You’re Not Wrong, But…
It was so much easier in the old cowboy movies.
You could tell at a glance who were the good guys and who were the bad guys based on whether their hats were white or black (or at least that’s the way I vaguely remember it).
In my conversations with leaders things are rarely that simple.
-You had a record breaking year but still didn’t reach your budget targets. Is that success or failure?
-A staff member you developed and valued left to work for an organization you partner with. Is it wrong of them to hire him away?
-You’re doing a performance review of a team member who is underperforming, but it may be because of complex issues in their personal life. Do you put them on a performance plan or offer them more support, or both?
-You’re doing some strategic planning and are trying to incorporate both solid analysis and spiritual discernment. Which one takes priority?
-You have strong convictions about a social/political issue in your city that isn’t only indirectly connected to your organization’s primary area of work. Should you speak out? How?
All of these are based on real situations leaders I’ve worked with have dealt with in the last 18 months. All of them were challenging. None of them had clear parameters or solutions.
This is leadership. The ability to find a path through complexity and uncertainty, understanding how to resolve (or live in) tension, making the call when you can’t be absolutely sure what the right next step is.
Sure, a solid strategic plan, well defined organizational values, and effective, honest conversations with your leadership team will help a lot. But eventually you will find yourself having to decide with inadequate time, resources, or information.
In these cases, I find it helpful to have leaders start by telling me which way they’re intuitively leaning. We can feign objectivity, but it’s always at least partially an illusion. Being honest about our bias or preference helps us avoid a lot of errors.
I try to point out the elephant in the room (there often is one). What is the obvious and unspoken reality, concern, fear, or possibility that is affecting the situation that we are avoiding dealing with? Once it’s acknowledged it has a lot less power.
Then we can explore alternatives, angles, and perspectives that may not have been fully considered. My experience, and insights gained from working with so many charity leaders over the past couple decades often bring something new to the situation.
And ultimately, my role is often to call the question, to push to the point of action, even with uncertainty as part of it. And to consider how to communicate, process, and provide for the possibility of doubling back if it becomes apparent that we’re heading in the wrong direction.
It’s true that leaders can work a process like this on their own or with their teams. It’s also true that often without an external perspective the same tensions, elephants, and avoidances continually return to frustrate things.
I have clients who bring me in as needed for specific situations, and others who have me pre-booked for monthly PACE calls where these are often part of the conversation. Most effective are those where I work regularly with the entire leadership team as a group, and also have individual PACE calls to provide us all with more efficient and honest engagement.
Whether working with me is the best fit or you have board members, mentors, wise friends, or an unusually remarkable team in place: every leader has to find ways through complex situations where right and wrong isn’t obvious. No matter what colour hat you prefer.
Contact me if I can be helpful to you and/or your organization.
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