Leading The Performance System

Leaders are doing too much.  

The overwhelm of responsibility, meetings, politics and everything that goes with operating in an unpredictable system is leaving leaders bereft and burnt out. They come to me – as I went to my own mentors in my executive days – depleted. But trying so hard to do well and make it worthwhile.   We have to earn a living, and this is the way we’ve chosen to do it.  So we have to make it work.

There is good news. There is another way to lead. There can be ease. There can be space. There can be joy, connection, reward, purpose. All of that is available to all of us. It depends on leading ourselves first.

I talk about leadership and how it drives performance.   Just like a village raises a child, a system creates performance. What I’m insistent on – what I know is true, based on my experience, study and research – is that how we lead ourselves through that system is the foundation for performance.

In the system, there’s:

-The broader organisation

-Your team

-Your clients (which includes internal clients)

Leading yourself through these elements requires adaptation. Those who are brave, clear and fair will find sustained performance. They’ll find grace and ease. Throughout May, June and July I’ll write about each of these elements in turn, and how to adapt your leadership for the element and circumstances.

In the next few days, you’ll see the first of the pieces on the organisation: is it in trouble/crisis? Growth mode? Transformation (show me one that isn’t)? That will continue throughout May.

In June, you’ll hear from me about team: how to build, develop and deal with the myriad challenges of leading people, without falling into pleasing, rescuing, avoidance or bullying (all of which diminish performance and damage the leader more than anyone else).

In July, we’ll work through the reason we’re all here: service to clients. If you’re a leader in middle or back office, let’s be clear that I’m also talking to you. You’re serving those who serve the market.  Client service – listening, responding, creating a partnership for value – is hard to come by. It’s not hard to set yourself apart. And ultimately it will be your clients who get you promoted.

You don’t have to work it all out yourself. I’ve been a leader since childhood and I’ve been thinking about it deeply the whole time. I’ve made huge mistakes, learned from them and others and found an easier way to do it. I’ve conducted groundbreaking global research and I now travel the world helping leaders find ease. This is my life’s work and I’m offering these insights to you without obligation. You don’t need to sign up to anything and you won’t get follow up materials from me. I simply want to help. If you know me, you know that’s true. And if you don’t know me, please just trust me that if you’ve read this far, there’s a high chance that you’re doing too much. You don’t need to be bereft and burnt out.

Choose a more powerful path.