The tortoise and the hare – A parable that has educated generations. Clearly, the rabbit was faster and should have won the race by a large margin. Yet, the slow and steady turtle took home the trophy while the rabbit took a nap. We all understand the message, but the message has failed to stick over the long run (pun intended)
Just like the rabbit, a lot of smart, motivated and talented leaders block their own success (and thereby that of their team and firm). The very thing that so many of us are obsessed with, success, is blocked by the very person trying to achieve it: you.
You’re Blocked! Envato Elements
It’s a conundrum that has long perplexed me, and many leaders have fallen victim to this. Maybe even you. So, after spending years studying positive drivers of success and only predicting a moderate amount of performance, I decided to flip the script. Instead of looking for psychological drivers of leadership success, perhaps I should also be looking for psychological blockers of leadership success and address this conundrum head-on.
I did some research. I found five blockers.
- Fear: Being too fearful to learn, try new things, or to lose face such that it prevents you from being involved to your You would rather focus on showing what you can do rather than overcoming what you can’t do b/c people might find out you are not perfect.
- Justification: Typically using excuses to deflect any potential blame or fault from you to other people or Heavy use of rationalization to avoid blame.
- Victimization: Feeling that you are the one who is typically blamed when things don’t work out, even though you believed you played no part in why things failed.
- Willfulness: Thick-headed and egotistical such that you typically believe you have all the answers, are a trusted expert, have more to provide than others, and/or are usually.
- Entitlement: A general belief that you are owed more than other people because of who you are and/or the position you hold, such that you expect to receive increased and positive outcomes with minimal input on your
Just like other personality-related characteristics, as humans we all have some level of these Blockers. They are in us, but we keep them locked up in a dark closet never to expose them to the public. They are part of our real self and when they rear their ugly head (and they will), our success is blocked.
Look, everyone struggles with one or more of the blockers – people use them as defense mechanisms to prevent us from ‘looking bad’. In the short term, such mechanisms help us save face, but in the long run they prevent us from learning, growing, and succeeding. It’s kind of like using duct-tape to fix plumbing…it will work in the short-term, but in the long run the problems will grow exponentially (I know – I’ve tried?!?!).
Take a look at the table below. This is a quick breakdown of letting something block you versus overcoming the blocker. In the ‘Getting Blocked’ column, there is a prime example of the Blocker hampering your success – likely something you have encountered at work. In the ‘Overcoming Blocker’ column, I present an alternative that will allow you to keep driving towards success. Simple, but powerful and there is a great deal of research to back this up.
Overcoming Blockers
Now, what are your Blockers? What are some examples that fit into our definitions? Write them down. Then, work on alternative means to overcome them. If you are stuck or mad at yourself for getting Blocked, don’t worry. The first step is recognition and like I said above, everyone gets blocked by at least one of these.
Me? Willfulness is my #1 self-imposed Blocker.
Why care about Blockers? Research indicates those that acknowledge and work to overcome workplace stressors, like Blockers, are more committed and perform higher than those that ignore them (or think there is nothing that can be done about them). Yet, few leaders are aware that these Blockers really exist and are wreaking havoc on their own success; even fewer actually do something about them.
This is why I created the Involved-Blockers scale. I have been using it in parallel with positive drivers of leadership success to help complete a more robust analytically derived picture for leadership success – those attributes that help drive success and those that block success. Focusing on one without the other is like trying to scale Mt. Everest without your pants.
Know your blockers.
Overcome your blockers.
Achieve new heights.
No Blockers Here! Envato Elements
Note. This was originally published on PsychToday, At a Higher Level.