[Lead Better] I want change… but I don’t want to change

Each week alternates between Leader Better and Living Bigger insights. This week…

[Lead Better] I want change… but I don’t want to change

I heard a phrase the other day that grabbed my attention:

The deficiencies of an organisation are a manifestation of the leader’s insecurities.?

Wow, that’s confronting. Any truth to this?

Co-incidentally, two days later I spoke with a CEO frustrated by the dramatic lack of accountability particularly within his exec team. [Data point 1]

No-one was standing up and stating, “I’ve got a problem. And this is what I’m doing to fix it.”

He was losing faith in them. “They’re Eeyore, not Tigger” – if you know this Winnie-the-Pooh reference.

Further, he was troubled to hear that the previous company he’d been the CEO for, and left 2 years prior in a healthy condition, had just gone into receivership! [Data point 2]

?An effective leader’s influence is supposed to remain long after he leaves, right?

Data point 3 was noting that branch energy and productivity rose whenever he spent time there… but slumped again when he left. Things went well while he was physically there.

But he can’t build a business so dependent on him.

He acknowledged these data points and was deeply troubled by what they suggested about his leadership. What was his culpability?

Through our conversation, he admitted he had a deep-seated need (insecurity) to be liked - consequently, did not fully drill down to ask the uncomfortable questions that held people to account.

Yet he’s a ‘Go-getter’, a ‘Get sh*t done’ leader… with typical questions of, ‘What the f%$&’s going on? Get it fixed. This is what you need to do.’

Great self-perception. He’d identified his default leadership identity – so his behaviours matched this… creating the inevitable results.

Identity – behaviours – results.

He knew he needed to change this but to what? And how? And what new behaviours were called for?

His new (and upgraded) leadership identity statement: “I am a mindful, questioning leader that gets sh*t done and grows my people along the way.”

Simple process when it’s laid out like this… but not easy.

Plus his new behaviours need to be locked in place. We're working on that.

If you want any change in your outer world, you have to change your inner world.

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What insecurities hold your leadership and business back?

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#executivecoaching ?#TransformationalLeadership ?#LeadershipTraining ?#teamdevelopment #LeadershipCoaching

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Bruce speaks at conferences, runs leadership workshops, consults & coaches.

Enquire about working with Bruce:

? enquiries@ignitebusinessleadership.co or ? +64 21 548 900

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P.S. Whenever you're ready, below (in Comments) are 3 ways I work with business leaders to upgrade their leadership battery, engage their hidden fifth gear and support them achieve what matters deeply to them