I’ve been captivated by a word I came across in an article by Robert Martin; leadershock. He used the word to describe the paralysis experienced by leaders who are overwhelmed with information and remain indecisive.

The formula for Leadershock:

Step #1

Read too many leadership books.

Step #2

Be apathetic, indecisive and uncertain because you read too many leadership books and have not formed concrete ideas of your own but merely marveled at the concepts of others.

Step #3

Second-guess everything and spin out of control.

It doesn’t matter if it’s paralysis from reading or some other reason, I suspect you can relate to being hesitant about taking action for one reason or another.

One of our clients recently described for me how he had applied a learning from a session with his team. It was something so simple; Ask the team how they were doing instead of jumping right into tasks as means of communicating value. This small simple action made a significant difference in his team. In fact, they were shocked! It reminded me that for all of our reading, theory, and tools there is no substitute for the pattern of learning and doing something quickly.

Here’s my advice for young or perhaps seasoned leaders who feel like they don’t know enough or are internal perfectionists who can’t act until what they deliver is flawless.

Stop the cycle.
Form convictions and do something.
Get some experiences and failures of your own as you are doing something.

#GiANTworlwide #leadership #leadershock #cycle