Whose interests do you prioritize as an executive?
One of the challenges of being an executive is that tension between supporting and protecting the team that reports to you with the needs of the company:
— If you become too company first, the team questions your leadership and may lose trust in your ability to protect them.
— If you focus only on protecting your team, the other executives won’t collaborate with you, which also has consequences.
There’s no “right” answer here – there will be situations where you ask your team to sacrifice for the good of the company, and others where you hold the line to protect your team.
This is part of what makes being an executive so complex – your decisions are not simple or binary, but instead involve choosing between two “right” answers. Either choice will lead to resistance, so there’s no way to keep everybody happy. Developing the confidence and resilience to handle those difficult choices is a key skill for successful executives.
If you’re interested in learning more, I am hosting a webinar today on some other skills I’ve seen in successful executives. You can sign up or attend via the link in my profile to “Develop the executive mindset”.
What is a similarly difficult decision you’ve faced as a leader?