Welcome to Friday 411, issue #105. In 4 minutes, with 1 insight and 1 action, you’ll gain an inside peek into four of the biggest leadership challenges our readers are facing.
1 Insight
Leadership can feel lonely and isolating, like you’re the only one struggling. The more leaders share challenges, the better we support each other.
We recently sent a one-question survey to you, our readers. We asked: “What is the biggest challenge you’re facing in leadership right now?”
The responses ranged from deeply insightful to outright hilarious. One person simply wrote:
“Stupid people.”
Haven’t we all been there? Either dealing with “stupid people” or (let’s be honest) being the “stupid person” someone else is struggling with.
As we (with the help of ChatGPT) analyzed the responses, four clear themes emerged. If you’re a leader, chances are you’ve wrestled with at least one of these. We’ll share the themes, direct quotes from responders, and thoughts on what this tells us about leadership.
1. The Leadership Mindset:
One respondent said: “I don’t FEEL like a leader. I fear conflict. It seems like leaders don’t fear conflict. People want certainty, but I know I can’t give them certainty. Certainty is an illusion.”
This quote struck us because of its sheer authenticity. We’ve talked to hundreds of leaders who have expressed the same sentiment: being in the position of leadership but not feeling like a leader. Leaders struggling with imposter syndrome is common.
Insight:
Your leadership is bigger than you. It reaches beyond your own self-interests and stretches into seeking the best for your organization and the people you lead. You are in the position you’re in because someone saw something in you they need.
There is not one standard cookie-cutter design of a leader. Some leaders don’t fear conflict. Some do. Some leaders are naturally wired to operate with certainty. Some have to move without it.
Good leaders take time to develop the Competence that their people and their company need from them. It’s okay to admit you don’t feel like a leader. It’s not okay to let that feeling rob the people you lead of you being one.
2. Generating Clarity:
This theme popped up in multiple ways:
- Some people struggle with a sense of personal clarity. As one reader said, “My biggest challenge is focusing on what is most important.”
- Some struggled with creating clarity for their team: “I struggle getting all of the team to buy into the change.”
- Still other weren’t clear on what the higher-ups in the organization want: “I don’t always [understand] all the company changes.”
Insight:
Clarity is one of the most difficult challenges of leadership. For those looking to create Clarity for yourself and your team, there are four questions to answer regularly:
- Where are we going?
- How are we getting there?
- What is each person’s role in getting there? (including your own role)
- Why is it important to get there in the first place?
For those looking for better understanding from their higher-ups, schedule 15 minutes with them to ask questions like: It’s important to me to understand where we’re headed so that I can do my best work. Can you help me better understand our goals so that we can align our priorities?
3. Talent Management:
Hiring and keeping great people isn’t just an HR issue—it’s a leadership challenge.
As one person succinctly stated, “The biggest challenge is talent acquisition and teammate retention.”
Another pointed out that in a post-pandemic world, people aren’t prioritizing work the way they used to. They’ve re-evaluated their values, and work isn’t always at the top.
Insight:
Attracting and keeping talent begins with engaging the talent you currently have. The key to engaging people has nothing to do with ping-pong tables or free snacks. (Unless, of course, you have an employee named Garland, and it’s free Doritos. His engagement spikes with free Doritos.)
In our research at AdVance Leadership, we’ve found four actions that drive retention and engagement:
- Generate Clarity (see the #2 issue above)
- Facilitate Community
- Create a Healthy Culture
- Develop Leaders
4. Trust Issues:
Trust—or lack of it—was a huge theme in the survey. Leaders struggled both with:
- Trusting managers. One person shared: “My supervisor is a micromanager. He sees only dollars, not value.” Another stated, “There’s a person in leadership who enjoys the title but doesn’t put the effort into taking care of the details of being a leader.”
- Trusting direct reports. Another said: “Being afraid of showing trust and love to an employee only to find out that they are leaving for a competitor for a higher pay.”
Insight:
Trust in leadership is tricky for several reasons:
- We must give trust before anyone can earn it.
- Trust is not always reciprocated. You can’t lead without giving it, but there’s no guarantee that you’ll get it back.
- Sometimes the best way to build trust (especially with those above us) is to see they’re struggling and ask how you could help them.
Thanks to everyone for participating in this survey. You helped us better understand what you face every day. We hope you feel a camaraderie with your fellow leaders and know you’re not in this alone. Look for future newsletters continuing to address these challenges.
1 Action:
Identify which of these four themes you are struggling with the most. Dig into the insights and follow the links to formulate an action plan.