The Problem with Experienced Leaders

If you are not careful, your pride in your past will limit your future.

When a leader has experience, that has a lot of benefits.  You have seen a lot and experienced a lot.  Situations that can throw other people off track may not overwhelm you.  You’ve been there and done that! Experience builds confidence. Experience provides options. But experience can also kill Humility.

As I age, I find that my past can actually hurt me and the people I am called to lead. It’s a double edged sword.  My age provides me with perspectives and experiences that I can fall back on when a challenge arises.  But it can also cause me to close my mind to a new way of thinking. When my view of the world becomes rooted in my past, I tend to see solutions from a limited perspective.

●      I see new people based on people I know from my past.

●      I see old friends the way I saw them ten or twenty years ago.

●      I solve new problems with old solutions.

●      I fall back on what has worked for me in the past, without looking for a better way today.

●      I shut down new ideas, because I am more comfortable with my tried and true solutions.

Warning:  Don’t do what I do!  I have realized that when I rely solely on my experience that limits my growth.

We define Humility as believing and acting like “it’s not about me.”

Some leaders hesitate to look at things from a different perspective, because it makes that leader uncomfortable. When a leader holds onto “their way”, other people stop sharing their own ideas.  The team begins to wait to hear from the leader because the leader wants it “their way.” Now it is not only the leader who is not growing, but also it is the team as well.

If you are not careful, your pride in your past will limit your future. Experience has killed Humility.

Humility says:

●      This person may be new, but that may mean they will see this differently and innovate.

●      I don’t want to be judged by what I did a decade ago. Why should I judge them by that standard?

●      I know how I would do it.  But, maybe I should ask someone else.

●      It’s worked in the past, but maybe there is a better way.

●      How is my experience keeping me from learning something new?

So what can you do to make sure your experience is not killing your Humility?

●      Give another person the benefit of the doubt.

●      Ask for someone else’s ideas before providing your own.

●      Push yourself outside of your comfort zone and try a new way.

●      Give others a chance to try “their way” instead of demanding your way.

Maybe you are like me and have confidence in your past experiences.  If that is you, I want to challenge you.  What could you learn if you exercised the Humility to try something different, to listen to different people, and not rely on just what you already know?

Don’t let your experience damage your potential to lead.

Question:

• Who could you ask to help you learn something new?

• What would happen if you gave someone else the opportunity to find a better solution?

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