PERFECTION: THE ENEMY OF LEADERSHIP

PERFECTION: THE ENEMY OF LEADERSHIP

More than two thirds of my current conversations with clients have a “perfectionism” theme. A constant voice inside us telling us that we are not good enough, our work is not good enough, we are not competent enough.

Giving into this inner voice, we demand and expect a lot of ourselves and others, working harder than we need to – instead of becoming effective and productive – ending exhausted, stressed and overwhelmed by the ongoing list of unrealistic expectations.

The continuous stress of this self-judgement reduces effectiveness and performance, and it makes it harder for you, demotivating and demoralizing your employees, choking teams of creativity and authenticity. It’s a high price to pay for perfection.

Perfectionism aims to avoid failure and prevent negative outcomes. This is both unrealistic and illogical. You simply cannot move forward and learn in the absence of mistakes. To combat perfectionistic tendencies, we must embrace mistakes and failures with humility and humour, accepting the fact that no human comes free of weaknesses or imperfections.

Instead of accepting the “perfectionistic” label, reject it and become focused on continuous improvement. Accepting perfectionism feels terrible because nothing is ever quite good enough. So change your focus, strive for excellence instead, which feels much greater because your focus is on being and doing your best.

Perfection is overrated. Just because you’re a perfectionist doesn’t mean you are perfect. Nobody is. Perfection does not exist. Aim for progress instead, and watch your life change for the better.

To your success,

Isabel

Isabel is a Peak Performance Strategist and experienced ICF Leadership Coach with over 20 years of international work experience holding senior positions within the hospitality industry in countries around the world, as well as Executive and Leadership coaching, mentoring and training. Isabel specializes in high performance strategy, leadership development and building organizational culture. More available on www.isabelvalle.com