Great Leaders Create a Culture of Quitters

You are likely familiar with the concept that employees don't quit companies; they quit bad leaders. 

With this in mind, many organizations invest time, energy, and resources in developing leaders who foster employee engagement. 

Yes, employees might quit an organization because of a bad leader; however, they may quit their destructive behaviors because of a good leader.

In other words, great leaders create a culture of quitters!

Some of you may be thinking...

Wait for a second; great leaders create cultures that encourage people to try new approaches, take on different roles, and apply new solutions. They don't work to create a culture of quitters.

Oh, yes, they do! 

Great leaders encourage people to quit trying in four key areas. 

Please invest a few minutes reading about each area and reflecting on your mindset, behaviors, and results. 

1: Quit Trying to Please Everyone

Blame it on your upbringing, DNA, or some other force, but many of us are compelled to please others. We don't like the idea of someone being disappointed with, frustrated about, or indifferent toward us. 

We try to please everyone. Not only does this waste time and energy, but it is a fruitless endeavor because you can't please everyone.

What do great leaders do? Great leaders permit employees to disappoint some people. These leaders work with their employees to uncover who truly matters most to the team and organization's success. This allows employees to say 'no' to specific requests and provide a big 'yes' to others. 

2: Quit Trying to Do Everything

You have a finite amount of time, energy, and resources. When you attempt to do everything, you usually accomplish nothing with excellence. Yes, you might understand the law of diminishing returns at an intellectual level, but when faced with the choice of doing one task over another, you may let your feelings or egos push you to try to do everything.

What do great leaders do? Great leaders work with team members to determine the team or organization's most important goals and to ensure clarity about the role everyone plays. Getting clear on which goals matter most and who does what allows team members to prioritize their efforts, and, like not trying to please everyone, they learn what tasks to accomplish and which ones to take off their plates.

3: Quit Trying to Fix Everything

Most organizations measure things - arguably too many things. 

Take a look around your organization. The odds are that if you can measure it, you do. The natural tendency when you measure everything is to try to optimize everything. When you try to optimize everything, you typically create no sustainable advantages.

What do great leaders do? Great leaders permit employees to be just ok at some things. They do this by allowing some measures to be sub-optimal or cutting the measure altogether to provide a clear set of measurable goals that will enable employees to play a winning game.

4: Quit Trying to Control Everything

Since birth, many of us have tried to control everything. Some even incessantly watch the weather, the stock market, or the daily traffic report to control the outcome. Highly effective people know that the best energy is placed on things you can control or influence.

What do great leaders do? Great leaders allow employees to let go of things they can't control and focus on things that employees can truly influence. These leaders also assist employees in accomplishing specific tasks by lending the leader's influence, access, or skill set.

So, how are you doing?

Take a few minutes to assess yourself as a quitter. Ask yourself how well you are doing and whether or not you are creating a culture of successful quitters.

• Are you clear on who truly matters most to the success of your team or organization? Do you put most of your energy into serving your most critical customers?
• Are you clear on your team or organization's top goals? Can you name them and explain how well you are performing? Are you clear on the role you play in driving desired results?
• Are you measuring the fewest number of items to ensure clarity? Or do you measure everything and attempt to optimize everything?
• Do you obsess about things out of your control in hopes that you can somehow gain the desired outcome? Or do you focus on what you can do and put your energy into those areas?

Make it a great day! Patrick

---------

Special offer!

As a loyal newsletter subscriber, we have a special offer just for you!

Put our content in your people's hands and help them become the leaders they were meant to be. 

Leadership development is often expensive, time-consuming, and ineffective. We leverage psychology and science to create data-driven learning that is individualized, habit-forming, and delivered day by day.

3 steps to secure your free book and learn how to grow your leaders

1. Schedule a time on our calendar in the next 30 days here. 
2. Invest 30 minutes to discover how the Leadership Lab Learning Platform delivers leadership development with real ROI.
3. Learn about our exclusive free certification offer ($10,000 value) when you purchase one-year subscriptions for 20+ leaders.

As a thank you for your time, we will send you an autographed hardcover copy of our WSJ bestselling book, The 5-Week Leadership Challenge: 35 Action Steps to Become the Leader You Were Meant to Be. (Free book offer available in the continental U.S. only).

Schedule your time today. Slots are limited!

Make it a great day!

Patrick

#leadership #teamsuccess #leadershipdevelopment