Being in a leadership position – regardless of the scope or pay grade – requires you to balance the needs of multiple entities. There are individual needs (including your own), the needs of the organization, the needs of your team or project, the needs of society, and the needs of future generations to name some of the more common ones. All of these needs rarely align. We all know about trade-offs and compromise. Unfortunately, we take them for granted – just part of doing business. Do the needs have to align? No. Making the hard decisions is part of the role of a leader. Communicating those decisions can be even harder – especially when talking to those whose desired ‘need’ cannot be accommodated in the implemented solution.
So, is there a “Truth” with a capital ‘T’ – meaning only one - in each situation confronting a leader and his/her team? The ‘right’ decision seems to be relative to the perspective of the worldview of the entity you consult. If there is not just one Truth, what’s a leader to do? Answer: Exercise your role: lead with authenticity, lead from your worldview. After all, authenticity – being yourself – is bringing your best to the situation. You are in the position of leadership because people trust your judgement and are willing to follow. If not, your days as the leader are numbered anyway. So trust your truth, your worldview, your perspective and ACT – make the call, point the direction. By remaining in sync with your truth, you more easily demonstrate the consistency to which people are drawn. Besides as one friend put it: It is easier when you tell the truth – there are fewer details to keep track of.
