Beware Of The Single Factor Leadership Skill Temptation

By single factor, I mean being lured into trying to rely on only one leadership skill to lead at your best.

Hey look, we hear, see and read about it all the time. ‘Just do this”. In our seek simple solutions world, there’s the hunt for doing basic things that make us better-whether in leadership, athletics, nutrition or workout programs. That “just do this” can be well meaning or simply put forward with a lack of understanding or I suppose “self-serving” marketing.

If there was this just one or two or three things, don’t you think our worlds leadership would be applying them and just awesome in their roles? That’s clearly not the case. There are wild, even grossly insane gaps and inconsistencies in leadership effectiveness.

The full leadership skill set is vast. The application of those skills requires situational agility, meaning more or less of each skill is needed depending on the context. It’s multifactorial and somewhat algebraic-with a formula that must dynamically change. Some leadership situations require application of just a few skills. Other more complex ones require many more (maybe >12) to be used concurrently. Yes, concurrently.

So no, it’s not easy and many leaders try and just get by with the basics. The best leaders are on a continued education journey, meaning every day they invest in learning more about themselves and how to lead better.

if you are concerned that you too have been on a single (or two or three-you know what I mean) factor journey for too long and deep in your heart know that the time has come to be way more invested, then make that decision now. The trajectory of your leadership effectiveness journey is yours to make. No one else is going to do that for you in the same way you can. Make the decision. Change your trajectory.