On May 13th, Jill Abramson was dismissed from her
job as Executive Editor at the NY Times, her leadership style described as
“mercurial”. There is much debate about
what actually happened to Jill in her tenure at the Times and we will have to
wait and see how that plays out. But I was intrigued by the descriptor. Mercurial is defined as: subject to sudden or
unpredictable changes of mood or mind. For sure, this is not what we are going
for as leaders. In my work with
personality assessments I know that this risk of Mercurial leadership lives on
the darker side of very “shiny” leadership traits. Think of each of your
strengths as a coin. For every positive trait we have, there is another side of
the coin that can be less favorable.
Sometimes strengths are overused or become so specific so as to limit
our range of response in varied circumstances.
Passion
We all love Passion! Leaders who are passionate are “all in”
their investment is evident in all they do.
They are the “pedal to the metal” folks, they don’t stop until they get there.
They are drivers of innovation and results.
All very shiny traits! The risk
for these folks is the emotional investment.
When you are that engaged emotionally and constantly, you lose a bit of
the filter that keeps your responses measured and consistent. Leaders who are passionate should practice
their pacing. Seek to first harness the
emotion, create the message and then deliver.
Nothing will be lost in the translation, I promise.
Conviction
Conviction sounds great!
Confident, visionary, decisive.
All terrific traits we want in every leader. These actually sound like the opposite of
mercurial but they too are linked.
Here’s how that shows up. When a
leader is too concrete in their thinking (too “decided” if you will) they tend
to shut out new information. When you
are not moving and adapting to new challenges and circumstances you are making
yourself vulnerable. Things will not
always go your way. Once you have thrust
your heels into solid ground you are stuck.
This leaves convicted leaders trapped as circumstances inevitably are
taking a different shape. Defensive or
volatile responses often are the visible result. Then, we can observe swift shifts
to a new direction; something like abandoning a sinking ship. These shifts are
surprising and seem arbitrary and unpredictable or “mercurial”. Stay open, you don’t want
to paint yourself into that corner.
High-Standards
Okay, so we all love high standards. What’s the alternative? Low standards? You won’t see that one on any Linkedin
profile! But it can be a fine line
between high standards and “impossible to please”. When a leader seems so stringent in their
standards, people check out, feeling that nothing is good enough. Or team members may do their very best to hide their
perceived shortcomings keeping a myriad or impending risks and disasters out of
the leader’s view. This mutually
vulnerable equation can spell disaster.
Appreciating the fact that our positive traits all pose the
risk of a darker translation is healthy and realistic. We all want to leverage our strengths but we
need to keep an eye to how we use these super-powers.
5 essential habits to help you stay on the heads-up side of the coin…
- Think from the outside in. Practice reading the social cues of others.
- Fast forward. Predict likely outcomes of the position you are taking.
- Share your frame of reference. Tell them why.
- Have patience. Focus on appreciating those who see things differently.
- Filter your responses. Slow the pace and think before you react.
image credit: q-law.com
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