Are you driving your team's performance, or are you just gripping the steering wheel too tightly?

Most senior executives reached the top because of their relentless drive for quality. In leadership theory, this is called The Will. You tolerate pressure, you focus on delivery, and you expect high performance from yourself and others.

Your greatest leadership liability is almost certainly just an overuse of your greatest asset.

When a senior leader is described as overly controlling, overly detached, or too agreeable, we aren't looking at a lack of talent. We are looking at a brilliant person who is leaning too hard on the very tools that got them to the senior table in the first place. They are running a high-powered machine on a restricted Safe Mode setting.

Leadership is a broadcast, not a private conversation.

Your internal "Safe Mode"—that subconscious need to be right, to be liked, or to be in control—does not stay under the bonnet. It creates the weather for everyone around you. If you are playing not to lose, your team will eventually stop trying to win.

80% of leaders are stuck in a Reactive mindset. Discover why shifting to Creative leadership is the key to both personal growth and bottom-line performance.

“Do you have any tips or tricks?”

It is one of the most common questions I get from leaders. But in a complex organisation, more information is rarely the answer. You don't need a new "tip." You need more capacity.

Even the most popular tips, like blocking out "thinking time" in your diary, fail if your internal operating system still values "being busy" over "being clear."

In my latest post, I discuss why we need to move past horizontal skills and focus on upgrading our internal capacity to lead. At Bywater, we focus on the thinking that leads to progress that holds.