“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” – Henry Ford
I’ve never met a leader, good or bad, who believed that everything about their business was perfect. Even the least self-aware leaders understand that some things are not the way they need to be for their organizations to function at their highest possible level. That’s a pretty obvious statement.
The same thing is true for the leaders themselves. Virtually all leaders are aware of and even comment on things they do that could be improved, or things about their role or situation that need to be better. They know everything isn’t ideal.
What’s always been amazing to me is the percentage of leaders who observe things that aren’t going well, complain about those things, and then continue on with the exact same behavior that got them in that mess in the first place. They make no change, and maybe don’t even try to make change. Then the next year rolls around, the situation is the same, and they complain some more.
There are endless reasons for that, but the point is that things aren’t just going to get better. Your situation will not improve if you keep doing exactly the same things in the exact same way. You’ll keep getting the same results over and over and over again.
Think about some part of your situation as a leader that you aren’t happy with. Maybe it’s your failure to accomplish a certain goal, or your inability to build a high-performing team, or your horrible life balance. Look in the mirror and honestly ask yourself: What have I actually done to change this?
You can’t keep walking down the same path year after year and wonder why you keep ending up at the same destination. If you want to end up somewhere new, you need to change paths. It will likely be difficult, and it almost certainly will require hard work, but if difficulty and hard work scare you into inaction, then don’t pretend you’re a leader.
You don’t have to fix everything today. But pick one thing and figure out what that new path looks like. Then get on that path and start moving. It’s the only way anything will ever change.
