4 Kinds Of Thinking That Will Diminish Your Leadership

April 26, 2022

Chances are, you have spent a chunk of your week in thought.

Thinking is a big slice of what any campus leader is paid to do.

I hope this is true for you.

You attempt to solve problems, analyze opportunities, listen, facilitate, and chart clear direction.

Add the milieu both crisis and instability, and your thoughts can easily trip into some well-worn patterns of stinkin’ thinkin'.

How well you think determines how well you lead.

I’ve been keeping notes this quarter on the kind of thinking to which many campus leaders default.

This post isn’t about anyone in particular, but if you’re like me, as you read through this list, specific people will come to mind.

I’m encouraging you to focus on your own thinking, rather than theirs.

Nobody Intends to Diminish Their Leadership

Few people intend to diminish their leadership. But let’s be honest. Many leaders end up diminishing themselves regularly despite their best intentions.

When you and I can see how certain patterns of thinking trip us (and others) up, progress becomes easier.

Here are 4 kinds of thinking that can diminish your leadership:

1. Undigested Thinking

I hate to admit, I see this all the time in education. You’ve seen it too.

Someone goes to a conference and comes away with two decent ideas. Then they jump into a webinar and come away with three more. Add a dozen podcasts, blog posts, and books into the mix, and they end up with a boat-load of raw ideas they’re excited to promote.

And then they make the critical mistake of wanting to implement a few of the ideas without thinking much further about the impact.

Ideas should solve problems...but unfortunately many cause them.

Unwise ideas directly compete with other foolish ones.

You are left with scrambled eggs and more problems because of undigested thinking.

This leaves followers confused. And their systems dis-integrated (literally).

When you don’t digest, reconcile, or synthesize competing ideas as a leader, chaos ensues.

2. Overthinking

Because of the pandemic, this is a leadership epidemic.

Campus leaders often overthink issues.

They think about:

    ➜ All that could go wrong

   ➜ Who might feel left out

    ➜Why something might not work

And they often wrongly believe:

    ➜ They need a bullet-proof plan before they start

   ➜ They must have every potential problem ironed out before they begin

    ➜ They should plan for every contingency ‘just in case’

In a perfect world, all the above would be good practice. But last time I checked, this wasn’t much of a perfect world and people are counting on you.

They are counting on you to lead to win.

They are not counting on you to manage just not to lose.

Great leaders often have a bias for action. Overthinking kills momentum.

If you want to be challenged to stop overthinking issues, read this account of how Sir Richard Branson started Virgin Airlines. It might freak you out, but it will show you why he has been so successful.

When it comes to campus leadership, I believe most leaders overthink. The pendulum has swung too far. It’s time to start acting.

3. Indecisive Thinking

The indecisive thinker may have some well-digested thoughts and might even be ready to act.

But they come to a fatal junction in the road.

Leaders are great about narrowing options, but then they just circle. And spin. And swirl.

They don’t have the backbone to make the decision. And they really don’t have any brave language to share why.

I’ll tell you why I think leaders end up being indecisive.

One word: FEAR.

If you’re an indecisive thinker, you may have issues with self-preservation.

If you want to drill through this, ask yourself:

✅  What am I afraid of losing?

✅  What am I trying to hide?

✅  What am I trying to Prove? To whom?

Keep asking those three powerful questions. Don’t stop until you get a real, honest answer.

Great leadership isn’t the absence of fear, it’s the courage to push through it.

Figuring out your fear and pushing through it will kill your indecision and model the right kind of leadership to those within your wake of influence.

4. Underthinking

I put this last because I’m not convinced it is a root cause diminishing the influence of campus leaders, but there is something brewing out there that could make underthinking a reality.

Sure, sometimes leaders and teams underperform because they have underthought an issue. But like I said, that doesn’t often happen.

If you have time to really listen to the most fruitful (and faithful) leaders, they will tell you (with humility) that they are “simply blown away” by the trajectory of their success.

All they did was START.

They were consciously incompetent, but they acted while everyone else sat in the cheap seats of indecision.

Start-up leaders are often more likely to underthink things, but I still applaud their efforts. And a surprising number of times, they go on to succeed anyway.

In the campus world, few have underthought their future. Far too many have underacted on it.

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Reclaim Your Momentum

When it comes to team engagement, most campus leaders are in a slump.

In 2021, campus leaders reported feeling less engaged in the workplace than in previous years.

Coupled with the continuing exodus of the Great Resignation, these leaders have their work cut out for them.

Last year, only 34 percent of the 57,022 full- and part-time employees surveyed by analytics and consulting firm Gallup reported feeling engaged at work, while 16 percent said they were actively disengaged in their work and workplace.

These numbers weren't much better in 2020—36 percent of employees were engaged, and 14 percent were actively disengaged—but 2021 is the first time in a decade that engagement dropped year-over-year, according to Gallup.

Losing momentum is natural. 

Getting it back before it becomes normalized must be a top team priority. 

Why?

Because everyone deserves to live in a community served by healthy teams and highly reliable systems.

To help achieve this goal I’ve created a brand-new guide that I’m very excited to share with you!

It’s called: 5 Evidence-Based Practices to Reclaim More Team Engagement with Less Effort.

I'm making this exclusive guide FREE for you today!

But you will want to act now…

Indifference draws a crowd and your community deserves better than average performance.

…the gravitational pull toward indifference is sweeping across our campuses and, when left unchallenged, will create average performance (at best).

Leaders Create Culture.

This practical guide will give you actionable items you can use to sharpen your advantage and reclaim your team’s momentum again. 

Grab this just-released FREE guide here: 👇🏼

https://www.higherperformancegroup.com/reclaim

 Press on!

 Joe

Founder, President
Higher Performance Group


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P.S. Here are the two best ways I can help you right now:


1) Get your FREE guide: 
5 Evidence-Based Practices to Reclaim More Team Engagement with Less Effort.  www.higherperformancegroup.com/reclaim


2) Schedule a Call: 
Let’s talk about the obstacles (and opportunities) that you & your team are currently facing. www.higherperformancegroup.com/schedule




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