Don’t Let Your Flaws Derail Your Strategy
Every leader has flaws. Even you. ;)
Some personality flaws have a disproportionately negative impact on the quality and execution of strategic choices. These are far more than just annoyances, as they cast a large shadow across their organizations.
A 2021 HBR article identified these four personality flaws of leaders. Take a moment to see if you can see any of your flaws. They are:
The Overconfident, Chronically Certain Leader
You have a tendency to overpromise and develop unrealistic strategies. You also suffer from myopia and over-determinism, oblivious to the impact of longer-term trends, complex dynamics, and disruption from new entrants.
The Impulsive Leader
You experience "shiny object syndrome," which exhausts your organization, overcommit resources, and overpromise. You tend to speak in flashy, hyperbolic declarations that whip people into frenzies of excitement. This soon dies down once they catch on to the pattern of abandoning last week's big idea to pursue the next one.
The Rigidly Controlling Leader
You struggle to accommodate novel or nontraditional views. This silences employees' voices, who produce low-risk, barely incremental strategies to avoid their leader's critique. Then, when it comes time to execute, the fearful organization cowers from trying anything new.
The Insecure Leader
You live with a paralyzing sense of self-doubt. You worry about what others think of you and anxiously expect to fall short. You may find ways of masking these feelings with a confident game face and measured demeanor.
All of us can be these kinds of leaders from time to time. So the question isn't, "Which are you?" but rather, "Which are you when?"
Successfully navigating these takes-
Forgiving yourself
Reflection / Meditation
Confrontation
Vulnerability
The first step is recognizing when your flaws are most prevalent, then making the choice to commit to improving yourself. As business executive Sheryl Sandberg said, “We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.”
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