“Hey boss, we have a problem!”
When we follow our calling to be leaders, get used to hearing that phrase(for a time anyways).. It is never the size of your problem that is the problem. It’s a lack of momentum. Without momentum, even a tiny little obstacle can prevent you from moving forward. With momentum, you’ll navigate through problems, grow your culture, and toxicity will remove itself and you’ll barely even notice the adversities were even happening!
As leaders, our responsibility is to understand momentum, get it moving, and to sustain it over time!
When we go to parks with our kiddos, my son loves getting on the tire swing. And getting him going to a point where it looks like he is going to lift off into orbit takes a lot of energy. I have to run around with a heavy push, slowly beginning to let go as he is gaining speed. Once he is off and moving (he has no fear), a simple “push” as he rotates by me keeps him flying high and fast(as I type this, the sound of his laugh and visual of his smile having so much fun plays in my head). It’s a lot of work at first, then I simply maintain his flight until he tells me “ok, dad, that is enough”.
The momentum we strive for as leaders is no different. It takes a lot of energy and strength to get moving, but once the synergy amongst the team is there, it takes much less energy to keep it going. The sad reality is that most people give up before they get to a point of simply maintaining the momentum they crave.
Here are a few items that as I take a “blast from the past” in my leadership playbook of building incredible momentum I thought I’d share that were some momentum gainers and also slow-downs!
1. I drained momentum from our Team when I attempted to do too much(or even worse, didn’t attempt enough of the right things): Movement causes friction. When you paint a target for your team, you’ll likely encounter resistance. As a leader, you can’t restrict yourself by living inside of someone else’s comfort zone. Great accomplishments require us to shoot past what’s easily attainable!
2. I focused too much on past problems and wasn’t focusing on the future – I’m not saying not to learn from our mistakes. Don’t get that mixed up. There is a reason the rear-view mirror is smaller than the windshield. Just don’t set up a monument at your past mistakes! Our team picks up steam when we as leaders point to a better tomorrow. Momentum breaks down when we preoccupy our people with the past. Or, as I’ve heard quoted, “Losers yearn for the past and get stuck in it. Winners learn from the past and let go of it.”…The success of an ideal tomorrow is based on what we do today. The difference between a dream and wishful thinking is what you’re doing now. Practice today what you want to be tomorrow. If you do it well enough, someday you will arrive at your dream!
3. Thinking that as a leader, I had to have all of the answers: This couldn’t have been further from the truth. Being a great leader doesn’t mean having all the answers, it means asking all the right questions! If you want to kill momentum really quickly, then insist on doing things by yourself and making everything “my way or the highway”. Remember my opening line of “we have a problem?”, this is what makes it to you when you build an “I know it all” leadership culture. Momentum grows through team victories in which numerous people know they have played a role. The level of celebration on a team depends upon the level of participation! We really started to gain momentum when I relied more on my peoples strengths, and leaned more into keeping them (and myself) in our circle of influence.
4. Recruiting and/or promoting Team Members based on skillset and not on character: If you took just one nugget of wisdom in momentum killing, it would be putting people into roles and then investing into them what they were not cut out to do, which is to lead others. Just because somebody is good at a craft, doesn’t mean they have the character to lead 1/5/10/20 people. They really don’t even have the character to lead themselves. Character is the sum total of our everyday choices. It cannot be built overnight. A trustworthy leader has a much easier time generating momentum than a leader with a reputation of being manipulative and deceitful. I’ve made this mistake a few times, and saw the drain it had on our momentum. Never again! I’ll die on that hill when I say, this will NEVER happen again!
5. Never have a “It’s good enough” mindset: This was something that was always engrained in me. As we were establishing our Core Values, Continuous Growth was one that truly stuck out with me. John F. Kennedy said, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” Sticking with the status quo won’t create a single ounce of momentum. Although it’s difficult and may demand sacrifice, change and forward movement is ALWAYS required to build momentum!
I could keep going here with past acquired wisdom through adversities, but overbogging with details and overthinking stuff is guess what? A momentum killer… So we will touch on more of these down the road! I’ll land the plane with this – Are you speeding through the obstacles in your life or struggling to get past even the smallest problems? What is responsible for building your momentum or worse, the lack of it? When we are leading through the ever changing times like we have experienced these last five or so years, people are tense, emotions are high, and bad news quickly escalates into panic. Overhanging worry and stress tempts people to abandon all hope and settle back into what feels comfortable. As a leader of today, and hope and growth dealer of tomorrow, your circumstances may be grim but your face doesn’t have to be. Smile, give encouragement, and look for any successes you can to celebrate with your people. Above all, don’t whine and complain or tolerate defeat in the attitudes of those you lead. People are relying on you to jumpstart momentum, and your response to adversity can set the tone for everyone around you!
Today is the perfect day to start!