Stop Setting Fires You’ll Have to Put Out (#270)
The Confident Leader
BOOST YOUR LEADERSHIP IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
“Robin, why did I waste the past two months by putting this project off until I am now rushing to complete it, all the while feeling like I am not doing my best work?”
“I’m not sure why I do this. Am I addicted to chaos? I can’t seem to get out of this cycle.”
“Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.” — Abraham Lincoln
This Week’s Edition
A Harvard Business Review study found that 79% of leaders frequently feel overwhelmed. Is pressure your strategy—or just your default?
Clarify Your Thinking
The quote in the introduction is an amalgam of many leaders I’ve encountered over the years.
These highly reactive leaders wonder:
- Should I even try to be disciplined or is that a waste of time?
- Why do I feel like my professional life is in constant chaos?
- Is the leadership life just one big story of turmoil?
Many leaders feel stuck in a perpetual cycle: avoid, scramble, perform, repeat.
One leader had six months to complete a strategic project. He allowed the day-to-day urgent squeeze out the time blocks he had allocated to do deep thinking work.
Meetings took over. Fire drills became commonplace. He let himself get swept up.
With less time than he’d like, the pressure to deliver has mounted. He wants to feel sharp and on his game, but instead he’s kicking himself that he’s let it happen again.
- Why didn’t I start sooner?
- Why do I keep doing this?
- Maybe I do my “best” work under pressure or do I?
Let’s be honest. Leaders can use pressure as a crutch and sometimes wear it as a badge of honor. It gives us a rush, an excuse, and a story. “I had so much going on. I pulled it off anyway.”
For mediocre leadership, this is probably fine. But for high-stakes, leadership can’t run on adrenaline. Not long-term. Not well.
Old Thinking:
I’ve always worked well under pressure. The crunch gets me focused—and besides, I’ve never actually missed a deadline.
New Thinking:
I don’t need pressure to perform. I lead best when I’m proactive, not panicked. My consistency is my credibility. I can create consistency when I am disciplined about my approach to my work.
Thoughts Lead to Actions
Research from the American Psychological Association shows that chronic stress reduces working memory, decision-making ability, and confidence.
Leaders who “thrive” under pressure know that they’ll pull it off, they always do. That’s not the issue.
The issue is: What does that lack of discipline and preparation cost them? Leadership exhaustion? Team trust? Failure to perform up to their true potential?
Our coaching in this area is not around productivity hacks like better time management or how not to procrastinate.
We focus on leadership identity. What type of leader do you want to be? What do activities and habits do you need to do in order to become that leader?
Here’s how to start:
- What is it costing you?
- Do you like living in professional chaos?
- How is it benefiting you?
2. Ask yourself…
- What is a habit I see others doing whom I admire for being disciplined?
- What is one thing I currently do that keeps me from chaos or compounding my chaos?
- How can I do more of that thing each day/week/month?
3. Commit.
- What is one thing I need to start doing?
- What is one thing I need to keep doing to support a disciplined leadership life?
- What is one thing I need to stop doing?
Remember the firefighter metaphor? If you’re always racing to rescue your own goals, maybe you’re the one starting the fire.
Let’s stop glamorizing the scramble. Leadership isn’t about saving the day. It’s about structuring your days so they don’t need saving.
Boost Your Performance
Watch this week’s video to better understand how to move past chaos to an organized and discipline leadership life.
What’s Your Opinion?
Do you think urgency is helping or hurting your leadership? Share it with me at robin.pou@robinpou.com.
If you are going to be a leader, you might as well be a good one. Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!
Robin Pou, Chief Advisor and Strategist
We live to make bad leadership extinct so forward this newsletter to others who strive to be confident leaders.
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What is “The Confident Leader”?
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began a video series called “Panic or Plan?” It was designed to equip leaders to navigate the doubt they experienced and to rise in the confidence they needed to lead during turbulent times. It took off. I then started this newsletter to equip leaders in the same fashion each week for the doubt that crashes across the bow of their leaderSHIP.
