Leadership: The Need to Succeed!

"It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary." (Winston Churchill)

Dear Managers and Leaders!

I like this saying of Winston Churchill so much! I see two important elements in it. First, how should one react in front of a failure situation? Should someone ask for forgiveness by trying to prove that s/he is doing his/her best? Does that make it a lesser failure? Maybe it makes you feel better to think that you did your best, but it remains failure anyways. As a leader, I think it is better to recognize that things are not going in the right direction and then correct the path.

What I discovered in my few years as a manager and project manager is that it is OK to go through tough times during a project. No one expects that your project will go entirely smoothly, that there will be no hick-ups, no painful moments, or no issues encountered. People will not measure your success by how much or how little pain was felt during a project. You should not use that measure either! People will measure success by looking at the results, your results in what is necessary!

And this brings me to the second point Winston Churchill brings in the quote above. “You have to succeed in what is necessary”. In fact, defining what is necessary is exactly what is so tough! Finding the quintessential elements of an enterprise is not easy. This is why we see so many projects wandering from left to right with a real lack of focus. Focus is really important for success, and it needs to be applied on the right things!

As leaders, we must absolutely have a clear vision of what is essential in the projects or enterprises we are leading. This actually defines success for the enterprise. It is a very powerful leadership practice to define the minimal success criteria at the start of a project. It will then guide the entire project in the right direction and ensure effort and resources are spent at the right place.

And please communicate the minimal success criteria to your team at the beginning of the project. Make it visible! Create a banner with the essential points written on it and post it in a central place in the office. Add it to your email signature!

Make it clear to your team that failure is not an option for the essential elements of a project and that you will always be there to help if a problem occurs in those areas. It will greatly improve commitment of the team and increase focus where it counts.

And what about you? Are you defining a project’s success criteria at the beginning of every project you lead? Do you have stories of un-focused projects that you would like to share? How do you feel about success and failure as a leader?

Until next time,
Remi