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Writer's pictureDr. Cindy Petersen

The Incomplete Leader

Leaders cannot be all things to all people; they don’t need to know everything; they can’t; that’s fundamentally why leaders build great teams.”  ~ Gifford Thomas


Leadership People Connection

The idea that leaders must have vision, innovate, see the future, be strategic, build crucial relationships, be politically savvy, be all knowing ... .and be stellar at all of that and more - well, it’s almost laughable. Are we all destined to slip into a telephone booth (you do know that generations in our workforce today have no clue what that is?) to rip open our collared, button up shirts and expose the yellow shield with the big red ‘S’ for Superman (or Superwoman)?


No single person can live up to these unreasonable expectations. It is a recipe for exhaustion, burnout and disappointment. It is time to end the myth of the all knowing, all powerful, super hero leader. “In today’s world, the executive’s job is no longer to command and control but to cultivate and coordinate the actions of others at all levels of the organization” (Ancona, Malone, Orlikowski and Senge). The sooner leaders stop trying to be/know it all and the sooner organizations understand the importance of this - the sooner we can truly hire great people, create great teams and empower our people to bring their knowledge and expertise. When team members are hired for and encouraged to bring deep knowledge, insight, and experience, the synergy of what they create and bring is greater than any single leader who believes they know it all.


“No leader is perfect. The best ones don’t try to be—they concentrate on honing their strengths and find others who can make up for their limitations”.

 

While I can truly say that I experienced times of great success in my leadership journey, there were also times I experienced a sense of shame or guilt when I didn’t ‘know it all’. And yet, when my organization experienced those moments of greatest success - it was due to the strength and expertise of THE TEAM and my willingness to get out of their way and let them shine.


Reflect on your leadership… dig deeper … are you trying to be all knowing, all powerful and setting yourself up for burnout and exhaustion?  Have you hired, or assessed the team you have, for the strengths and knowledge they bring to the team (Strengthsfinder is one tool for this)? 


Be a good leader…. Be incomplete … and in doing so distribute responsibility and leadership and watch as your organization and your people thrive.

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