After 25+ years of identifying, observing, developing, and coaching leaders; one of the things I am most sure of is that the majority of poor behaviour and bad decisions are driven much more by insecurity than by malice.

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.

In a less diverse, more stable generation we didn’t need to spend a lot of time looking at these things. It could be safely assumed that (almost) everyone just had the same core understanding of reality.

But not anymore.

When I consider the leaders, both the prominent and the largely unknown, who have lost their credibility through moral failures there is usually a pattern of behaviour preceding the end. Their vulnerable achilles wasn’t really a secret.

There are multiple factors that contributed to the awkward history, and just as many that have brought about the new reality, but credit has to go to all levels of leadership from both organizations (board, executives, staff, etc.) who have agreed to move forward with collegiality and sharing of best practices so that each can be more effective.

The numbers tell a story, but not the whole story.

In your new organization there are key lessons to be found in long tenured employees, commonly repeated stories, and reports written over the years. Taking the time to look and listen enough to build a coherent grasp on the way things are around here allows you to make better decisions

The first days, weeks, and months in a new role are crucial for leaders to connect, prioritize, and build momentum. Failing to do these things undermines your leadership. Indeed, some never recover from a poor start.

Beginning in 2024 I will be offering Onboarding Support for charity leaders as part of Lead With Catalyst’s work.

When we don’t take that extra step it becomes too easy to end up just chasing the latest trend or the most recent post from someone we respect instead of building systems and approaches that truly reflect who we, and our organizations, most want to be.

The raw reality is that the vast discrepancy in attention, coupled with the inherent power differential rooted in governance authority, means this dynamic is vulnerable to all kinds of misunderstanding and tension.

So AI wins!

Not so fast.

So how do we encourage appropriate vulnerability while recognizing that it means something different to particular people?

Healthy organizations develop rhythms of work that reflect the different demands of the year. They discern when to push harder, and when to dial it back a little. They understand that “full out all the time’ is a sure path to big mistakes and burn out.

Have you ever lied to leave a training session?

I have, twice.

We talked about several examples, too close to both of us, of leaders who made decisions that undermined their credibility and did deep harm to people. In some cases destroying the organizations they had been entrusted to lead. It’s the same old story, even though each one hurts freshly in its own way.

I’ve seen too many organizations complete a strategic plan and then look around and realize the people on their team aren’t ready, willing, or able to lead the implementation.

It doesn’t have to be that way!

After a few moments of reflection he opened up a little more about some of the long held patterns in his life and leadership. He talked about the advantages and costs of being a driven leader. He wondered if this stable season might be a time to invest in more things outside work.

It makes sense; perfectionists are remarkable adept at getting everything right in contexts where they know what is required. But, as noted on the podcast, that is often limited to things that are familiar and comes at the cost of encouraging creativity and innovative problem solving. The need to be perfect is in tension with taking even necessary risks.

The ability of technology to factor all these data points to progressively narrow our profile is remarkable and always becoming more sophisticated.

As leaders, we can benefit from this in many ways; but let’s not completely outsource to AI the responsibility for knowing our people.

Charity leadership is not less stressful than for profit, and in many ways it isn’t always more meaningful. But if you’re sincerely interested in exploring how you can play in part in trying to make the world a better place we’d love to have you.