Leaders That Have it All Together

. . . or who say they do, have got to be lying. If they're not, I am all washed up.

Leaders are responsible for department performance. Leading a department from point A to point B, no matter how capable the staff, can present a leader with challenges. One challenge is gaining staff support for decisions.

I asked a leadership question a few months ago. I asked, "what can I do differently to provide leadership to my staff to get us to where we need to be?" And I am still asking it now. I probably will always be asking the question, or some version of it, because I don't think I ever have it all together for any longer than a brief moment in time. I often wonder if those brief moments in time are really just an illusion anyway. 

Leaders make decisions to enhance the good, and to improve the not-so-good, aspects of their department's performance.  As a leader, you may collaborate, research, and consider feedback from others before you make a decision, but make no mistake, the decisions are your responsibility to make. And make them you will.

You will make the decisions you feel are best for your department. You will share your logic, answer questions and be respectful of others. You will expect that each member of your staff will agree with, or at the very least, accept each of your decisions. But they will not. Your staff members will respond to your decisions differently and their individual responses, depending on the decision, may range from agreement to disagreement or anywhere in between. Even though staff members may not agree with a decision, they often are able to accept it. They are able to support you and your decision, even if the decision is not the one they would have made or the one they were hoping for. 

There will be a time in your career, however, when a staff member will absolutely not be able to accept, or support, you or your decisions. And they will leave. Yes, at some point in your career you will have a staff member choose to leave your department for the decisions you make. Are you OK with that?

Oddly, I am. How refreshing.

Photo credit:iStockphoto