“Make sure you don’t start seeing yourself through the eyes of those who don’t value you. Know your worth even if they don’t.” – Dr. Thema Bryant
It’s easy for leaders to become reactionary on a lot of different levels. Sometimes we’re living in periods of massive change (hello 2025!) and we find ourselves jumping from one crisis to another. Sometimes we’re dealing with something outside of our careers that is demanding our time and energy, and we struggle to get even the bare minimum done at work.
We also tend to react to what other people say and think about us. I see leaders on an almost daily basis spending time on trivial things or changing course on something meaningful or backtracking on a decision because they got some kind of negative feedback. It’s as though all the thought and planning that went into whatever action they took is out the window because someone wasn’t happy about it.
We can’t lead that way. If your primary goal as a leader is to make people happy, you’re in trouble. If your primary goal as a leader is to be friends with everyone you lead, you’re in trouble. If your primary goal as a leader is to be popular, you’re in trouble. You can’t make decisions or act based on what’s going to make everybody else like you.
I’m not suggesting that as leaders we should ignore all feedback and plow ahead. Obviously, we need input from others, both before and after we take action. We need to consider the thoughts and ideas of people we trust and think about what adjustments we may need to make.
But considering thoughtful counsel is not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about leaders being afraid to do anything that could possibly be even a little unpopular. I’m talking about leaders being unwilling to try new things or make change because it might not work perfectly and then people might get upset or the leader might look foolish.
Take time to think through what you’re going to say and do as a leader. Consider input from valued sources, consider actual facts, consider everything you think matters, then go ahead. Adjust as you go, because things will always change.
Don’t allow the naysayers or people who thrive on negativity or who would rather criticize from the sidelines than act themselves drive what you do. Do what you think is best and feel good about that. Be a leader.
