3 Flawed Approaches to Leadership and Personal Development
A couple of years ago, I was listening to a podcast featuring a former colleague and friend. He was discussing something that immediately struck a chord with me: “Ruthless Prioritization.” When he said those words, it was like a light bulb went off in my head. He was specifically talking about how leaders determine which mountains are worth climbing, and it made perfect sense.
Since then, I’ve often thought a lot about that concept, but more recently from a slightly different angle. You see, last night I found myself lying in bed, unable to sleep and “Ruthless Prioritization” kept coming back to me. I woke up at 3:30 a.m. (not intentionally), and the thought was still there. It’s now morning, and as I was out running before sunrise, my breath visible in the cold air, I asked myself: Why doesn’t everyone do this? Why don’t more people wake up early and workout? By the time I was eating breakfast this thought shifted to: Why isn’t everyone following a deliberate plan to improve themselves?
I don’t have all the answers to these questions, nor am I here to speculate about them, at least not today. I’d love to do a deep dive one day, maybe with some wiser people than myself. But today, I want to discuss something a little different: What would it look like to Ruthlessly Prioritize the pursuit of your own potential?
I’ll admit upfront, I am not what most people would consider “normal” in terms of how I think and operate. In fact, I’m probably a little “messed up” (in a good way… at least I think so). I run hot. I’m always thinking about how to improve, how to get better. Most of the time, I’m intentional and deliberate about this process, though yes, I do sometimes fall off track. When I do, I know it—and trust me, I don’t like it. But this drive for improvement has been part of my DNA for a long time.
In my earlier career in Strength and Conditioning, I spent every day striving to unlock the physical potential of the athletes I trained. Then, for the past decade, I’ve spent every day working in Leadership Development, striving to unlock the leadership potential of those I get to interact with. Even though I am, admittedly, “wired” to consistently push for excellence, I’ve realized something: Most of us don’t fully maximize our potential. And that’s where I want to take this conversation. But, before we get to the good, I want to acknowledge I’ve seen many plans for self-improvement that didn’t quite work. Let me break down three of them that fail.
The Sum 41 Plan: All Work and No Play
Do you remember the Canadian rock band Sum 41 and their debut album All Killer, No Filler? Maybe this describes your approach to improvement: the no-nonsense, ultra-focused plan where every minute of your day is meticulously scheduled to achieve success. While this all or nothing approach can drive productivity, it also carries a dangerous temptation to make life overly rigid. Every deviation from the plan feels like a setback, every distraction feels like an enemy to your progress, and even moments of human connection or joy can be sacrificed for the sake of staying on track.
This kind of plan can lead to a major issue: sacrificing the things that matter most in life, like relationships and personal well-being, all in the name of productivity. While focus and discipline are essential, they shouldn’t come at the cost of your humanity. You can be a high performer without burning yourself out or having a heart attack in your thirties. It’s crucial to find a balance—maintaining flexibility and compassion as you relentlessly pursue improvement, ensuring that your pursuits don’t overshadow the life you’re building.
The Nike Plan: Just Do It… Without a Plan
Maybe your approach to improvement is more spontaneous—when you hear about the latest trend, new research, or motivational speaker, you just dive in. You jump on every new bandwagon that comes along, always looking for the new thing that might take you to the next level. It’s a well-meaning approach, but it lacks the consistency necessary for meaningful growth. It’s easy to get caught in a cycle of starting something new without giving yourself the time to truly follow through and see results from your first plan.
Look, action is great. You can’t get anywhere without doing something, starting somewhere. But this kind of approach lacks the consistency needed to make real progress. If you keep hopping from one thing to another and never follow through with any of them, you’ll never see long-term results. Consistency compounds effort over time. Jumping on every new idea might keep you busy, but it’s unlikely to get you the results you want.
The 3 Little Birds Plan: Hoping for the Best
Then there’s the person who just cruises through life, convinced that everything will work out for the best. This might sound like a great philosophy — “don’t worry, be happy.” And this may be true on some level because good usually comes with a positive outlook. However, when it comes to personal improvement, especially for leaders, this approach falls short. The problem is that this person isn’t intentionally pursuing growth or actively identifying opportunities for improvement. They’re leaving their performance and growth up to chance, and that’s never going to cut it.
I’m not here to dismiss these approaches entirely—they are likely oversimplified portrayals. In reality, there are complex nuances in how people operate. But let’s be honest: most of us would benefit from a more intentional, structured approach to maximizing our potential. Find that in the next article, A Better Path: Ruthless Prioritization Done Right.
