Double-Minded Leaders

Recently, I was talking with a business owner of a multi-million-dollar business. He has 150-200 employees at any given time. His frustration was with a few of his top inner circle leaders who wanted to be leaders in theory, but not in practice, leaving him wondering where their loyalties might lie. He said, “Some on my leadership team have a hard time drawing the line between having a working relationship with an employee and trying to be their friend. They don’t want to risk having the friend get mad when holding the friend/employee accountable.” His leaders wanted their cake and wanted to eat it too. They were double-minded, defined as having a wavering mind: UNDECIDED. In this instance the constant swinging from boss to friend and back again.

Making a misstep or having poor judgement regarding how and when to BE the leader, not the friend, can create a toxic situation that will endanger productivity, safety, customer service and eventually your paycheck and the organization’s profitability.

Here are a few things to ponder when addressing doublemindedness in your personal leadership:

-One, be clear on whether you want to be liked OR respected and productive. Trying to have both is counter-productive and detrimental to your success. You may have friends at work, but work is not where you should be looking to make your only friendships, especially with those that work with you. Be friendly, respectful, but not “buddy-buddy” let’s hang out after work friends. It makes it hard to do the right things when the leader is afraid the worker will not be their friend anymore.

-Two, remember your role as the leader.  You and your team are at work to get a job done and to do it very well. You must be completing a service or creating a product that people need or want. If not, you may not be in business long or they may find someone else to do your job.

-Three, the bottom line is that there is a job to do and with that comes accountability to the ones who issue the paycheck and the products or services provided to the customers whose business makes the paycheck possible. With that comes policies to enforce, performances to discuss and annual reviews to conduct.  If I cannot do that job, I do everyone a disservice and need to change jobs.

“Most people fail at whatever they attempt because of an undecided heart. Should I? Should I not? Go forward? Go back? Success requires the emotional balance of a committed heart. When confronted with a challenge, the committed heart will search for a solution. The undecided heart searches for an escape. A committed heart does not wait for conditions to be exactly right. Why? Because conditions are never exactly right.” ~Andy Andrews

Be strong, lead with commitment and courage.

Jeff