"I was moved with my heart to engage my mind to overcome the constraints" Biji Thampy

In a recent presentation to school superintendents and business executives I shared several constraints that often prevent leaders from leading effectively.  Constraints as we have come to understand are neither good nor bad – they just are!  Constraints out of balance become a liability, however.

The Flippen Group (http://www.flippengroup.com) have mastered the understanding as well as the coaching necessary for leaders to be aware, understand, and address their constraints to ensure leaders reduce or minimize the adverse impact of their constraints.  Though I know this reads like a commercial at worse and an endorsement at best, I know that many of well intended leaders have been unsuccessful because they either didn’t know their constraints or didn’t know how to address them and therefore those they led never realized the full effect or impact of their leadership.

The first step is becoming aware of your constraints.  Once in focus, there are intentional steps to implement to assist with creating and sustaining constraint “balance”.  

A powerful strategy and one that certainly is not new is the need to have colleagues that serve in the role of critical friends.  Call them mentor, call them coach or simply call them friend but each of us need them for balance especially with our constraints. 

Akin to Stu Weber’s Four Pillars of a Man’s Heart, constraints like pillars when out of balance are unstable, vulnerable, and threaten the collapse of all they support – our vision, mission, and core values – our work - those we lead and most importantly those we love – our families.

Constraint “balancing” is challenging.  We each have personalities, behaviors, experiences, likes and dislikes.  We have mannerisms, quirks, gestures, sayings, facial expressions, and the like that are all “tells” of our constraints. There is context, situations, circumstances and relational capacity that influence what we say, how we say it, and how it is heard or perceived.  Each of these has an effect.  Each can be positive as well as negative.

Simply put; working with people is not easy! 

Those of you in leadership positions were not called to just simply “work” with others.  You were called to lead.  The modern day definition of leadership is “you don’t know it all” and “you can’t do it alone”.  Leadership must be intentional!  The intentional leader is aware, knows, understands, and consistently and constantly strives to “balance their constraints”.  Anything less will impair obstruct, reduce, or prevent effective and efficient leadership.

We live in a time desperately in need of effective leadership; Leadership worthy of followership.  I believe those in leadership roles as well as those aspiring to be leaders must know and understand their constraints.  Moreover, we must be diligent and intentional about “balancing” our constraints to provide the leadership necessary to move others to do their best work.

I can think of no better way to balance constraints them to have individuals in your life that have no agenda other than assisting you to be your very best – I have been and continued to be blessed to have such individuals in my life – thanks to each of you for your investment in me, truth telling, and sharing what I haven’t always wanted to hear –