What can you control?
As leaders, we like to think we can control everything.
Spoiler alert: you can’t.
Sure, it’s obvious when I write it like that. But how much of your leadership time is spent trying to figure out how to control all the things?
Especially if you’re creating change, which is inherently uncertain and unpredictable.
A colleague is working on a significant product launch. I was happy to agree, a few weeks ago, to be a beta tester, giving feedback on how I experienced the customer process through the new system.
I got a message this morning explaining that things were running a little behind because of some “last-minute challenges to overcome.”
Of course there were last-minute challenges.
And it was nothing that he could have controlled. Part of creating change, whether it’s a new product launch or a culture initiative, is discovering what you didn’t know, couldn’t know, when you started.
You can – and should – manage risk, but you’ll never be clairvoyant enough to know which risk factors will actually happen or, for that matter, when something completely unexpected will show up.
As leaders, we can try very hard to control everything. But in the end, that’s a waste of time and will drain your energy – energy better spent being responsible for how you manage those last-minute challenges (or the mid-stream challenges!).
Because taking full responsibility for solving the problems that inevitably come up is much more likely to lead to success.
Different people have different tolerance levels for risk and uncertainty. Understanding this, and helping your individual team members manage it, is part of being a good leader through change. Shall we talk about it? Drop me a note through my contact form and we’ll set a time to have a conversation – not a sales pitch!