Leadership in business – Symptom #4 – Frustration: I’m leading but no-one is following!

‘If you think you’re leading but no-one is following, then you are only talking a walk’. Afghan Proverb

 

 

One of the great things about leaders is that they are prepared to step out, to ‘go where no-one has gone before’. The more entrepreneurial they are, the more that applies.

 

The problem with that is that they can forget they are meant to be leading others, not taking off on their own.

 

The bigger the idea, strategy, plan, product or service, the more help leaders need to get it up and running, and to sustain it. If you are a leader with a BIG vision, you cannot do it on your own. You need a team of great people around you, who believe in you, who trust you, and who you need to nurture and build trust with so that they perform at their peak, do their best, and help make your vision a reality.

 

That feeling of running for the vision, that BIG goal, slogging your guts out, and there you are, exhausted but you can see the finish line up ahead and you turn for a moment, only to realize that you are running the race all by yourself. ‘Where did the team go?’, you wonder. At what point did you even lose them? You get frustrated because you thought you were all in this together, but guess what? They got tired. They really like you, but they no longer trust you or the vision, because you’ve forgotten to take them on the journey with you. I know, I’ve been there, and more than once!

 

This is a massive challenge for visionaries, and one that is worth sitting for a moment and considering.

 

The thing is, whilst you might actually be able to get that thing across the line, now it is totally up to you to keep it going. You are on your own. You can’t stop. You can’t take a break. That holiday you were planning – forget it. You realize that you have locked yourself into the very thing that you thought would bring you freedom.

 

However, if you can take others on the journey with you, you might take that little bit more time, or even a lot more time, it might not look exactly how you thought it was going to look, but what you get is the amazing satisfaction of watching your team celebrate together as you all cross that line.

 

You need to find out what they expect from you as a leader, what they need from you, and you need to promise them those things that are most important to them that will keep them there, 100% committed to the end goal, and trusting you and the journey.