'My Black Dog'​ and other Leadership Progress Inhibitors

Marshall Goldsmith wrote the book, “What got you here, won’t get you there” and I have seen many of the 24 symptoms he identified play out. But I have also seen a few others along the way and so thought I would share the behaviours or attitudes that we see inhibiting leaders from progressing on their leadership journey.

The old “My Black Dog”.
This is the old adage of “my black dog is blacker than your black dog”. It speaks to your need to always have a better story, always need to one up, always need to have a say, a need to win. Park your ego for a minute and question if what you say actually adds value and lifts their story/the story or just tries to trump them to leave you on top.

The Hard-ar$e Task Master.
You got to where you are by being hard-nosed, getting things through your personal hard graft, hitting deadlines, being uncompromising on yourself and others. To progress you now need to learn how to bring people with you, coach, support and delegate. Yes, there still needs to be accountability and drive, but it’s not necessarily what you do – it’s how you do it.

The JD checker.
Your job description (JD) as a senior leader is table stakes. That little statement at the finish that says ‘and anything else that can be reasonably asked of you” – don’t wait to be asked. Show everyone what else you bring, how you can work across the business with others, and add value outside your role. What’s your X-factor? If it’s outside your comfort zone, even better you might just learn and grow. Don’t be one-dimensional.

Not creating a ‘safe space’.
How do you as a leader create a safe space for people to try stuff and fail? To speak up when they stuff up? Or if they need help, to own their mistakes etc? This is the only way people grow. The opposite is cover-ups, arse covering, politics and hesitance which is especially seen in traditionally hierarchical organisations. You need to create a safe space for those you lead and you start that by being open, transparent and vulnerable.

Underperformer Focus.
Sometimes it would appear that underperformers suck up a lot of our time. But whist we need to deal with under-performance (because the biggest demotivator for high performers is underperformers not being dealt with) try to spend more time developing your talent. They are the future of your business.

‘My Department’ Syndrome.
Ever heard yourself say “My department is ok”, or “that doesn’t fit with my priorities, you will have to work around me”? This tends to be caused by thinking within your own silo and that what you do is more important than anyone else. Senior leaders need to be working across the business more than into their immediate teams and they need to see the business as a whole.

The nice guy or girl.
You should absolutely have authentic, positive, connective, genuine caring relationships with those who work around you, but this should not inhibit our need to hold people accountable for their actions, performance or behaviour through having courageous conversations. People notice what you deal with and don’t deal with and that sets the standard. When I was in the military I was always told I was ‘too familiar’ calling soldiers by their first names – but I also never had a problem talking to someone for not delivering on expectations or performing. Remember, you can't and don't need to be liked by all of your people all of the time.

Caught in Minutia & Status Quo.
You need to create the ability and mechanisms to rise out of the daily whirlwind and see the bigger picture, delegate the minutia and monitor it. Don’t get caught in the delivery trap. If you are doing that, then you will never be creative enough to see the opportunities to innovate or improve. And if you can’t see that – you’ve been there too long.

Being a great technician or specialist.
Being great at your area of expertise gave you the foundation that got you here, but you need to be able to become a generalist and leverage your technical knowledge to have leadership conversations to develop others. You need to develop your management and people leadership skills to go further, while still drawing on your expertise.

PS - that is my black dog, Cooper, and he is a real 'dude'.

This article was contributed by Greg Allnutt, Partner and Strategic Advisor, Pivot & Pace.