Work carries a large, invisible burden: the presumption that it will provide our lives with meaning and energize our spirits. Many times, it does. But even the best leaders experience drift. What triggers it?
Burn Out
Leaders often burn the candle on both ends, leaving them burned out with no gas left in the tank and no energy or desire to maintain the required pace. Working too hard, for too long, and running on fumes, self-preservation supersedes daily responsibilities and issues. Leaders who drift from exhaustion eventually become ineffective, and their role within the organization is compromised.
Boredom
On the other end of the spectrum, I have seen drift triggered by boredom. Leaders who are denied new challenges or goals will lose interest in, and enthusiasm for, their jobs. Bored leaders have no determination or satisfaction. There’s little motivation to apply themselves to their tasks. They drift from their responsibilities, abandoning any concerns, and look for ways to escape ever-increasing monotony.
Rapid Success
Leaders who have experienced rapid success or advancement run the risk of becoming self-absorbed. Often this is based on lack of confidence, but when pride and privilege dull their sense of responsibility, and they issue directives that benefit themselves. If they see the organization as a vehicle for personal gain, they and their values have dishonorably drifted. Their actions will ultimately derail their organizations’ efforts and their careers, and they’ll wonder where they went wrong.
Risk Aversion
Leaders burned in the past by setbacks or failures may build resistance to risk-taking. Their guard is always up, and they settle into their comfort zones. Coasting is perceived to be the safer route, reducing stress and posing little risk to job security (or so they erroneously believe). Leaders who aim for comfort are assuredly in drift mode, unlikely to move their organizations forward with new programs or products.
Challenges often shuffle priorities and strain perspective on personal matters. For example, a loss of a family member, marital crisis, health scare or financial calamity can turn a leader’s world upside down, and understandably, one’s focus can quickly blur. As Brigette Tasha Hyacinth, MBA, notes in Purpose Driven Leadership: Building and Fostering Effective Teams (independently published, 2017), troubling life events can profoundly affect one’s behavior, mindset or motivation. As a result, leaders who lose their enthusiasm and determination find themselves drifting.
What do you think? Have you seen, or experienced, other leadership drift triggers? I’d love to hear from you. You can call me at 561-582-6060, let’s talk. And as always, I can be reached here, or on LinkedIn.
