Sometimes you get what you need.
Acceptance is a hard thing for ambitious people to accept. And since leaders are ambitious people you are, by definition, a group that typically avoids acceptance and finds a way through. This is a wonderful quality as perseverance results in progress, which is why you are leaders in the first place. Lately I have noticed a collective frustration from the collision of hurdles that leaders are required to respond to, as their usual approaches are not leading to desired results; this frustration is being expressed with increasing frequency and punctuation. I’m sharing here what I’ve already shared with some of you recently: try acceptance. I know many of you don’t want to hear this, as I’ve seen many disappointed faces, however if what you’re doing isn’t working, then it’s time to try something new.
I’d like to start by reinforcing the value of perseverance, which I also subscribe to. Think of your personal professional journey, all the goals you set for yourself and how you worked towards them, proudly meeting and surpassing them. The earlier in your career the more straight-forward the goals, where there was minimal reliance on others to achieve success. The reinforcement of success is an elixir which continues to propel that perseverance, and in turn continues to advance your career. Congratulations! These pinnacle achievements are something you should always be very proud of, however they become increasingly difficult to reproduce as your scope of responsibility widens, as is the case with higher roles.
You had more control in that earlier time. Whether it was over your own actions or the close proximity to those around you, it’s easier to find the way through hurdles when the scope is a smaller nucleus. The more complex the solutions become it leads to increased frustrations. I want to add that with the broader scope of responsibilities is also the reality that you don’t have as much information; it’s impossible to. This is the part I am zeroing in on as the reason to try acceptance - things can shift that are out of your control and continuing to be frustrated, in hindsight, can be futile. The challenges are also opportunities, and there is always opportunity to adjust your approach.
This time of year is a good time to practice acceptance, given the prevalence of people taking vacations and progress generally slowing over the summer months. The results can even surprise us, as the saying goes, when one door closes another one opens and suddenly the pieces fall into place; information that you were not privy to suddenly shifts, and a way forward appears. I’m sure you’ve had many experiences where this has happened, and I encourage you to reflect on your own, while I’ve summarized some from the collective below:
The greatest resistor suddenly shifts their outlook, agreeing to the plans.
The problem you have been trying to solve changes in some way, making the solution you were seeking no longer viable.
New information creates the urgency to propel all the pieces and people into action. Suddenly everyone is coming to you to get it going!
Time, and the space that comes from it, is what was needed to revisit the same idea with fresh eyes.
You get a promotion, a new role, moved companies, etc., and now it’s somebody else's problem! :)
Leaders, despite all the successes you’ve had and the accomplishments you’ve made, you don’t have full control over future outcomes. If it’s not working as you’d like, and if frustration keeps arising, then it’s time to try something new. Accepting the situation for what it is is, with practice, negates the frustrated emotions of things you can’t control. As The Rolling Stones said, you don’t always get what we want, but sometimes you get what you need.