A Leadership Flat Line

What would you want a doctor to do if this is what was showing on your monitor at the hospital?

  

Would you want the doctor to keep continuing what they were doing despite the results?

Would you want the doctors to spend their time diagnosing how the flat line was really the patient's fault?

Would you want the doctor to put together a long range plan to begin to get a pulse?

OR

Would you want the doctors to change their current method because of the data on the monitor?

Would you want the doctors to hold themselves personally accountable for changing the results on the monitor?

These questions may sound absurd considering that we are talking about a life or death situation.  You would never want the doctor to behave according to the first set of questions.  

The most effective leaders would not exhibit these behaviors either.  Replace doctor(s) with leader(s) in each of the questions above.   The data would be around the goals of the organization that the leader is in charge of.  How many leaders have you seen behaving according to the first set of questions?  Many organizations are exhibiting flat lines and yet the leader continues to act in the same manner that brought on the failure.  

This resonates with me as the three of us are attempting to go from struggling to finish one mudder in 2011 (some of us struggled more than others) to training and competing in the World's Toughest Mudder in 2013.  We certainly couldn't continue to train the way we did for our inaugural mudder.  We cannot even continue to employ the exact regimen that led to success in Pennsylvania and two laps in Carolina.  At some point we will likely stall and flat line (hopefully only figuratively speaking) during this year in the mud.    

One of Many Funny Signs on the Course

We have already posted in the first two months about regrouping, preparing differently, and overcoming obstacles.  You will undoubtedly see this trend of adversity, failure, and learning continue throughout our year.  If these aren't also trends for you as you go after your goals then you may not be aiming high enough.  

Leaders must lead differently to spike a flat line in data.  How can you as a leader begin to bring your organization back to life?

You may need to grab the paddles...countdown and CLEAR your leadership practices.