Obstacles (Often Unseen) Leaders Must Overcome

Part 1: Isolation

Often it’s not the obstacle that you can see that causes you to stumble, but rather the obstacle you can’t see that impairs, impales, and immobilizes you.

There are always obstacles. Leaders should learn to recognize both the danger in unseen obstacles and the value of overcoming them. Many obstacles are relatively easy to recognize.  However, there are several silent, slippery slopes that the developing leader must learn to traverse with sensitivity and skill.  These obstacles are extremely personal in nature and can blind, blindside and bust the leader into pieces.  In fact, these very challenges have decimated many promising leaders throughout the epochs of history.

The developing leader must learn to recognize these intrusive, invasive, and often parasitic obstacles to their personal leadership ability, capability and capacity. Perhaps, as you read this you will discover that you have been blinded in one of the following areas.

Three obstacles that have the power to derail a leader’s position and destroy his influence:

1. Isolation

2. Insulation

3. Admiration

Isolation – It has been well said that “no man is an island unto himself.” Therefore, for the developing leader isolation can produce devastating results both personally and organizationally. Isolation is a statement about trust and belief. When isolation occurs for the leader it is normally a statement that communicates to the organization “I really trust only myself,” “therefore, you must believe me, if you don’t then be prepared to suffer the consequences.” Isolation is the quickest way to become an unhealthy leader of a dwindling organization.

Decision making can lead to isolation. Often times, a young, aggressive leader finds himself in a position where a decision must be made. He makes the decision with slight hesitation, but in the end, the results prove the decision right. The young leader learns to depend upon personal ability for the impetus of thought that propelled this decision and sets a track towards a future decision making process that includes a counsel of none. Right decision making is critical, but as the decisions grow seeking a counsel of trusted advisers is absolutely paramount for the leader.

Arrogance can lead to isolation. However, due to a general lack of experience, the young leader can easily build a false sense of self-confidence. This sense of false confidence is quickly viewed as arrogance by others but, justification to the young leader. This justification feels deserved and necessary for the young leader. The isolation occurs because others tend or begin withdraw from the leader. The withdrawal happens as the perception of recklessness and the perception of an unwillingness to listen increases among followers.

Isolation is fertile ground for fear. Fears fostered become paranoia. When a leader is influenced by personal paranoia the ability to trust others becomes impaired. Since a leader must inspire trust to those who follow, paranoia immediately destroys the very thing (trust) that is critical for keeping followers following. The paranoid leader allows the shadows in the mind to become obstacles. Misreading the intentions of others, manipulating information, and become excessively secretive are all by-products of the isolated leader. These by-products erode the very foundation by which followers follow and influence is increased.

One might argue that a certain degree of paranoia is healthy for the leader. Then, perhaps you have read Great by Choice by co-author Jim Collins, and begin to confuse the productive paranoia that Collins speaks of with the paranoia begat by isolation. Collins “productive paranoia” speaks of a leadership style that is prudent, conservative in respect to risk-taking, and aware of potential pitfalls on the horizon. This productive paranoia of Collins is really a collaborative exercise and mindset by which leadership is both methodical and tactical in their preparation and planning for threats and obstacles. Prudence is always a beneficial exercise. However, as Stephen Blandino states that “the idea of Productive Paranoia is not for leaders to walk around scared, afraid to make decisions and suspiciously paranoid about their employees.”

Paranoia produced by isolation has debilitating effect. The reality is that growth is neutralized and often is reversed when an isolated, paranoid leader is influencing the decisions of the organization. Paranoid leadership affects the ability to think rightly and act wisely. The isolated leader has the tendency to see obstacles that don’t exist and to miss the ones that really do exist. Other leaders often feel this before they recognize this in another leader. They feel a strain, a resistance, a lack of trust or misplaced trust from a superior that has either been better revealed to them or is different from what was previously demonstrated.

Isolation leads to viewing others as threats and rivals. Isolation produces the inability to perceive the intentions of others rightly. The isolated leader has only the ability to base their beliefs off of personal experience or thought. Since this is only their perspective and omniscience is not a human trait, it is as if they are seeing the situation wearing a blindfold. Since the isolated leader misreads the intentions of others, they are immediately viewed as a threat. It can be a threat of loyalty, a threat of security or a threat of position. Either way, the behavior of the isolated leader often becomes aggressive, secretive, manipulative, and hostile.

Real encouragement is trusted counsel. If you realize you are an isolated leader, then find one person who has been consistent and fair with you and slowly open up to them. Chances are when you begin to open up to them, nothing you say about how you think or feel will surprise them. You will need to build a small core group of trusted advisers who have the ability to freely speak truth into your life that you both receive and enact. Do not merely heap up people who always affirm what you think and are blind-cheerleaders. These kinds of cheerleaders are more enabler and admirer than encourager. Real encouragement is a form of trusted counsel that helps steer you through, around and over both seen and unseen obstacles.