Recently, I told a client to stop being so good. Strange advice, huh. Here’s some context. My client is a new positional leader in a healthy, growing system. He’s a stud. Outworks everyone. Owns his teams tension and then some. So, during our last practice, I listened to him tell me about a few of his recent wins and upcoming struggles. The funny thing was that neither of them were really his. Granted they were wins for the company, just not wins for his division. He helped create the win and he’s helping another division through their struggle. He’s doing good things.
I told him to stop.
You see, leader, you are paid to perform. Your job is to lead your team to more wins while eliminating obstacles. Your team wants to know they are doing the right things by looking up at a leader who is modeling the right things. Never forget this. Your job leader, is to produce results. Like it or not, you cannot merely trust the process if you’re not producing. Systems fire good dudes all the time, for not doing the right things. So, before you start doing good in others domain, make sure you are doing right in your own pea patch. As a young leader, it’s easy to get caught up being a team player and doing good. Stop doing good things that are NOT the right things.
I want all my clients to be good and do good, don’t get me wrong. Being good is where you begin. We do not listen to the do gooder, leader, who is behind budget. Fact. We listen to winners. We listen to leaders who do the right things. C.S. Lewis was right – Putting first things first does not make second things less, it makes them more. Are you doing the right things?
Live hard. Love harder…
BUILT TO LEAD 