Time on the road can have its challenges. You miss your family, friends, coworkers and sometimes you feel like you are just missing out on life in general. But on the other hand, time away gives you a whole new perspective on a lot of things. It allows you time to reflect, become more self-aware and think about a lot of different situations.
This week I have been working on reading and digesting a lot of information about leaders and why they sometimes fail. Being a person who believes that you have to try at something until you get it right, studying failure is always interesting to me as I can observe how you have to approach situations so you put yourself in a position not to fail.
So here is a list I have summarized from reading materials on leadership and working on seeing just why leaders fail:
- Not Smart Enough – Leaders do not fail simply because they are not smart enough. Most leaders in most organizations have enough education and logic that they don’t fail simply because something they are trying to do is past their IQ.
- Lacked Self Awareness – Leaders often fail because they cannot look outside themselves and see how people see them. They don’t understand the way they are viewed and what their actions can do to those who are around them. Leaders fail because they have no awareness of themselves in the space that defines them.
- Can’t Handle Reality & Admit Mistakes – A great quote from a client this week was this “I don’t care if you make a mistake, we all will make them – but what I cannot handle is people just being sloppy.” Everyone is going to make mistakes. The key to it is admitting them and understanding the reality of a situation. Some people fail to really face facts and that causes them as leaders to fail.
- Lack of Passion for the Companies Mission & Values – Leaders fail because they fail to buy in. They don’t drink the Kool-Aid as some people like to say and don’t have a sincere belief in the values and what the mission is of the company. They either fight it or don’t believe in it from the get-go. But that causes leaders to never reach their full potential because they aren’t bought into the process from day one.
- Lack of Compassion for Customers – Leaders fail because they really fail to see the dire needs of the customers. I see customers all the time with struggles, challenges and problems, and there is always a mindset to help them even when it doesn’t pay. Too many people turn their nose up at customers who have problems and wait for the next one to come along. That lack of compassion for customers can be a monumental problem for a lot of people who are trying to lead others. Because others will see your behavior and do the same thing.
- Lack of Empathy for People – Leaders fail because they don’t have empathy for people who have struggles and challenges. Nobody hits home runs every time they go to bat. Michael Jordan missed over 3,000 shots in his basketball career. Tom Brady lost three Super Bowls on his quest to win six. Nobody is ever going to be perfect so leaders have to have empathy for the imperfect. I have struggled with this in one the most in my career because I want to run wide open all the time. But people cannot do it. They will have peaks and valleys. Good days and bad days and you have to support them through both.
- Lack of Courage to Transform an Organization – Change is hard. As a leader, some changes make you wonder how the hell you will stay in business. But you have to be able to not blink in the face of change and not second guess yourself. To truly transform an organization you have to have zero doubt in your ability and must have no fear for what the future brings. If you really want to change something, you have to be ready to stomach all the bad that will come with it.
In conclusion, this is nothing more than my own thoughts about why some leaders fail and what has to be done for a leader not to fail.