Being in a position of leadership can be challenging and emotionally taxing. Throughout the leadership journey it can feel like you aren’t making an impact, but you may be wrong. So in this post I shall simplify what it means to make an impact as a leader.
In order to understand what “making an impact” means, you first need to understand what it means to be a true leader. With that, I share my definition of a true leader below:
“A leader is one who leverages their influence by using their experience to adapt and exhibit the right behaviours to influence any situation to create a positive outcome for all”
For the purpose of this article I’d like to you to ignore the middle of the definition and focus on the words:
“A leader is one who creates a positive outcome for all”
Focusing on this part of the definition shows that this is the ultimate aim for a leader, to create a positive outcome. Let’s look at a couple of examples.
Example #1
You are leading a team of ten to deliver a £10m software upgrade in a short period of time. One of the team, Dave, is having a difficult time and is struggling to perform. You learn from Dave that this is because of pressures at home and at work mean that he is feeling very stressed and tired. This creates a challenge for you as, not only is his poor performance affecting the team’s outcome, but he is having mental health difficulties. By ignoring his feelings and the team’s needs, you will not create a positive outcome. However, if you listen to his feelings and, perhaps give him some time off and extra support, then you are more likely to create a positive outcome for all.
This exact scenario happened in my time whilst leading a similar project. With the aim of creating a positive outcome, I did the latter. That decision resulted in the individual coming back refreshed and reached higher levels of performance. The decision also helped remove blockers for the rest of the team.
Example #2
You are the captain of a local sports team playing in a cup final. During the game you pick up an injury hampering your performance. You can either continue to play risking losing the game for your team, or be subbed so that another fit player can perform at the levels required. Let’s imagine you continue to play. After ten minutes your injury gets worse and your poor performance leads to the concession of a point and the loss of the final. Your choice created a negative outcome for everyone. Or, you decide to be accountable for your actions and call for a substitution. You go off and get treatment whilst the new player goes on to win the final for the team. Your decision here created a positive outcome for all.
Your ability to create, either a positive or negative outcome, is reliant on two key factors:
By being accountable, you accept that you are the leader and your actions play a pivotal role in the either, improving or decreasing the chances of success and your ability to create a positive outcome. Once you accept this, you must then trust in your ability to make decisions aligned to the above definition of a leader.
So, what exactly does it mean to make an impact as a leader? Making an impact ultimately means: to create a positive outcome, no matter how big or small. Throughout your leadership journey you will find that you can very quickly become swamped and emotionally drained from all the responsibility, expectation and decision making. This is why it is important to allocate time for reflection and determine whether you a making a positive impact or not.
If you ever feel like you deviating from your ability to make a positive impact, then refer back to the above definition. Remind yourself of what it means to be a great leader. But remember, it’s ok to make mistakes as this is all part of the journey to becoming a great leader who can regularly create positive outcomes for all.
Thank you for reading, JT
