Why Leadership Sucks

Is it lonely at the top? It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a long-endured myth. 

 

No, leaders aren’t necessarily friends with their team members or line staff. They can be friendly without being friends. That doesn’t mean that they should isolate. Specifically, if you’re finding yourself lonely, alone, and frustrated, you’re doing it wrong.

 

Surrounding yourself with people who are also pushing to serve greatly acts to inspire and propel. When you seek coaching to get an outside perspective on your personal and professional processes (yes, both), you begin to excel past where you’ve been.

 

The language choices here are deliberate.

 

• Push.
• Serve Greatly.
• Excel.

 

The reason that leaders get burned out is that… they don’t actually lead.

 

That’s a surprising truth you may not have wanted to admit. You’re busy trying to run your organization, division, unit, section, family. There are logistics you’re putting in place. And… you’re not leading. You’re probably under-communicating and over-expecting in terms of the results you’re after. 

 

The reality is that leading doesn't suck. Leadership sucks because you’re probably not valuing the right things. 

• Your time. Does everything have to be done by you? Nope! In fact learning to delegate is a true art. (Pssssstttt. That’s delegate, not abdicate. Give tasks to others AND follow up regularly.)
  
  
• Your health, energy, vitality. 
• Attend to how you’re sleeping, eating, breathing, moving, gesturing, and… smiling! Yes, new research has validated that the act of smiling positively impacts your physiology. And additional new research indicates that there are huge benefits to playfulness. 
  
  
• Your people.
• The top two things that anyone in any organization (from your family to your company) want are: 1) meaningful engagement and 2) to be acknowledged for their contributions. Specifically, “Give me something that matters, then tell me you notice how what I’m doing makes a difference.” 
  
  
• Your financial resources. 
• You’ve got to track it, not obsess. You’ve got to get past old stories you’ve told yourself and break through set-points you’ve had. And, you’ve got to delegate (not abdicate) some of the tracking so that you can keep a high-level perspective.
  
  
• Your growth and development. 
• People who invest in themselves are healthier and happier. Sure in the 80s and 90s it was a “must be nice” thing. If you look at the people who invested in themselves from back then, they’re miles ahead of those that didn’t. Well, welcome to 2020 where self-improvement really IS a thing.  A coach who can offer you an outside perspective and a mindset shift will make a world of difference to how fulfilled you are in your life.

 

Putting all of this together allows you to lead and to feel like every single day matters. You awaken charged and ready. You’re happy, you’re grateful, and you’re living life in love. (What, leaders in love? That sounds like a bad romance novel.) Yep! When you love who you are, who you surround yourself with, who you serve, and how you play, your life is amazing.

 

What’s more amazing, ALL of that is a choice.

You choose how you show up.

You choose how you attend to yourself and to your team.

 

Leading doesn’t suck and leadership doesn’t have to either.

 

Growth choices – ask yourself if you’re making those.

 

Happy September! Go crush it!

 

~ Dr P ~

 

Curious about how to uplevel your game? 

Go check out www.StuckAtTheTop.com and get one of the VERY LIMITED seats at next month’s in-person mastermind retreat.  Fewer than seven seats remain for this exclusive meeting. Priced affordably. Are you in?