There are a lot of things that can cause a leader to fail. None of them are as deadly as what they do to themselves! The following is a list of saboteurs that apply equally to leaders and followers:
- fear, doubt & disbelief
- criticism (and the inner-critic)
- anger (under-expressed & over-expressed)
- invalidating behavior & communication (most of us are so used to this, we don’t even notice it)
- triggers, reactions & moods (we all know people who react to small things and are moody)
- greed & jealousy (yikes)
- black holes, denial and the emotional roller coaster (no matter how much you give, it is never enough)
Who wants to follow a leader who is afraid, doubts the task at hand is possible and disbelieves the team’s ability to get the job done? On the other hand, who wants to lead people like that? The truth is no one in their right mind would “want to.” However, the reality is that as a leader, we end up having to lead people exactly like that!
The key is to learn how to succeed as a leader regardless of the quality or state of the people we are leading.
In future posts we will discuss in more detail how to handle difficult people…
Leadership Advocate and Co-Founder of the Goldzone Group. I help leaders to master the new rules of leadership for the new economy. Over the past 30 years, I have visited more than 500 cities in 54 countries to explore, learn from, and help many of the world’s leading companies, leaders, and luminaries in science, technology, health, finance, and entrepreneurship.
Jing Ying
Wow… its so true that to be a great leader, I have to succeed regardless of the state or quality of people I am leading. What kind of leader am I when I use the people I am leading as an excuse to not succeed???
Fiona.
Looking at the list of saboteurs, as a leader knowing how to handle and navigate all of these is absolutely essential. I am looking forward to the future posts on how to handle difficult people.
JCL
I feel that the inner critic is one of the worst saboteurs as this is a part in each of us that is always looking at what’s wrong and stirs up fears and doubts!