INsight/ Waiters Fall Behind

Photo by Nordwood Themes on Unsplash.

Manila, 27 June 2024 — How do leaders become multipliers? Not by waiting.

Story

It happened yesterday. I was reading a leadership update Why Waiters Don’t Win by Alexandra Joy, one of my fellow graduates at Thought Leaders Business School in Australia. This wasn’t about waiters in restaurants, but about managers who postponed investing in their leadership development and were subsequently passed over for a senior role.

Why did they hold back? What they told Alexandra was identical to what I have often heard. “I don’t think I’m ready for it yet … Right now just isn’t great timing … I have a big project to deliver and have a lot on my plate.” And so they decided to wait. What they were waiting for was usually unclear, in my experience.

I wholeheartedly agree with Alexandra’s description that “Staying still is the same as going backward. You simply can’t wait until the time is perfect. It dang well never is.” The good news is that there are many benefits in deciding to act. 

Challenge

In the Grow3Leaders community, we have this month practiced how to become multipliers who ignite our leadership and influence people for change to happen. That includes overcoming resistance, both in ourselves and others. No waiting. 

We worked on tapping the Power of Positivity, leveraging our Signature Strengths, and speaking the Language of Leaders. We practiced showing up as Multipliers and avoiding showing up as Diminishers. 

To become multipliers, we ignited our leadership to overcome the three hurdles of resistance: the Fear Hurdle in our Personal World, the Friends Hurdle in our Social World, and the Failure Hurdle in our Observed World. 

Question

Are you ready to ignite your leadership intentionality, your leadership collaboration, and your leadership game? That’s my question for you this week.

Look around you! The world is crying out for more leaders at all levels: leaders who show up as multipliers and can influence others for positive change in the workplace. It’s time to act.

Waiters don’t win. They fall behind. You don’t have to follow them. Instead, step forward to ignite your leadership and turn your team into a team of leaders. Set up a free strategy call to let me know what you want to achieve with leadership coaching and training.