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We’re all emotional beings. Whether in our personal or professional lives, we're all driven by emotions, good or bad. It's easy to see how detrimental certain emotions, like anger or jealousy, can be. However, when it comes to growth and change in our businesses, I believe one emotion has held potentially great agencies back more than any other: apathy.
One of the clearest examples of leadership apathy I’ve seen came through the lens of a friend. We would get together semi-regularly, and while we discussed many things, most of our time was spent discussing our professional lives.
My friend came into a new career situation during a time of great transition for his new agency. The agency was struggling, to say the least, and desperately needed my friend's leadership skills.
Our early conversations were interesting. As I listened to him describe the issues he inherited, I had to shake my head. The funny thing was, I wasn't shaking my head so much at the ridiculous situation he described as I was at his energy and excitement for taking them on. I could see that his agency had chosen the right person for the job.
Over the next many months, the emotion he brought to our lunches gradually changed. He described the challenges he faced from the ownership group, not the least of which was an almost complete lack of willingness to change their negative behaviors.
In addition, they were now attacking my friend at almost every turn as he tried to bring about the necessary change. Not only were the owners not helping improve the situation, but they were, in many ways, the biggest problem.
As you might imagine, the almost giddy excitement and energy of our earlier lunches was gone, replaced by an intense level of fierce determination. This determination bordered on anger, albeit constructive anger, from my perspective. He was going to turn this agency around, no matter what.
Enter: defeat
During one of our final lunches together, I arrived excited to hear about the latest news of his crusade. When I asked how things were going, he stopped in obvious reflection. When he finally spoke, he said that it wasn't even worth discussing. He was defeated and had given up.
His original energy and excitement that had been replaced with that constructive anger had once again been replaced, this time with the most damaging emotion of all.
Apathy.
I was sad for him, for all of those he was trying to help, and even for those he was trying to save in spite of themselves.
But I also found some of his former anger and took it back to the office with me that day. It was anger at a group of owners who were so self-absorbed and fearful that they fought back at the very person capable of saving them from themselves.
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What damage is done
I still carry this anger with me. Sadly, it resurfaces way too regularly, as I see similar scenarios play out in agency after agency.
Admittedly, this story was a bit extreme. It’s rare that the owners and leaders actively damage their own businesses. Still, the damage doesn't have to be overt to be severe.
What we see more often are timid owners and leaders afraid of change and, because of this, put the agency on autopilot. They don't want to do the hard work of leading and making difficult decisions.
Of course, we also have plenty of conversations with agency owners and leaders who are excited to tackle their challenges and who are willing to bust their asses and work hard to build something special. But too often, that isn't enough, and it's not even close.
They’ll say, “We want to do this (join Q4i and the Goose community), we need to do this, but we need to get our other partner(s) on board.” Because they have likely been down a similarly frustrating path in the past, you can already hear the defeat and doubt in their voice.
When the rogue partner's fear and timidity once again rear their ugly heads, they destroy the other leaders' excitement, passion, motivation, and entrepreneurial energy. Apathy and resentment start to set in.
Owners should all have a say in big decisions. However, it becomes dangerous to proceed only with decisions that have complete consensus rather than a majority opinion. I always question why so much power is so often given to the weakest link among ownership groups.
Given the coaching and consulting we do with agencies, we see this unhealthy leadership dynamic in a shocking number of prospects with whom we talk. Here are a few of the more common areas of investment disagreement we see among leadership teams. How many of these hit painfully close to home for you?
- Investing in coaching: When part of the leadership team is looking for help improving top and bottom-line revenue, a myopic partner often rejects the idea, claiming, “We can’t afford that type of investment.” If only they would stop and be honest about the high cost of their current trajectory.
- Participating in a peer network: This idea is often refuted by an old-school leader who thinks they are always the smartest in the room and would only be giving away their "trade secrets." Often, the reality is they fear the peer accountability that comes with such an opportunity.
- Sales training for new producers: Not providing training is usually justified by a leader claiming, “I never had training, and I did just fine.” They don’t stop to think about their five previous failed hires or question why they feel they must hire multiple producers to “throw them against the wall” and see if one sticks. I find this the biggest leadership failure of all. The damage they do to their own agency is bad enough, but being so careless and cavalier with someone else's career is inexcusable.
- Refusal to invest in marketing: Having an effective marketing strategy and plan is one of the most basic needs of a growing and thriving business. But, you’d never know by studying most agencies. And, even when they do make an investment, many give up too soon, having expected this would provide immediate results and keep them from having to do the job of prospecting.
Owning and leading a business is not for the faint of heart. It can be scary to do what is necessary to grow and succeed. But for effective owners and leaders, the most terrifying thing of all is not doing what is needed to thrive and grow. Their biggest regret will be the actions they know they should have taken but allowed others, even their own partners, to keep them from doing so.
Q4i and Goose can help
We have built an online platform called "Goose: Your Ultimate Wingman" to help you implement these types of growth ideas. In it, you will find the business tools that you need for growth: training programs, peer community, access to coaching, and marketing assistance.
To learn how Goose may help drive your growth, check out our website at Q4intel.com/goose. Or feel free to connect with or contact me directly on LinkedIn.
Content originally published on Q4intelligence
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