Hard to believe we are two weeks into 2019!  As we clear our heads from the Christmas tinsel and New Year’s resolutions…we launch into the new year with high hopes and a clean slate.  We have left the old year in the dust and pledged to make this year better.  While there are many things you can change, sometimes, perceptions and “old stories” haunt your ability to break through to that next level you dream about.  The way some people experience you, no matter what you do, will be a tough hurdle to get past.  While I am NOT advocating that you don’t continue to develop in a positive way, at some point, with some people, you, as a leader, have to come to grips with the cold hard truth that not everyone is going to agree with you or like you or even want to be led by you.

MLK As an Example

Next week the United States will celebrate the accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King.  In so doing they will omit the fact that before his death in 1968, King was well on the way to becoming more unpopular than he had ever been.  If you all have read my writings in the past you know how much I admire Dr. King.  This isn’t a dig at him…merely highlighting that if you have ever felt alone or unloved as a leader – you are in good company.  At a meeting in Chicago in 1965, Dr.  King was shaken after he was booed by young black men in the crowd: “I went home that night with an ugly feeling, selfishly I thought of my sufferings and sacrifices over the last 12 years,” he recalled. “Why should they boo one so close to them? But as I lay awake thinking, I finally came to myself and I could not for the life of me have less than patience and understanding for those young men. For 12 years, I and others like me have held out radiant promises of progress, I had preached to them about my dream …and that dream hasn’t yet been realized.”

Truth be told, In 1966, twice as many Americans had an unfavorable opinion of Dr. King as a favorable one. Life magazine branded his anti-Vietnam war speech at the Riverside church, delivered exactly a year before his assassination, as “slander”.  Just a week before he was killed, he attended a demonstration in Memphis in support of striking garbage workers. The protest turned violent and police responded with batons and teargas, shooting a 16-year-old boy dead. The press and the political class roasted King. The New York Times said the events were “a powerful embarrassment” to him. The Providence Sunday Journal called him “reckless and irresponsible”. He was back in Memphis supporting the strike when he was killed.  In his final days, even with his passionate commitment to changing the status quo, he never again realized popularity by the masses.

Tough Change…Responsible Decisions

Shocking?  Not if you are in a leadership position. Everyone wants to be liked – it’s in our DNA. Nobody wakes up with the intention of being unpopular or even controversial.  But for leaders, making people uncomfortable is sometimes part of the job.  Although you may want your staff to see you as a great leader to be emulated, being the boss means doing what’s right for the organization — and that sometimes means making unpopular decisions.

Certain decisions or actions are misunderstood because people tend to resist change.  If you propose radical-sounding ideas about where you want to take the company, some employees may balk. They fear what they don’t know, especially when they’re unsure how it will impact their employment status. Regardless, the tough decisions have to be made. You can’t assuage everyone’s nerves in those situations, but you can gain each person’s trust by taking smart risks and empathic actions. Here’s how to make tough but responsible decisions:

1. Understand the Value.

Take a long view of how the decision will impact your company. What seems like a good idea in the present may harm your organization a few years from now — and vice versa. Unpopular decisions should serve the overall vision for your business.  Make sure it is creating new opportunities and that others are aware of what the value of those opportunities are.

2. Isolate the Variables.

Consider your decision as a single, nonsequential event. The more variables you allow in the early decision-making stages, the more likely your vision will be diluted. Get clear on what you want to achieve and why you think a particular course of action is best. Then, strategize how to accommodate the potential obstacles.

3. Prepare to Fail.

Be ready to lose something when you make hard choices because change can be volatile. However, your willingness to lose in the short-term could ensure your company’s stability in the future.  Allocate resources and be agile in your thinking as you move forward adjusting as needed.  And remember…most of the great leaders failed AND learned from it.

Truly effective leaders have a vision that others may not be able to see clearly. They take risks for the sake of the big picture.  They are fearless in making difficult judgments. Successful leaders make the right decisions and will shrug off the popular opinion. These leaders challenge common ideas, but not without empathy in explaining the rationale to the team.

When you are privileged to lead others, your influence can impact the trajectories of people’s entire careers.  That should not be taken lightly.  However, as they see you succeed in you leading the effort toward the vision and making the tough decisions, the potential impact is that those around you could become more courageous in their own thinking. When done right, the best of you may bring out the best in others. The pain associated with enduring the hardships of leading others is offset by the satisfaction of making a positive difference for the people and organization you serve.