Leaders, let me be very clear. You are being sold a lie. The world continues to demonstrate leadership behavior detrimental to the pursuit of excellence.
Be tolerant of those who think, believe, dress, and behave far differently than you do. This character trait breeds diversity of thought. E pluribus unum – out of many, ONE. More of this, please.
STOP tolerating those who do not meet performance standards. STOP tolerating those who break laws. This character trait breeds chaos. High performers do not last long here…
This past month, I tried to watch The Vuelta – The tour of Spain. This cycling grand tour, just like The Tour de France, is a 21 day sufferfest across the country of Spain. It. Was. Unwatchable. Why? Because the Primer Minister of Spain tolerated those who broke the law. Throughout the tour, race organizers had to change course, shorten races, and eventually STOP the final stage due to protestors who broke through street barriers and formed human barricades across the course. Caused crashes. Caused cyclists to run off the road. In short? Caused chaos.
And, nothing was done about it. Nothing. Kept happening. So, they got bolder and bolder. Brought more chaos. Eventually led to complete stoppage of competition. This is a quote from Pedro Sanchez (Spanish PM) before the failed final stage.
“We would like to express our gratitude and absolute respect for the athletes but also our admiration for the Spanish people who mobilise for just causes, such as Palestine.”
Leaders have a hard job. To do it well you must hold standards, even when it hurts. You must aim at justice for all and know when to extend grace. You cannot build a high performance team while tolerating those who refuse to meet performance standards. You cannot talk about the laws of the road and not have consequences when they are broken.
You are not defined, leader, by what you espouse. You are defined by what you tolerate. Extrapolate to your leadership. Where do you want to build more tolerance? What will you STOP tolerating? Your team is watching and learning. Are you demonstrating strength under control, or grace out of control? Damn.
Live hard. Love harder…
BUILT TO LEAD 