Lead Simply To Lead Well

In my years of leadership, I’ve noticed a frustrating phenomenon. That is the process in which we make simple concepts into extremely complicated and convoluted processes.

Instead of leading simply, we make it so that we’re leading complexly. Then we wonder why leadership is so hard.

You can lead simply and lead well

We Make Leadership Harder Than It Needs To Be

Leadership can appear very complex when you look at it from the outside. Heck, leadership appears complex from the inside as well.

Or that’s the way we make leadership appear.

Over the course of our time as a leader, we can make it much more complex than it needs to be.

We begin using corporate jargon that takes a practicing lawyer to understand. We create process flows that only a structural engineer can decipher.

We place barrier after barrier to leadership. We make leadership way harder than it needs to be.

Make Leadership Simple Again

Leadership doesn’t have to be complex. In fact, leadership is very easy.

One of the things I loved about my chat with Steve Cochram of GiANT Worldwide was hearing their desire to have a middle schooler understand the verbiage used. That’s big.

This brought back to my mind the concept of Simple Leadership.

We don’t need more complex leadership. We need leadership that everyone can understand.

Today, let’s look at ways we can simplify leadership.

Get rid of corporate jargon: We like to make ourselves sound, and feel, smart. That’s why we create words for our organizations that others won’t understand.

We can then explain it to them. They can then “see the light” and you’ll look brilliant.

Yeah, that doesn’t typically happen. The people you’re trying to look smart to walk away shaking their heads and feeling confused.

Instead, use words that clearly describe your mission, your vision, and what you’re doing. Get rid of the wordiness and bring back the clarity.

Remove extraneous layers: Organizations can quickly grow. Through this growth, we add layer upon layer to the organization.

Before we know it, we have 10 layers of leadership.

Re-examine your organizational structure. See what kind of leadership you have in place.

Check yourself if it’s too complex and deep.

Get to the core of business: Not only can the layers of an organization begin to rapidly increase, so can the business itself.

We feel the allure to add more programs or products to our offerings. You don’t see it happen but then there are 100 categories of products and none of them are excellent.

This is another area you need to re-examine. See what products are core to your business. See what products are underperforming.

Then begin to prune. Prune away the subpar products. Prune away the fluff.

Get to the core.

Leadership doesn’t have to be complex. We can create simple organizational leadership that makes everyone’s lives better.

Question: How are you leading simply? Share your tips in the comment section below and help others to lead with simplicity.
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