The Cost of Leadership: Leading With Deficiencies

One of the joys of my life has been serving alongside incredible Fine Arts teachers in an amazing school district. Regardless of the discipline I have seen first hand that Fine Arts is one of those things you can’t truly understand from the outside looking in. 

I heard my friend Tim Lautzenheiser say this probably twenty years ago and it has always stuck with me. At best you can appreciate the value it brings to the life of a child. But you are never going to completely “get it.”  

Why? Because Fine Arts is something you can only truly understand from the inside looking out. 

For example, I was never a dancer in high school or college. So I am going to relate differently to my dance teachers than I do my music teachers. Why? Because I am on the inside looking out with my music colleagues due to our shared experiences.

As leaders, we are often on the outside looking in when it comes to those we work with. While we can understand the value of WHAT they do and HOW it adds value to our organizations, we can’t completely “get it.”

And what about when we are thrown into a situation where we have a lack of experience. All leaders must start somewhere. Often they are promoted to positions of authority without requisite training and skill sets to accomplish expected tasks. In those situations, leaders have to learn to operate with a deficiency of experience.

Or what about injury. Past negative experiences can leave a mark. Emotional scars from past mistakes can leave us feeling a lack of confidence when it comes to working with others. 

Trust me.  These can be scary places to be in as a leader. It doesn’t feel comfortable. And when things aren’t comfortable, it is really tough to feel confident.

This is where culture really comes into play. If we have cooperative team members that are humble, hungry, and relationally smart, they understand their role in educating their leadership. They are intentional about doing what they can to move others from the outside closer in. 

As the leader goes, so goes the culture. It all starts with leadership!

We have to learn to lead through our uncomfortable and sometimes debilitating deficiencies. Whether they come from a lack of knowledge, experience, or something else from our past, we must learn to press on. 

Part of the cost of leadership is learning to lead with deficiencies. We must learn to become comfortable being uncomfortable.