Pressure is nothing
more than the shadow of great opportunity.’ – Michael Johnson, US Olympic Gold
Medallist
Here are six things experienced leaders do that transform
pressure from a liability to an asset:
Know Thyself:
Leaders must know themselves, their strengths and weaknesses, and where they
will and won’t compromise. When a leader is comfortable in their own skin they
won’t fear dissenting opinion and diversity of thought, they’ll encourage it.
Knowing who you are frees you to become a better thinker and a better leader.
Lead: A leader’s
job is to acquire and develop talent. The larger the organisation you lead, the
more your performance is dependent upon the talent of your team. The better the
talent, and the better you utilise talent, the less pressure you’ll feel. The
key to capacity, throughput, and scale is not found by doing – but by
developing others to do. Leaders who feel the least amount of pressure are
those who spend the most time acquiring and developing talent. Conversely,
leaders who feel the most pressure are those who feel they must do everything
themselves.
Keep It Simple:
Complexity creates pressure. The best leaders look to simplify everything they
can. Simplicity rarely equates to a lack of sophistication – it actually
demonstrates remarkable elegance. Simplicity drives understanding, which leads
to a certainty of execution. One truism you can count on is performance relives
pressure.
Get Alignment:
Great leaders strive for the following: one vision – one team – one agenda.
Organisations that have a shared purpose, common values, and aligned interests
are simply more productive than organisations that don’t. Alignment of values
and vision take the complexity out of decision-making, and removes the ambiguity
from the process of prioritisation. Leaders who have organisational alignment
feel less pressure than those who don’t.
Focus: Focused
leaders rarely feel external pressure. Unfocused leaders feel as if pressure is
coming at them from all directions. Focus affords leaders clarity of thought
that a cluttered mind will never realise. It’s not possible to lead an organisation
toward a better future when a leaders mind can’t see through the fog. An
organisation is never under greater pressure, or at greater risk, than when
leaders lose their focus.
Create Whitespace:
The best way to maintain focus is to make sure you’ve allowed for some
whitespace EVERY day. Any rubber band
stretched too tightly will eventually snap – there are no exceptions to this
rule. Leaders who don’t create time for quality thought and planning end-up
taking unnecessary short cuts and risks. They let pressure force them into
making bad decisions that a little whitespace could have prevented.
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