The name of this blog comes from our mission at INFLUENCE: “To empower people with clarity and confidence.”
Our objective is to provide brief but meaningful topics (under 500 words) that inspire, educate and empower leaders through resources both inside and outside of INFLUENCE. This week’s edition is provided by David Salmons.
An acquaintance not long ago was sharing how she struggled with a previous manager. The manager, she indicated, had an extraordinary sense of personal vision, and perhaps because of that he chronically over-committed himself and the team. While that was energizing at first, his blind optimism soon became a problem. Goals and objectives became muddled as the team struggled beneath 50,000-foot directives and competing priorities.
Eventually, this lack of critical focus snowballed into crises, further frustrating team-members as they were left to fight fires resulting from an unrealistic and chronically distracted manager.
Sonya Siderova, Founder and CEO of Nave, speaks to this when she says, “You [leaders] have to understand your capacity and manage realistic expectations. Taking on more work than you can handle has a tremendous impact on your performance… The big question is do you have the capability to deliver on your promises?”
The point we’re emphasizing with this story is that if you don’t deliver focused leadership with clear priorities, others won’t be able to deliver either, and Sonya offers some practical thoughts on how to address this.
First, she notes, we must learn to say “no, for now” by saying “yes, but later.” Everyone’s capacity is limited, and a great deal of successful leadership involves knowing where to apply focus. Postponing projects then may be exactly what’s needed to achieve success where it’s more critical.
Responding in this manner is both optimistic and realistic as it welcomes input and feedback while still prioritizing ideas and efforts that move organizations forward faster.
This of course underlines the need for critical thinking. Without realistic consideration, anything appears possible. Unfortunately, as illustrated in the story, blind optimism tends to die, confused and exhausted, down the road. Critical thinking, in contrast, helps leaders identify immediate objectives and realistic solutions that bring the greatest success to the organization, as well as increasing its potential to pursue “yes, but later” objectives.
Examples of critical thinking include:
- Being clear on what you must achieve for success, and reminding yourself of it frequently.
- Asking yourself, what do I need to know about this objective and my strategy to achieve it? What might I be missing? What am I assuming without evidence?
- Diligently seeking objective information from outside of your own ideas and intuition. This means seeking facts and evidence.
- Asking open ended questions of others, and listening actively and non-judgmentally, welcoming alternative viewpoints!
- Analyzing available evidence. Is it trustworthy? Is it factual? Is it sufficient to help you achieve your objectives?
- Making decisions based on evidence, not assumptions or feelings.
In conclusion, studies show that successful leadership requires both optimism and realism. That is, successful organizations have leaders who don’t give in to blind optimism. Instead, successful leaders maintain a focus on achieving clear goals through realistic plans and objective evidence that they’re on track, while still engaging, inspiring, and seeking realistic feedback from their teams.