4 Things To Do About Stuff That Drives You Crazy
Leaders go blind when they see things that drive them crazy.
10 things that drive leaders crazy:
- Whining and complaining.
- Intervening because some knucklehead upset the office.
- Naysayers and wet blankets. Can’t-do people drive can-do leaders crazy.
- Drifting. You’re dead weight if you aren’t pulling your weight.
- Good enough. It’s pure joy to hear others asking, “How can we make this better?”
- Making yourself look good at the expense of others.
- Drama.
- Lack of preparation.
- Failure to follow up, follow through, and finish.
- Giving up.
4 things to do about stuff that drives you crazy:
#1. Stop obsessing about things you don’t like. Obsessing over negatives produces pessimistic over-reacting. Before long, you look like a crazy squirrel blinded by a nut.
What would you do if you weren’t blinded by things you don’t like?
#2. Train yourself to obsess about what you want.
Successful leaders use negative obsessions for positive results.
- Transform don’t wants into wants. The first step forward is defining what you want. (This takes more work than you might imagine.)
- Invite negative teams to identify five things they want. When people tell you what they don’t want, ask them what they want.
- Move to behaviors. Distill vague ideas into concrete language and behaviors. Who cares if you want people to stop blaming? Describe language that isn’t allowed. We don’t say “they.” Describe language you expect. We say “we”. It’s not, “They screwed up.” It’s, “We screwed up.” Teams say we.
#3. Confront what you don’t want. Tolerance is the mother of mediocrity. Culture is built by negative behaviors you tolerate. Say, “We don’t do that here.”
#4. Go nuts when you see what you want. Obsessing over things you don’t like prevents you from honoring effort and progress.
Warning: When you ask people what they want, they often tell you what they want others to do.
What drives leaders crazy?
How might leaders move from “don’t want” to creating what they want?
The first step in getting what you want is knowing what you want. Not just vague “corporate-speak” but specifics that drive extraordinary performance. So study, learn, and understand what drives performance and share the findings, plans and results with your team. Get to work. Solve the first (and most critical) problem, then solve the next. Keep your team engaged in the entire process.
Thanks db. Your opening sentence is pure poetry.
I wonder about solving the big/most critical problem. Sometimes grabbing low hanging fruit creates energy to take on the big stuff. Perhaps it depends on how big the challenge is and how quickly progress can be made.
Dan thanks for this post!
“Stop obsessing about things you don’t like.” YES!! I’ve been struggling with an endeavor that seemed to be “drifting” from our core values–wondering if it should continue. I was so obsessed with it’s “drifting” that I almost didn’t see something new and wonderful in the midst of that endeavor this time. Then I saw it– “leadership development”. Pre-teens and teens as junior leaders were “everywhere” and making significant contributions. I found myself living out your post–the very next day and to all the constituents I got to “Go nuts when you see what you want.” The look on the lead staff members face was telling–it seemed as though she also was “discovering this new development right along with me.” A great moment of affirmation and celebration that will now bring this new feature into greater focus for the next iteration of this endeavor. Thanks for being my guide “narrating” the pitfalls and blessings of this leadership journey!
Thanks Scott. I love that you brought your story into this post. You started making me think that, in some cases, developing people is more important than what you are doing. (Within reason of course.)
Here’s to continued success.
PS…one challenge people-developers face is getting things done in a timely manner. Developers are happy as long as people are being developed. Doers want to get something done! I’m a developer and have found the value of keeping doers in my inner circle. (People who push to get something done. Everything isn’t about development for them.)
Number 1 is a reality check for me. After working for a company for almost 16 years and then being let go due to work force reduction, I find myself constantly comparing my new company to the old company and focusing on all of the things that I don’t like instead of focusing on what I want. As a leader I can see these attributes in others, but it is important to recognize it in myself as well. Great insight.
Thanks Rhonda. I’m with you. It’s so easy to see what others should do. 🙂 Congratulations on turning the spotlight on yourself. Here’s to greater effectiveness and fulfillment. 🙂
What drives leaders crazy?
People that don’t know what they want.
People who do not apply themselves to their fullest abilities to accomplish their jobs.
Not giving 100% on everything they do everyday.
Not asking questions and assuming what to do.
People who do not listen during the meeting and say I didn’t hear that. How about” I’m sorry did not catch the entire scope of work”, could you please repeat?
How might leaders move from “don’t want” to creating what they want?
Provide solutions for “those who don’t know” toward a path of “they do know”.
Creating what you want needs direction from yourself as well as others deciphering what you or they want!
Creating what you the leader wants takes patience, fortitude and vision.
That all combines with life’s lesson’s as we all learn on our journey.
Thanks Tim. I didn’t get past your first sentence before a chuckled. But the list just got better. Yo made me think about rushing to get something done before clarifying what needs to be done.
You final suggestions have the feel of open honest collaboration. Something that’s easy to say but takes time, focus, and energy to accomplish. Cheers
Dan,
Glad you chuckled, Good for us to do! Just a few items that I have seen! Surely development of people takes time and direction.
I started doing #1 when I’m driving, actually, and I have seen crazy results within myself. I would always obsess over how other people were driving – if I passed them, they were too slow; if they passed me I would say, “am I not fast enough for you?” I couldn’t win mentally until I just stopped caring. Now it’s time to apply it to my leadership and start obsessing over things that I want.
Thanks Nick. Ouch… Your application to driving is challenging. I’m a competitive driver. I’m not saying any more. 🙂
“Train yourself to obsess about what you do want” – those are the stand out words for me. The more I turn my attention to that, the more success I have, and the less I end up being driven crazy. Or driving someone else crazy!