15 leadership lessons that leaders learned the hard way
Leadership positions may be the stuff of envy. From the outside, it can look like the person in charge has it all figured out. But leaders are human, too. And that means bumping up against some harsh realities as they ascend to roles with increasing responsibility. Great leaders take the lessons they learn along the way and make it part of the way they do business. We asked members of the Fast…
1. Selling Your Vision
Blake Brannon, from OneTrust, discovered that merely having a sound strategy is not enough to gain internal buy-in. He learned the hard way that actively selling the vision internally, as rigorously as they promote the product externally, is crucial. This selling process must be continuous, far longer than anticipated, for people to internalize and adopt the new direction, making it their own.
Leadership, according to Brannon, is not about setting direction but about the persistent effort of getting people to embrace that direction as much as the leader does.
2. Slow to Speed Up
Alex Triplett, from You.com, encountered a significant leadership lesson while focusing on efficiency. He realized that attempting to do everything quickly and efficiently individually does not scale. To maximize impact and leverage, leaders should take the time to explain the reasoning behind their decisions, the approach to problem-solving, and the execution plan.
Leaders should coach and provide feedback, allowing others to experiment, fail, learn, and ultimately succeed. This method allows leaders to have a broader impact on an organization and leverage its full potential.
Written by urgent.news from Fast Company's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
