Identifying Unresourceful Strategies

While some of the strategies may be resourceful and effective, you might be surprised to learn that the most common strategies used by leaders are in fact unresourceful and contribute to leadership overwhelm.

These unresourceful strategies include:

• not saying no
• overcommitting
• overly conservative approaches
• martyring our own needs in a false sense of service to others
• approval seeking and people pleasing
• being dependent on direction from others
• over delivering
• withholding our true thinking
• and generally ‘playing it safe’ (which, by the way, is usually the LEAST safe thing we can do).

Unresourceful Strategies and Leadership Overwhelm

A leader that is deploying these types of strategies is likely struggling under the weight of their perceived responsibilities and outputs (overwhelm lives here) and unable to achieve a #lit leadership state.

Now, let’s consider what it is like to follow a leader who runs those fear-based strategies. A leader who is rarely acting from inspiration, only from proving themselves worthy? Their team may be feeling one or more of the following:

• frustrated
• confused
• unappreciated
• without direction
• undervalued
• overworked.

Not fun. Not cool.

Time for Self Reflection

So, it’s time for a little self-reflection. Take a few minutes to consider these questions:

1. What strategies do you run to address one or more of those 3 Human Fears?
2. Are they resourceful or unresourceful strategies?
3. Are they contributing to your level of leadership overwhelm?

Is it time for you to embrace new strategies that lead you away from fear and overwhelm and towards confidence and inspiration?

Contact Angela to talk about your leadership development, team building and culture change challenges.