The challenge comes to anyone who has ever lead an organization. When things retract, what do you do? The natural inclination I think is to look for things to cut, hunker down, and look out for dangers in the market place. It just makes sense, right?
It does...and it doesn't.
The problem with this mentality is that it is created, I think, from fear. As a leader you are trying to react to the market place to make sure nothing (more) bad happens. I get it...and have done it.
But leading from fear creates many (unintended) consequences. When a leader is operating from a fear mindset I think they are often:
1) Not looking for bold new ways to grow the business. As Wayne Dyer says, you cannot create abundance from a scarcity mindset.
2) Not looking for ways to innovate within the the organization.
3) Eliminating innovation when they see it. Innovation often disguises itself as "change." And the fearful leader is not interested in change. The fearful leader wants to maintain.
Of course this not only stifles creativity within the organization, but also drives away those that are the most innovative. They have no interest in being a part of an organization that stifles them in the first place. Unfortunately, those are the folks that can often make the biggest positive impact in the long term.
No comments:
Post a Comment