Perfectionism is a competition with yourself...

...that you can never win.



Several times over the last nine years, we asked the leadership question, “Are you trying to be perfect or excellent?” In our discussions both here and here, we spoke in general terms of the difference between perfectionist leadership and imperfect excellence leadership. In our leadership and business coaching practice, we continue to see leaders struggle with perfectionist attitudes. In this discussion, we will focus more directly on the marked differences between the two mindsets and the impact they have on effectively leading teams.

Our discussion here will focus on three key areas of team leadership: leading change, team development and team culture/climate. In today’s new reality, these three areas are crucial to successful execution as they align with the three criteria needed to define a true team: common purpose, complimentary skills and collective accountability, respectively.



So, let’s explore each in more detail:

• Leading Change ~ one of the greatest challenges for any team is staying aligned to their common purpose in the face of constant change. A perfectionist leader tends to overthink issues and view mistakes as failure, thereby creating a climate of risk aversion on their team. Innovation comes from being able to think creatively which rarely occurs under the jaundiced eye of a perfectionist. A leader who embodies imperfect excellence encourages progress over perfection and is therefore more comfortable with embracing change. These leaders view mistakes as learning opportunities to best achieve the team’s common purpose!

• Team Development ~ achieving the right mix of complementary skills on a team requires ongoing development of those skills to ensure relevancy in today’s new reality. The perfectionist leader is prone to micromanage their team and struggle to delegate appropriately out of fear of mistakes. By only focusing on the end goal versus also focusing on the process of achieving the end goal, the team becomes stifled in their collective development. The imperfectly excellent leader, however, embraces the learning process from all angles knowing the team becomes stronger with each learning opportunity. These leaders are comfortable providing a level of team autonomy to allow for the interactive learning process to continuously develop the most relevant complimentary skills!

• Team Culture/Climate ~ arguably the most important element of what separates high performing teams from all the rest is how well they hold each other accountable. Because the perfectionist leader has unrealistic expectations of themselves and their team, team morale and trust are compromised in the risk-averse team culture and climate. Without trust, collective accountability simply cannot exist. The imperfectly excellent leader, on the other hand, is comfortable with empowerment and providing ongoing recognition of incremental progress towards their common purpose. This breeds a culture and climate of confidence and trust in each other leading to a higher level of collective accountability by every member of the team!

The idea that a leader has to be a perfectionist to have high standards is nothing but a myth. Leaders with high standards of excellence understand the concept of winning in their markets and industries is an iterative and adaptable learning process. Leaders who adopt this mindset can effectively lead their teams through the challenges of the new reality while creating a culture and climate that develops relevant skills for sustainable success.

How well are you setting your team up to win? If you are not sure, we can help!

Lead Well!