receptive
You’d introduce change without any fear or pushback
All your ideas would be great ideas
Life isn’t like that. At all.
And yet it’s easy to get into a place where you’re hesitant to act, constantly frustrated and thinking of quitting because things never seem like they’re as easy as they should be.
Yet here’s what’s true: if you waiting for perfect conditions to act in leadership, you’ll wait forever.
If you’re waiting for perfect conditions to act in leadership, you’ll wait forever.Click To Tweet
There Will Never Be…
There will never be
A surplus of amazing team members
Quite enough money
Thunderous applause every time you introduce a new idea
An absence of doubt when it’s time to pull the trigger
I feel this again and again. Whether it’s writing this blog (every post could be better), launching a new podcast episode (what am I missing that could make it better) or writing a book (I don’t know if this chapter measures up), writing a sermon (this one isn’t as good as the last one) or hiring a team member (are we now over-staffed, understaffed???) conditions never seem ideal.
I have that even with cycling. I’m trying to hit a goal of 3500 km this year (about 2000 miles), and every day I think of going it’s a little too windy/cold/wet/hot/busy for me to hit the road.
You know the best way to hit a goal of 3500 km? Ride whether you want to or not.
Ditto with leadership. Lead whether you feel like it or not. Whether things are perfect or not.
Leaders have a bias for action and nothing produces traction like action.
The question is: how do you get there? What do you do if you’re still not sure conditions are right to act?
Here are a few things that continue to help me push through the inertia of life and leadership.
Leaders have a bias for action. Nothing produces traction like action.Click To Tweet
1. Focus on what you can control, not on what you can’t
It is so easy to focus on what you can’t control in leadership.
If you let your mind go there, there’s so much you can’t control. Here’s a very partial list of the things you can’t control:
Other people
The market,
Your team
The economy
The weather
Other people’s reactions
Your boss
Time
Other people’s actions
Honestly, the list could go on and on.
Here’s what you can control: you.
You can control your indecision, your willingness to act through fear, your response, your attitude, your determination, your willingness to try when everything else inside you wants to give up.
So many people focus on what they can’t control. Leaders focus on what they can control. Even if that’s a small list, think about what you can do, not what you can’t, and you’ll make far more progress.
You’ll also enjoy this life and leadership far more.
Focus on what you can control, not on what you can’t. Click To Tweet
2. Don’t Lie About How Bad It Is. Then Act Anyway.
One of the leader’s first jobs is, as Jim Collins says, to confront the brutal facts.
I have seen way too many leaders publicly say their organization is growing when in fact it’s flat, or who pretend they’re financially healthy when they’re not.
Listen, I feel all those urges to spin, manipulate and pretend it’s better than it is. Don’t.
Leaders are dealers in hope, but we’re not dealers in deception.
An inferior (and unethical) way to lead is to tell people everything’s better than it is. “Everything’s fine. We’re doing great. I’m excited for the future.” Your best leaders can sense when there’s a gap between reality and your words. And they hate spin.
A much better way is to say “So we can see this is not our finest hour. We have our challenges. But I’m ready to move forward. We can make this far better than it is. If we all pull together, we’ll shape a much better future. Who’s ready to go?”
Be honest with yourself. Honest with God. Honest with your team.
A realistic assessment of the present creates the best basis from which to forge a better future.
A realistic assessment of the present creates the best basis from which to forge a better future.Click To Tweet
3. Focus on What You Can Do, Not On What You Can’t
This sounds like a repeat of the first point, it’s not.
You and I have both been in situations where there are 10 things we can’t do because we don’t have the money, time, or resources. It’s hard in that moment not just to call it a day.
Wise leaders look for the one or two things they can do. Then they do them.
When things are really down, ask yourself: what is the one thing I can do? There’s always something.
Then do it.
Maybe you can
Pick up the phone one more time.
Meet with the one capable lead who said she’s in.
Build your strategic plan around the one idea that survived
If you spend your days thinking about what you can’t do, you’ll do nothing.
If instead, you look for what’s possible, you’re far more likely to turn what’s possible into what’s probable. And maybe, just maybe, what’s possible will one day look like it was inevitable.
There are so many things today that seem inevitable that two decades ago seemed so unlikely: that people would share their cars (Uber, Lyft, Turo) or homes (Airbnb), or that photo sharing would replace photo printing as the primary way pictures are consumed (Instagram), or that people would have a seemingly endless capacity for creating and watching user-made videos (YouTube, Vimeo).
If you listen to the origin stories of many of these companies, most almost failed before they succeeded. But they kept focusing on what they could do, not on what they couldn’t.
Think about it.
There’s always a church planter (or transitioner) who has a thriving congregation in a city where churches don’t grow.
In every city there are retailers who have burgeoning businesses even as most other retail dies.
Leaders…focus on what you can do, not on what you can’t.
Leaders…focus on what you can do, not on what you can’t. Click To Tweet
4. Ditch Your Excuses
Underneath all of this is our tendency to make excuses.
There are always reasons not to do something. It usually is too cold/wet/hot/dry/tenuous/uncertain/fragile/unclear to do what you have in your heart to do.
But great lives are never built on excuses. Right now, your excuses seem quite compelling to you. But fast forward twenty years and tell your future self and everyone else why you didn’t act, why you didn’t do what you knew you were supposed to do. In the future, your excuses won’t sound compelling. They’ll actually sound sad.
Beside, excuses are the enemy of progress. You can make excuses, or you can make progress, but you can’t make both.
So what are you going to do?
Make excuses?
Or make progress.
Excuses are the enemy of progress. You can make excuses, or you can make progress, but you can’t make both. Click To Tweet
Get Over Yourself (And Find a Renewed You)
Find posts like this overwhelming because it leaves you wondering how on earth you’ll find time to do any of this?
When will you find time to push through the inertia and really dig into the problems you face? To take care of yourself in the process? And to forge a new future.
Let me help.
My approach to life and leadership changed radically for me over ten years ago when I figured out how to get time, energy and priorities working in my favour.
I’d love to help you free up hours each day to do the same thing. And I’ve helped over 5000 leaders do just that.
If you’re trying to find the time for what matters most in life, my High Impact Leader course, is my online, on-demand course designed to help you get time, energy and priorities working in your favour.
Many leaders who have taken it are recovering 3 productive hours a day. That’s about 1000 hours of found time each year. That’s a lot of time for what matters most.
Here are what some alumni are saying about The High Impact Leader Course”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you for providing the course again. It has absolutely made an impact in my life and family already that I can’t even describe.” – Joel Rowland, Clayton County, North Carolina
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“A game changer.” Pam Perkins, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Curious? Want to beat overwhelm and have the time to reflect, rest and reinvent yourself?
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What Helps You Lead?
The bottom line moving into the future?
Leaders who learn to launch in imperfect conditions will always have something to lead. Leaders who don’t, won’t.
Leaders who learn to launch in imperfect conditions will always have something to lead. Leaders who don’t, won’t.Click To Tweet
What helps you lead when conditions are imperfect?
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