The Willow Group
  • Home
  • Services
    • Schedule a Coaching Session
  • About
    • Willow Group Partners
  • Books
    • Research & Resources
  • Clients
  • Blog
  • Contact

Blog

Hurry and Passivity - The Enemies of Leadership

6/6/2016

Comments

 
Picture
We have all worked with that certain type of leader who moves so fast and keeps their calendar so tight we only get face time in 4-minute segments. We walk with them quickly in halls between meetings trying to get answers to our questions.

We have also worked for those leaders who oscillate and wait until the urgency passes and opportunities fade. Staff meetings are filled with personal stories, snacks, and a sense of wasted time. Both styles can leave teams feeling stuck and dis-empowered.

Reflection, with a goal to be a thoughtful leader, can often be a mask for leadership passivity. Passivity is marked by playing small and having a ‘wait and see’ attitude where you submit your power to those around you. To let others speak first, you may not speak at all.

On the other side, the desire to be highly effective and efficient can be a mask for leadership hurry. When leaders hurry, the foot is always on the accelerator with a focus on task completion at all cost and sometimes without rationale. Relationships and sustainable results pay the price. Conversations are cut short, and short term gains trump strategy.

Passivity and hurry work against each other but they also are two formidable enemies in that they both:
  • weaken connection
  • stifle courageous acts
  • sabotage achievement
  • Block intentional learning
  • mask authentic leadership

The anecdote to passivity is action. Often action comes as a form of language. Leaders need to be purposeful in their language and use actionable words that create momentum. Passive leaders need to make declarations, commitments and negotiate getting work done.

Leaders who hurry may need to be stiff-armed. They need to slow down, look up, make eye contact and start asking questions. Those questions should not be ones where they already have the answers. Instead, they should begin with the word ‘what’.
  • What does the team need from me?
  • What am I missing?
  • What makes this work still relevant?
  • What needs to adjust?

​The key to all leadership effectiveness is language.  Language creates action.

Are you sitting in a passive leader role? Where do you need to take action? Alternatively, are you in a leader hurry? Where do you need to slow down and start asking questions?
Comments
    Carrie Arnold, PhD, MCC, BCC

    Carrie Arnold, PhD, MCC, BCC

    In no particular order:​ Author | Dog mom | Speaker | Reader | Mom to human offspring | Wife | Lover of Learning | Leadership coach & consultant, The Willow Group | Faculty for Evidence-Based Coaching at Fielding Graduate University​

    Categories

    All
    Appreciation
    Book Reviews
    Change
    Coaching
    Complexity
    Current Events
    Decisions
    Education
    Emotion
    Energy Management
    Gratitude
    Humor
    Language
    Leadership
    Pause And Reflection
    Relationship
    Resilience
    Silence
    Teams

Picture

The Willow Group

Carrie Arnold

Carrie Arnold, PhD, MCC
Principal

Denver, CO
Call 303.818.2406
send message
​Silenced and Sidelined: How Women Leaders Find Their Voices and Break Barriers
Picture
LEARN MORE
© 2020 The Willow Group, LLC
  • Home
  • Services
    • Schedule a Coaching Session
  • About
    • Willow Group Partners
  • Books
    • Research & Resources
  • Clients
  • Blog
  • Contact