Why do Leaders Fail?
On a surface, level Leaders fail because we are human. Failure is part of the process, however how we view failure will often determine true success. What I mean by this is failure isn’t truly failure until you give up. Similar to the idea of failures aren’t failures but are instead near wins it is our perspective that defines what these moments are in our lives. However, if we are looking at the failure of leadership and we defined that as a leader who fails to lead successfully then there are some very specific inadequacies that exist that lead to this outcome.
I think that considering all the lessons learned this semester the most important principle is the idea of relationships and the fact that as leaders it is how we navigate who we are as individuals on a daily basis that actually defines who we are as leaders and how successful we are. This is an extremely hard concept for people to understand and it’s one that I struggle with often while listening to lectures because when in class it’s easy to say we would do this or we would say that however, I know from personal experience that even when I am working daily to be consciously engaged at a level that I would argue many liters or not I still struggle with application.
This goes back to the idea that data metrics are easier to measure and easier to define the success or failure of a system or process or person rather than the summative perspective other Half of an individual. However, that is what we actually are. We are instead who we choose to be over and over and over again therefore if we are passive over and over and over again that we become passive. If we are assertive over and over and over again then we are assertive. This is frustrating for most people because it means that leadership is not a place to get to but rather a practice that must be employed daily. This means that no matter how many classes you go to, how many books you read, or how many assessments you complete you are only the leader that you are today, over and over and over again. This also means that in order to reach our full potential We must become masters of a specific skill but masters of improvement.
Therefore I would argue that the ability to perform a self-assessment, identify areas of interest, and to create a corrective action plan is the most important skill a leader can develop. Based in humility the skill focuses on identifying where we are as individuals and moving forward, progressing towards improvement and a better tomorrow. This also goes back to an argument I made in a previous paper in which I stated that the most important trait a leader can have is humility. Jocko Willink speaks on this it links within his books the dichotomy of leadership and extreme ownership. He also briefly discusses this in leadership strategies and tactics, as well as discipline, equals freedom.
Armed with humility in the ability to perform self-assessments I would argue that the next most important skill the leader have is Curiosity. A leader must be curious about the future, a leader must be curious about the past and a leader must be curious about the present. Curiosity is the desire to learn something. Curiosity will help you discover new things and it takes you on adventures. Curiosity enables you to try new things, learn new skills and will help you develop yourself. Curiosity allows us to find creative solutions to complex problems and promotes creativity in general.
With this desire, we allow ourselves to hear and consider things that challenge our current beliefs, perspectives, or opinions. This doesn't mean that we aren't firm in our thoughts or that we should give in to the first different idea that comes along. It just means we take time to consider new information and feedback. We apply it to our lives if it's helpful to ourselves or others. This is important because we don't know what we don't know. True wisdom is knowledge times experience. To gain both, we need to be out in the world learning, growing, and stumbling into new things.
Without curiosity, we will become very stagnant and begin to lack a vision of the future. Without curiosity, we will fail to perform market scans, hear new ideas and try new things. Without curiosity, we do more cells to become nothing more than we already are. As leaders, this means providing no more value for those who haven’t trusted us. No growth, no improved earning potential, no wisdom or experience.
After that, I would argue that as a leader you must have within you a refusal to settle. As a leader, you should be able to face any obstacle and have a perspective that reminds everyone that there is always a way. A positive perspective in which you look forward to challenges and the opportunity to come up with solutions. As a leader, you must be able to envision a life that passed the obstacle not only for yourself but for others. Ryan holiday discusses this idea at length in his book the obstacle is the way in which he drives home the point that it is through the obstacles that we think prevents us from getting where we need to go that we actually learn the knowledge, skills, and abilities that we must be equipped with to survive on the other side of the obstacle.
This also reflects back to the idea that failure is not an endpoint. Instead, failure is part of the process of success. As a leader, you must identify that you cannot succeed without failure. Theodore Roosevelt mentioned this in his quote “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
This means that to be a leader you must continually Dare greatly. You must step outside of your comfort zone and be willing to fail in front of others. Not only to see your own success but to inspire them to believe in themselves. To realize that failure is a part of their process and that they are human and they can fail. You realize that failure is not who they are as individuals but instead a part of them becoming who they should be. That in the search for self-actualization you are going to fail countless times.
From that, I would argue that the next ingredients in the recipe of a successful leader would be a personal code of ethics as well as a mission and vision statement. A leader must clearly define what success looks like to them. What successful leadership looks like to them and they must establish boundaries in which they have to operate in or they will likely end up in a situation that would cause them to compromise their beliefs in order to reach our goal more quickly.
Without a clear vision of where you are going, you cannot get there. Lewis Carroll hinted at this in his book Alice in wonderland in which Alice asks for direction:
“Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don't much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.”
In this exchange, the Cheshire cat identifies that without a north star you will end up wherever you end up and that you won’t end up there intentionally. Without that Northstar when faced with an obstacle, a storm, disorientation, or confusion you will likely veer off course. As a leader, you must have a clear Northstar and defined boundaries that keep you operating within your belief system. The best way to do this is by clearly defining a personal mission vision and values. Looking at yourself as an organization in which you are the CEO of your life.
By clearly defining the vision of the future you set the north star for your life and for your capacity as a leader. By clearly defining your mission statement you build the road that will take you to your vision. And by clearly defining the values in which you will make decisions you will develop the right and left guard rails that will keep you on the road that takes you to your vision. This is what Aristotle was getting at with his virtue ethics. Challenging us to become our best selves and by doing so we would be able to influence others in a positive way.
I believe that this personal mission vision and values must be clearly defined and will become essential in your operations and daily business environment because you will be subject to moral and ethical erosion. As you begin to climb the ladder and play the political game that you must play in order to rise to a position of influence you will begin to surround yourself with other individuals who made compromise your belief system.
Without a set of values to filter your decision-making through you will become subject to the emotion of the situation rather than specific outlined boundaries. Initially, decisions will seem insignificant and even inert however over time these ethical erosions will become larger and larger until you reach a point where you’re compromising your belief system without even realizing it. Putting you in a position where you could potentially be significantly crossing an ethical boundary. There are countless cases of leaders within fortune 500 companies who found loopholes or learned the way the system works so that they could legally complete a task but unfortunately spent years in prison because it was ethically wrong. I don’t believe that these people necessarily set out to be doing wrong but we’re instead an unfortunate side effect of their failure to clearly define their personal mission vision and values.
In conclusion, a leader must be humble so that they can receive the feedback necessary to improve, a leader must be curious so that they are willing to see the world from multiple perspectives and challenge their belief system in ways that caused them to improve. Additionally, a leader must have a guiding light, a road to walk, and values to keep him or her on the path.