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7 Impractical Leadership Practices I Use Often

I talk to pastors frequently who find themselves in a difficult situation. Many times they know the right thing to do, but they can’t bring themselves to do it. Often, the advice I give is simply received with a reply such as, “I know it’s probably the right thing to do, but it seems like it would be easier just to _____”.

I understand.

Honestly, good leadership isn’t always practical. Or so it may not seem at the time. Sometimes it would be easier just to take the most efficient way. It’s less controversial. It allows the leader more control. Things can happen quicker.

I’ve learned, however, the most practical way isn’t always the most prudent way.

Let me explain.

Here are 7 impractical leadership principles I practice:

I don’t make major decisions alone – even if I have the authority.

I always invite a team of people, many wiser than me, to help me discern major decisions. I realize it slows down the process. Sometimes it even kills my plans, but it has protected me over and over from making foolish decisions.

I try to kill my own ideas.

I try to find the holes in my ideas and even try to talk people out of it after they’ve already bought into it. I know – that’s crazy, right? Time and time again though this process has improved the decisions I make and it always builds a sense of ownership for everyone on the team.

I always respond to criticism.

What a way to slow down progress! Talk about insane. Why listen to people who have negatives to add to the positives? But, I even listen to anonymous critics sometimes. I previously wrote the RIGHT WAY and WRONG WAY to respond to critics, but I’ve learned that criticism often is correct and it always makes me better. Whether I yield to it or not, it forces me to consider sides I wouldn’t otherwise.

I spend a lot of the most productive days doing “nothing”.

I take walking breaks through eh building. It allows me to talk to people where I learn things I wouldn’t any other way. I exercise during the day. I take intentional breaks in my schedule to workout. It fuels me to finish the day stronger. I allow people to “drop in” to my office unannounced. It makes them believe I’m truly accessible.

I give away tasks to less experienced people.

I do it all the time. I surrender my right to decide to someone who often has many years less experience than I have. Some would call that dumb, but I call it genius. Many of the best leaders on a team are “discovered” this way.

I push for best.

It’s always easier and faster to compromise. Settling for mediocre saves time and energy – and it makes a leader more popular! I work through conflict to get to the best solution for everyone. I know it is time consuming, but in the long run the organization wins!

I watch people fail.

You heard me. I’ve let people make a mistake I knew they were going to make. How dumb can one leader be, right? Why not jump in to save the day? I’ve learned, however, if I do always stop what I see as a mistake, I may miss out on something I can’t see. Great discoveries are often made by allowing the mistakes to take place. I’ve learned my best leadership from the mistakes I’ve made. Others will also.

So much for being impractical. Way to waste some time. Good job being Mr. Inefficient! But, if you want to be a great leader, find ways to avoid practicality.

Of course, when you consider the bigger picture – maybe these are actually most practical.

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Ron Edmondson

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Comments (30)

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I like this. Some I have thought of, but not all. I will give this serious thought! Thanks!
1 reply · active 677 weeks ago
Wow, trying to kill your own ideas even after other people have bought into them does seem pretty radical. I can see how it might build ownership, as you said, as others start to defend a position that originally wasn't their own. It seems like such a scary step to take, though.
4 replies · active 677 weeks ago
Ron, I'm really intrigued by the idea of you "giving away" tasks to those that are less experienced - particularly in how this has helped you discover leaders. Could you elaborate more on that? Maybe that's an idea for another blog post? :)
My only question is why you call these ideas impractical. This all seems like great advice that everyone should follow.

One thing I would add to the "try to kill your own ideas" topic, you mentioned that it keeps you from following through with a poor idea and improves the idea before you go through with it. I would also add that you can think through the obvious criticisms ahead of time and stay ahead of naysayers.

Also, when you let someone fail on a task that maybe isn't so important, you can see how they either save it in a way you didn't expect or are able to pick up the pieces afterwards. You can learn you to trust with the more important tasks that you can't oversee.

Great post, not impractical advice at all.
1 reply · active 677 weeks ago
Just discovered your site today and have been reading for quite some time! Lots of great insights and encouragement. I especially liked the one about the funny Bible verses. I'm looking forward to more of your posts. :)
1 reply · active 677 weeks ago
Some of the other impractical leadership principles I have seen:

-- I encourage rigorous debate rather than making centralized/ autocratic decisions.
-- I intend to create an intense environment that requires people’s best thinking and work instead of creating a tense environment that suppresses people’s thinking and capability.
-- I am intentional at using talented people at their highest point of contribution rather than hoarding resources and underutilizing talent.
1 reply · active 677 weeks ago

When to Allow Failure and When to Rescue | Ron Edmondson

[...] in Leadership,Organizational Leadership,Team Leadership with 0 Comments I recently wrote 7 Impractical Leadership Principles and Why I Use Them. One comment on the post stood out to me, because admittedly, as much as I believe in the post, [...]
This is a great write up!
1 reply · active 674 weeks ago
I would call this a very practical list.

So why do we tend to think that it's not very practical? The reason is because these things are often counterintuitive. We like the world to be intuitive.

I like to watch NCIS. It's well-written and the character development and team dynamics are interesting. Gibbs is also an appealing boss. He has cojones, protects his people, and is seldom wrong when he gets a gut feeling. It's that gut feeling that I think is appealing to strong leaders in particular. We like the world to work in a way that makes sense to us so that we are right when we get a gut feeling. However, accurate gut feelings are more based in sound reason than we often give credit. Gibbs "gut" is right because he has a lot of training and experience, not because his natural intuition is particularly trustworthy on its own. He can pick up on what would appear to be irrelevant information to the novice and apply it to the situation at hand.

The same goes for good leaders. We think this list isn't practical because it doesn't seem practical. I've watched enough leaders grow from ignoring these kinds of seemingly impractical rules to embracing them because they learned the hard way that they missed something important. These are things that cost something in time, vulnerability, whatever. But what they yield is invaluable.
1 reply · active 460 weeks ago

Leadership Roundup | Worship Links

[…] Ron Edmondson lists seven ways that effective leadership can be very impractical: […]

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