70% of All Leaders are Followers and Not Very Good Ones!

As organizations grow larger and more complex, leaders are often surprised by the unintended consequences of their decisions. Leaders can’ t anticipate everything. They must make the best decisions they can with the information they have. But they also should anticipate unintended consequences and be prepared to reassess changes they’ve implemented.

As a leader you must do what is best given the information you have at the time to determine the best path forward and listen closely once implemented to determine if those outcomes outweigh the changes implemented. Often times in large organizations the best people in the organization will be the most negatively effected because often the policies are in create predictability among the larger enterprise not the top 10 percent who already are in over performance.

It is very difficult to understand another perspective without a great deal of outside assistance. As a leader in an organization you can believe that those above you do not understand the consequences of their actions. Another perspective is that despite the unintended consequences they would continue with the direction that was chosen.