Today’s Focus: Why do some leaders hold on too long?

If you’re not familiar with Canadian politics, we have some interesting dynamics happening right now. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party is under siege from within his own party. He’s been PM for nearly 10 years, and while the Liberals trail significantly in the polls, it seems the PM thinks he is still the person to lead the Liberals to victory.

One thing to consider: politics is not entirely different than business.

Businesses, too, can have leaders and brands that fall into dislike and disrepair. There can be new, shiny things that come out that can take the place of preference for consumers. I mean, ”What do you mean, my Blackberry isn’t cool anymore?”

In Canadian politics, we tend to vote people out: politicians have a shelf life, and the PM seems to think he is still the right person to lead, despite pushback from his own party. Nearly 16% (24) of his MPs have publicly asked him to step down. 

The question Prime Minister Trudeau is missing or is failing to ask is, “Are they right?” 

Often, our motivations or ego come into play when we’re making big decisions, and that can be tough. This is a one-way door for the PM (as we’ve discussed previously – thanks, Jeff Bezos!), and while it’s understandable that he wants to remain PM, you have to ask, “Why?” It seems like there’s a clear direction in the polls (at time of writing, the Conservatives would win by 19 points if an election was held).

Often, we tend to overestimate our ability to change a system: to change systems, opinions and morale, you need a significant shift, and that’s hard to enact on your own. We can pull from the world of chemistry to think about this: change requires force and direction, and homeostasis (or status quo) can be hard to shift, and politics is generally a directional game.

In the province of New Brunswick, where I live, we recently had a change in government. The previous premier, Blaine Higgs (of the Progressive Conservative Party) saw the vast majority of his ministers leave the fold. There were six “rebels” that publicly stood up against Higgs and his leadership. It seems, he too, may not have had a pattern of not asking, “Are they right?”

Interestingly, in this case, one of the “Rebels” after the election posted,

All it would have taken was for Higgs to sit down and talk with the six of us.”

If you’ve been in a position of power or leadership, you should be asking yourself questions like:

• Am I the best person for the job right now?
• Am I listening to stakeholders?
• What truths am I missing that are being told to me?
• What biases are working against me?
• Am I done?
• What do I have left to give?
• What do stakeholders think of me? Do they still think I’m doing the job, or that I’m capable?

You don’t want to be in a place where people just wanted you to sit down and talk, and then chose to fight against you because they felt ignored with their concerns. It’s your job to make sure it’s safe for people to approach you and share their thoughts: that’s on YOU.

Meanwhile, if you have someone that’s been hanging on too long, consider different strategies:

• Talk to them (if that’s a safe thing to do) and be curious: ask questions about their goals, aspirations and what they hope to accomplish, both for themselves and for the organization. Share your perspectives, if there is opportunity.
• If they are not safe, who above them (board, their boss, etc.) is safe? Who can help?
• Consider how much their staying on is actually impacting you: if it’s making your life miserable, and there are no signs of them leaving, look elsewhere.

Every leader has their time to step down: the good ones know when that time has come. Don’t let your desire for legacy to cloud what you’ve accomplished, because it could be entirely destroyed if you suck the oxygen out of the room.

If you’re seeing people leave, that’s a BIG red flag: it’s probably you. Are you willing to sink the ship for your own ego? Just ask WeWork how that goes…