A version of this article first appeared in Inc.com
Listen to Les McKeown read this blog post:
You had a perfectly reasonable strategic plan for this year, but you came up short.
You have a team of highly performing individuals, but you seem to be endlessly discussing the same issues over and over.
You make great decisions, but surprisingly few of them get effectively executed.
What’s going on?
If any or all of the above apply to you, chances are high that there is someone on your team who is (consciously or unconsciously) acting as a barrier to your future growth.
Here are the four most likely candidates:
1. The Arsonist Visionary.
Yes, you need someone to bring vision, creativity, innovation, high energy to the organization.
But instead, you’re getting endless new initiatives, neck-snapping shifts in focus, near-religious (but short-lasting) “aha’s” and an inability to follow through that is sapping everyone else’s energy, and pulling your business from ditch to ditch.
Here’s the kicker: This arsonist Visionary might be you.
2. The Maverick Overachiever.
The same hard-charging Operator who was your biggest asset in years gone by has somehow morphed into a high-performing jerk.
Addicted to heroic acts of leadership, they paddle their own canoe, refuse to follow process, antagonize most everyone they have to work with, and have somehow managed to work a ju-jitsu power switch whereby you’re frightened to raise almost anything with them because of the grief and angst involved.
And yet…they have built up so much sweat equity over the years that you feel hamstrung to do anything about it.
3. The Bureaucratic Processor.
You know you need rock-solid systems and processes to scale your organization, but the left-brain Processor you hired to install and oversee those systems seems to believe that adherence to process is all that matters.
They exhibit next to no understanding of your overall strategic goals, and manifest little desire to even begin to understand them.
‘Compliance’ has become a mantra, and you can see that over-dependence on systems and processes is slowing your growth as well as draining everyone else’s alignment and engagement.
4. The Ineffective Synergist.
Yes, it’s important that your team act cohesively, and yes, you know that emotional intelligence, social skills and all that other ‘soft’ stuff is important, but really, is it necessary for us to spend so long in kumbaya-like, rah-rah gatherings?
You brought Joe in because he seemed to know how to bring a team together and motivate people, but it would be really good to see him actually get some work done as well.
Plus, your other team members appear to be avoiding him like the plague…maybe because they’d like to get some actual work done, too.
If you have any of these outliers on your team, here’s the bad news: If you want to succeed next year, you’ll have to let them go.
The good news? Once you do, the performance of the rest of the team will rise immediately, and enormously.
How can you be sure you have the strategies and team you need to succeed? Join us for the ultimate strategic workshop. Get details here.