workshops | Hard Lessons

No Bad Days Allowed

Leadership is hard. One of the things that makes it hard is there are No Bad Days Allowed.

The leader has to show up ready to lead no matter what. Flat tires aren’t an excuse. Lack of sleep is not an excuse. PMS or menopause are not excuses. Thirty over par on Saturday is not an excuse. The Titans losing on Sunday is not an excuse. And yeah, I really do mean every day—on top of your game—ready to lead in a positive way.

Consistency is an important attribute for effective leaders. Your followers need to know what to expect when you show up. If they don’t—if it is everything is great on Tuesday, but stay away on Thursday—fear and reluctance will become pervasive in the organization. Followers will spend too much time deciding if it is okay to approach you and the information you need today may not make it to your office because they are waiting for the safe time. The safe time may be too late.

So, this means that leaders have to do something that is really hard to do, leave emotions in the car—especially anger, impatience, frustration, inattention, etc. Hard to do? Yes. Impossible? No. If you need to rant and rave and throw up, do it before you show up at the office.

Remember, there are no bad days allowed for leaders. What’s at stake? Not much—just your credibility and effectiveness as a leader.