Can You Overcome Your Success?

All of us can probably identify a past or current scenario where an all-star leader seems to have plateaued.  They have shown early promise.  They have taken on series after series of challenging assignments and knocked those opportunities out of the park.  They seemed destined for even greater success down the road.  Mysteriously, however, something seems to have gone amiss.  There may not be problems as such, but the energy and drive that characterized past performance is gone and the pace of successful projects undertaken and completed seems to have slowed.  There may even be a range of seemingly valid reasons offered for this change - assignments are more challenging, the external environment is less favourable or even hostile to success, and there may have been turnover in key members of their support team.  Regardless, the fact is the particular leader doesn't seem to be moving the goalposts like they used to. 

Sometimes we are apt to describe this scenario as the "Peter Principle" - basically that somebody keeps getting promoted or considered for more complex and challenging leadership opportunities until they succeed in getting a position for which they do not have the requisite skills and abilities.  In this regard, I suggest that this may not be a particular failure of the individual leader, but perhaps of the organization or superior who hired or promoted them into the opportunity.  Was there a realistic assessment of whether the candidate did indeed have the leadership toolkit to succeed at the next level?  Or did both parties underestimate the size of the jump, overestimate the candidate's current skills, or neglect to assess the candidate's ability and willingness to learn.

It's this last point that I believe we too often ignore - either for ourselves as leaders or when being evaluated by others for more senior roles.  A particular challenge of success is that it can reinforce a pattern of behavior - it worked before, why wouldn't it work again?  In many sectors we do this particularly when promoting technically skilled people to their first management position.  They are a great nurse, technician, or carpenter and we then presume that what made them great at that level will allow them to easily move into a role a manger, supervisor or foreman. 

Another analogy that we're probably familiar with is that of the tradesperson who is particularly skilled at using a hammer.  If you have great skill and success with this one tool, every situation would seem to call for a hammer, until you have a plumbing problem to solve, or need to lay out a concrete foundation and so on.  The same holds true for leadership.  If you've been recognized and successful by using a limited set of tools the incentive to expand your repertoire is similarly limited.  Don't fix it if it isn't broken could be the mantra.  In fact, there may be a disincentive to invest in ongoing training, education and learning.  After all, there is real cost associated with new or ongoing learning.  Moreover, you have to have the humility to recognize the need for further development.  It may simply be easier to blame other factors - and people - for hitting the wall.

This unwillingness to learn, change and adapt can manifest itself in the form of complacency, defensiveness and even arrogance - don't need it, not me, I'm already great!  Regardless of the form it takes, the consequences for an individual leader, and the business unit or organization they lead, can be significant.  If remedial action is not taken in some reasonable timeframe business opportunities can be missed, competitive threats can be mistakenly dismissed and other organizational talent can be lost.  Eventually either the leader or organization - and sometimes both - pay a heavy price. More than one business article has been written laying out a sad path of decline for a once seemingly powerful organization because of a key leader failing to adapt to new requirements.

So how to overcome this Achilles heel of success?  First and foremost, I believe is a need for powerful personal humility.  I have always believed that the surest path to personal failure and irrelevance as a leader is to ever believe that all learning is done.  As noted before, a leader can arrive at this undesirable state either through complacency or arrogance.  This scenario is more untenable today than it has ever been with knowledge, technology and competitive factors seemingly changing daily - or even hourly!  If we think we are the experts in something just wait a minute. 

Second, today's leaders must recognize that these rapid changes demand reliance on a team of people to succeed.  Leadership - particularly at a senior level - is all about getting things accomplished by working with and achieving through others.  It is impossible to succeed without tapping into and effectively utilizing the FULL collective knowledge, skills and abilities of the team.  A leader these days perhaps needs to consider themselves less of a boss and more of a facilitator and synthesizer of knowledge that exists amongst the team. 

Closely related to this ability to work with and achieve through others - and the personal humility noted above - is a readiness to be fully open, and demanding of, honest assessments and feedback from the team and others about what is working and what is not working.  This willingness to be open to feedback must be truly authentic otherwise followers will quickly realize that their personal success and survival depends on parroting the party line.  Moreover, they will likely start looking for ways to distance themselves from any negative fallout if in fact their un-voiced expectations of failure come to pass.  To ensure long-term success, a leader has to be able to hear the good with the bad and see all feedback as an opportunity for further growth.  The leader must not only expect the full spectrum of feedback they must actively crave and pursue it.

Finally, a leader needs to continuously and vigorously evaluate his personal toolkit.  Just because a certain style, approach, frame of reference, set of assumptions or model worked in a previous position, or last year, or yesterday is no guarantee of success in meeting the next challenge.  In fact, the odds are decidedly stacked against you that your beloved metaphorical hammer will continue to do the trick.  As a leader you need to be constantly evaluating yourself, your toolkit and your frame of mind.  To continue the analogy, you need to be constantly sharpening your saw, acquiring new tools, and honing your overall leadership skills.  And you are going to have be prepared to hear and learn from a number of "instructors" or "tradespeople" along the way - your staff, your peers, colleagues, coaches, and others.  They have much to teach you if you are ready to learn.

Don't rest on your laurels.  Don't assume that what got you to your current leadership position is going to help you get to the next level - or even keep you where you are.  As a leader you need to invest as much in your own self-evaluation and redevelopment as you likely take your own organization through on a daily, monthly and yearly basis. 

Assess yourself honestly, be open to feedback, and embrace your ongoing development as a leader. 
______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.