When Leadership Hurts

A big part of being a leader is making decisions. No matter how autocratic or democratic your leadership team is, someone has to cast the final vote.  Smart leaders gather all the pertinent information, talk to all the affected parties, and weigh all the options before making up their mind. But amazingly, even with the endless possible number of outcomes to an endless number of decisions a leader makes every day, there’s always one constant: the critic.  Behind every decision is a critic, and sometimes those critics can say things that hurt. Sometimes the stab is intentional, sometimes it comes from a place of simple misunderstanding. But either way, it hurts.  In the short term, that pain can make leaders feel defensive or defeated.  In the long term, that pain can make it hard to make confident decisions and leaders may begin to lead from a place of fear instead of vision. 

Smart leaders know that outside criticism does not define them as a leader. Wise leaders know that their response to that criticism does.  When the criticism gets harsh, great leaders get humble. They get introspective. They gather courage. Sometimes that means you find the grain of truth in the criticism that you needed to hear. Sometimes that means you have an honest conversation about how you came to your decision. Sometimes that means you ask a trusted mentor to help you navigate a tense relationship. Or sometimes you just have to let that painful comment roll off your back.  Smart leaders know that criticism is as inevitable as the sun rising each morning. Wise leaders prepare their hearts and minds so when it does, they can respond with grace, dignity, and confidence. Your legacy as a leader will include how you spoke and acted in the good times, and the bad. Let receiving criticism be an opportunity to show the world what kind of leader you really are, even when it hurts.