Don’t Be Satisfied After Your Thanksgiving Turkey … Take The 7 Step Leadership Checkup

Robert Hartley was head coach of the Calgary Flames (2012-16). A rookie member of the Flames had a great game and scored his first NHL goal. When a reporter asked if he was happy for that player’s big night, I recall him responding: “Of course I am happy for all my players when they have a good game, but I am never satisfied!“

Do you know when I feel satisfied?

When I am all fat & full and sleepy after a huge turkey dinner.

I was always happy for my team members when they closed a big deal, nailed a project, or just had a great day. I drew energy from their enthusiasm and loved seeing them grow & bloom. But I was never 100% satisfied because I knew they could always do more and do better.

I knew the seeds of complacency would be sown if I let myself be satisfied with their accomplishments. That is the path to becoming the ultimate mediocrity.

If a person or department seems to be running on autopilot, then a curse of satisfaction & complacency has set in. Because every aspect of business is a work in progress, you and your team should continually look to improve performance, learn, find self-improvement, do things better, and build skills and abilities.

Great leaders embrace discovery by never giving up the quest for information. They control their destiny so that no one else controls it for them. They are never 100% satisfied, as there is always room for improvement.

Here are seven indicators to show you when you shouldn’t be satisfied with your leadership:

1. Nothing is being changed. Leadership is about something new. It’s about change. If nothing is changing — you can do that without a leader.

2. No paradigms are being challenged. Often, the best change is a change of mindset—a change in how we think. Leaders are constantly learning so they can challenge the thinking “inside the box.”

3. You’re not asking questions. A leader only knows what they know, and often, the leader is the last to know. A significant part of leadership is about discovery, and you only get answers if you ask questions.

4. There are competing visions. Leaders point people to a vision. To a crystal-clear & singular vision. One of the surest ways to derail progress is to have multiple visions, as this divides energy & people and confuses instead of bringing clarity.

5. No one is complaining. You can’t lead anything involving worthwhile change where everyone agrees. A sure-fire measure of whether people are being led is whether people are complaining. We knew there was a problem in the Army when the soldiers went quiet and weren’t griping.

6. People aren’t being stretched. Understand well; a leader should strive for clarity. But when things change and get challenging, there will always be times of confusion. That’s when good leaders get even better at communicating and listening.

7. People being “happy” has become the goal. Everyone likes to be liked. But the end goal of leadership should be accomplishing a vision — not making sure everyone loves the leader. Progress hopefully makes most people happy, but when the goal begins with happiness, in my experience, no one is ever really made happy.

Keeping a laser-like focus on your objectives, all the time, and never drifting from the big picture is key to extraordinary leadership, not satisfaction.