The Good and the Bad

There are a lot of exciting aspects of being a leader. There are a number of external components that many leaders are attracted to such as recognition, increased pay, and responsibility. There are also the internal aspects that are attractive such as being fulfilled by the challenges that leadership presents, continued development of your skills and abilities, and achieving the goals you have set out to achieve. But being a leader is not exclusive of the difficult situations that you will encounter.

I often meet with individuals who have oversight over others that are discouraged by some of the things they have to work through in their roles. These challenges include counseling’s of employees, terminations, being accused of poor leadership, and poor performance to name a few. I fully agree that these are difficult and as a result bring on many types of emotions that you experience as you advance through these types of situations. They are not easy and we all prefer to not have to experience them. However, if you didn’t experience them, you probably wouldn’t be in a leadership position.

So the faster we are able to come to an understanding that these types of situations will take place, the faster we can begin to change our mind set to start embracing them, versus shying away from them. Each time you were faced with a challenge, whatever it might have been, and you hesitated to address it head on, more than likely you would agree that it didn’t improve over time. As time goes on because of your hesitation the negative impact on the individual, yourself, your team, and ultimately your department or organization will increase. And even more importantly, you still end up having to deal with it. So why not commit to addressing the bad that comes with leadership as quickly as possible?

Embrace the challenges of being a leader. Embrace the emotions that come with having challenging meetings. Take time to reflect on how you feel and why. Appreciate the fact that your emotions are evidence that you care, that you’re a leader and that you’re in a position of value. Begin to think positively about the obstacles in your way. Develop and practice new ways of addressing conflicts. Study great leaders and learn how they handle the not so exciting aspects of their roles. Challenge yourself that the moment there is a sign of conflict in any area, you will address it immediately.

You will learn that the faster you address conflict the easier it is, the issue at hand has not had time to mature and evolve and as a result it is easier to deal with. You will learn that the people working with you and for you will become accustomed to your quick response which automatically alleviates majority of the uneasiness that comes with addressing anything negative. You are a leader, and that means leading when things are good and leading when things are bad, because that’s what leaders do!