The Art of Imperfect Leadership

Oh, the mistakes that I have made!  We're not talking about a few. . .we are talking about hundreds. . .thousands . . .okay, maybe hundreds of thousands.  And what would I say was one of the biggest?

Thinking that as a leader I had to be perfect.

If I was alone in this - it would not be worth talking about - but I think that so many leaders, whether in the workplace, a social environment or in the family - believe that they need to be perfect.

Think about it - the idea of leadership perfection isn't even realistic.  You know it.  Your team knows it.   So, if we believe we need to be perfect or, perhaps even worse, present a leadership persona that "cannot be wrong" we are seriously out of contact with reality.

To pretend to be perfect:

• Causes undue personal anxiety (not something we need in our professional lives)
• Makes our team distrustful of our leadership. . .if we have to be perfect, the team knows that the blame for the inevitable leadership mistake will be incorrectly laid at their feet
• Makes our leadership more distant and unapproachable

But, to admit our mistakes, apologize for our wrongs and address our shortcomings. . .makes our leadership more real.  It allows us to be more relaxed;  as opposed to holding up a veneer of perfection, we can honestly own both what we've done wrong and what we've done right.   It makes us more approachable and thus integrates us better with the team.   By demonstrating  that it is better to venture forth and possibly err versus not moving forward, we are showing the leadership we desire.

Perfection associated with self-worth is built into us from the get-go.  The perfect test in school got you an A.  The perfect performance gets raves.   The perfect look gets you lots of compliments.  I would propose, however, that a more mature view of the world not only values the search for achievement, but also allows us to acknowledge, and perhaps even have gratitude for the mistakes and errors along the way.

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My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available for e-readers,  tablets and PCs on Amazon Kindle.