From the Desk of Colonel John

Success is a wonderful thing.

It can also be dangerous.

The habits, instincts, and leadership approaches that helped us succeed become deeply reinforced over time. Why wouldn't they? They worked.

But leadership changes as responsibility grows.

What made you successful leading twenty people may not work when you lead two hundred. What worked when you were the expert may get in the way when your responsibility is developing other experts.

The challenge is that success rarely announces when it has become part of the problem.

It just keeps whispering:

Keep doing what you've always done.

Perhaps the better question for this quarter is:

What has your success taught you that you may now need to unlearn?

Leadership Article: When Success Blinds Us

Successful leaders have evidence.

They have been promoted.
They have produced results.
People seek their advice.
They know what works.

And that is precisely where the danger can begin.

Success can convince us that because something worked before, it remains the right answer now.

The executive who built a career by solving problems becomes the senior leader who solves too many of them.

The decisive leader becomes the leader who no longer listens long enough.

The expert becomes the bottleneck.

None of these leaders suddenly became ineffective. In fact, most are still quite successful.

The harder question is this:

Could they be even better if they stopped relying on some of the very things that made them successful?

Leadership growth does not always require adding something new.

Sometimes it requires letting go.

Tip or Resource

Ask one person you trust this question:

"What is something I do well that I may be overusing?"

Then listen.

Do not explain it.
Do not defend it.
Do not tell them why you do it.

Just listen.

You may learn more from that conversation than from another book, assessment, or leadership seminar.

Coming in January: A Women's Leadership Experience

At the end of January, Fortitude will begin a new five month leadership experience designed for a small group of accomplished women leaders.

One day each month.

Not another seminar. Not a series of lectures.

Leadership development, coaching, candid conversation, reflection, and the opportunity to work through the challenges that come with greater responsibility and the next chair.

The group will be intentionally small because the value will come from the quality of the people in the room and the conversations we are willing to have.

We will share more soon.

If someone immediately came to mind as you read this, I would be interested in knowing who she is.