“One should pay attention to even the smallest crawling creature, for these too may have a valuable lesson to teach us.” – Black Elk
Last week in this space the idea was that leaders need to make decisions and deal with issues that need to be dealt with, rather than hesitating until someone or something else essentially makes the decision for them. Someone responded and said that sounds great, but there are so many things leaders deal with, how can they possibly know enough to make those decisions?
Excellent point. Leaders today are bombarded with issues, challenges, opportunities, questions, dilemmas, and on and on. Most leaders I know are exhausted by everything coming their way. Even if they understand it all, it’s still overwhelming.
Of course, on top of that, they don’t understand it all. Things change so quickly that almost no one can completely understand their markets, competitors, customers, technologies, etc. Maybe they really understand one piece, but the others seem like some kind of language they don’t speak.
There are two solutions to all of that. First, leaders in 2024 can never stop learning. That sounds simple enough, but there are a lot of people in leadership roles, particularly those who’ve been there for a while, who seem to think that they can coast to retirement. They act as though they’ve learned enough to get them to the end, so therefore they can just use whatever they’ve figured out so far and it’ll be “good enough”.
It won’t be good enough. If you’ve decided that the time for you to learn is past, then do yourself and your organization a favor and get out of whatever leadership role you’re in. Constant learning is part of the job, so either do the job or let someone else do it.
Second, leaders in 2024 need to acknowledge that all of this is hard, and find some help. Don’t adhere to the belief that the leader is supposed to know everything, or even most things. Admit you don’t know everything, embrace it, and surround yourself with people who can help. If technology is a weakness, then hire/outsource/consult with someone for whom it’s a strength. If you don’t understand finance, find someone who can help with that segment of your business.
Whatever you do, don’t just sit there. You need to learn whatever you can, and you need to create a team to help with the rest. Don’t just let the world pass you by. Embrace the change and keep moving forward.
