Are You Choosing Your Problems?

Photo by Kyle Johnston

Good News & Bad News

You have problems.

You are going to have more problems.

Solving today's problems allows you to tackle a whole new set of problems tomorrow.

Problems & Leadership

Problems, challenges, difficulties, struggles - whatever you call them, problems are not unique to leaders. Problems are part of living. If you are alive, you will have problems.

Leaders just choose a particular set of problems.

Choose Your Problems

You do not get to choose IF you will have problems.

But often, you do get to choose WHICH set of problems you will have.

Effective leaders don't spend time trying to avoid problems. Rather, they put their energy into working on the right set of problems. 

Which set of problems are the right ones? That depends on your values, vision, and goals. What are you trying to do? Which set of problems, once solved, will get you closer to where you want to be?

How It Works

Here's a sample we're all familiar with: We can choose a set of problems related to exercise - finding time, dealing with discomfort, etc. Or we can choose a set of problems related to carrying extra pounds and lack of strength.

Now for a leadership example: You have a team member who consistently under-performs and others team members are carrying extra responsibility. 

You've got a choice of problems: You can choose problems related to ignoring the situation - your team is stressed, the individual never improves their abilities, and your leadership credibility declines. 

Or you can choose problems related to addressing the situation - learning how to have performance conversations, being disliked or misjudged, and the discomfort of confrontation.

Each set of problems leads to different outcomes. Which do you want?

Freedom

There is great freedom when you realize that problems are unavoidable and begin choosing which ones you will have. No longer is your energy wasted in the hopeless effort of avoidance.

You will even find yourself energized as you live in alignment with your own values, vision, and goals.

Read More:

The Only Way Out
Lead from the In-Between
One Word to Freedom
Book Review: The Oz Principle
Book Review: The Question Behind the Question

Take care,

David M. Dye

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

The Only Way Out

Photo by Mahatma4711

"Remember, you chose this."

Those words were spoken to me nearly twenty years ago. I was complaining about a difficult leadership situation that called for personal sacrifice on my part. The friend I was talking with listened quietly and then responded with those few words.

I think about those words when I encounter emerging leaders who are hungry for power. Accepting a position of leadership or management does not increase one's power. It does, however, increase our responsibility. Choosing to serve in these roles means voluntarily accepting responsibility for a variety of issues that not everyone else wants to deal with.

Effective managers and leaders both know an important truth about dealing with these responsibilities - to quote the 12th century poet, Akka Mahadevi, "The only way out is through."

When I start to feel a little thorn of discomfort and that all-to-human tendency to avoid what is uncomfortable...it is most likely THAT issue that should have my immediate attention. The only way out of the problem is to address it. Particularly for leaders and managers, the responsibilities we've accepted are unlikely to resolve themselves and will only grow worse if ignored.

Remember, you chose this.

How do you motivate yourself to tackle the uncomfortable responsibilities?

David M. Dye

If you know someone who would benefit from this post or the entire blog, please retweet, like, +1, or email it on. Thanks!

Subscribe today or join the discussion at: http://davidmdye.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @davidmdye
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmdye 

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

"Unstuck" Your Team

Photo by Horia Varlan

I had the honor of serving as part of a Colorado city council led by then-Mayor Joe Rice. Joe went on to serve two terms as a representative in the Colorado State House and has served five tours of duty in Iraq as a U.S. Army Reservist.

Even on matters where our opinions differed, I respected Joe for his vision and, in particular, for his ability to quickly refocus teams. When the council and city staff would get bogged down in criticism of valuable ideas, Joe would move the group from "stuck" to productive with one statement:

"We can find many reasons this idea won't work. Let's talk about how it can work."

The simple statement worked because it refocused the team on solutions, rather than problems. Every idea can have problems, obstacles, and unintended consequences. Leaders don't ignore these issues - they help their team focus on how to overcome them.

If we want to find solutions, we have to look for them.

Thanks for your many years of public service, Joe!

David M. Dye

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

Help is Available!

You've been given a responsibility. Your deadline is looming, the demands are significant, and you're not sure how to solve the problem. Alone at your desk, you wonder if you even have it in you to figure this out.

Many developing leaders (and not a few veterans) go through these times of anxiety. I have been there many times. It can be easy for leaders who take responsibility and who passionately care to feel like the world is on their shoulders and that they are all alone.

The good news is that help is available - and more than likely, it's just waiting to be asked.

When faced with problems bigger than ourselves, one of the first places we can turn is to our team. Bring the situation to them, define the criteria that must be met to reach a workable solution, and ask how they might do it. Consulting your team on these tough problems has several benefits:

1) They own the solution. People have greater commitment to their own ideas than to someone else's.

2) You are developing leaders. Team members are empowered by learning what problems must be solved and how to solve them.

3) New ideas. All of us get stuck inside our own head. There is no substitute for a group of smart, committed people getting together to share ideas.

A few guidelines before getting your team involved on tough challenges:

1) If the team solves the problem, the gets team the credit. Taking personal credit for your team's ideas is a quick way to lose all credibility.

2) No team? No problem. Pull together a small group of experts you trust. If you don't overuse the privilege, people are often willing to share their thoughts.

3) Don't abuse your team. Don't use this approach to shirk legitimate decisions you should be making, to play politics and blame-shift, etc.

4) Be clear on the decision making process. How will the decision be made: consensus, majority, or consultation and the leader decides? You should clarify this before discussion begins or it can undermine the integrity of the process.

Team problem-solving can be one of the most rewarding aspects of leadership. Next time you face a problem bigger than you, see if it's bigger than your team. I bet it's not.

David M. Dye

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Twitter: @davidmdye
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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

Which Problems Do I Want?

Recently, I spoke with the leader of a nonprofit organization who was wrestling with a decision involving one of three difficult choices. He had postponed the decision for an entire year while searching for a problem-free solution. I believe his search was hopeless.

Most of us fall into this trap at some point because we haven't acknowledged an important truth: we are going to have problems. Often our choice is simply this: which set of problems do I want?

We are all familiar with this dynamic. Do we want the inconvenience of regular tooth-brushing, flossing, and dental visits or do we want the inconvenience of tooth decay? We will have inconvenience either way, but we do have a choice about which one we experience.

Leaders and managers frequently face similar situations. Do we want the discomfort of learning how to address poor performance or do we want the discomfort of a team with poor morale and worse results? Do we prefer the pain of shifting strategies or the pain of discovering our team is no longer relevant? Do we risk vulnerability and apologize for mistakes or do we avoid taking blame and risk discrediting ourselves?

When we accept that life is difficult and we will have challenges, we are freed from the search for a mythical problem-free solution. We are free to focus on meaningful decisions.

Then, we can truly begin to lead.

David M. Dye

Subscribe today or join the discussion at: http://davidmdye.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @davidmdye
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/david-dye/b/a08/82
****
David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.