Pushing Too Hard
We had a great 4th of July weekend camping. As part of the trip, I got to hit some real mountain bike trails. I don't get to do these kinds of rides very often so when I do, I try and do as many rides as possible. This weekend I had a goal for 3 specific rides with increasing difficulty plus a warm up on day one. I should have realized after my warm up ride that I needed to be more realistic with my goals, but as I wrote about a few weeks ago, I'm not the best at course correcting.
I ended up going on my first and second rides and paid for it. My third ride, which was a more reward ride almost didn't happen because I had done too much. If I had thought it through initially or even paid attention to the signs after the first ride, I would have realized that I couldn't continue pushing without resting.
Luckily I had a day to rest in-between my 2nd and 3rd rides and that was enough and I was able to meet my goals. But that experience got me thinking about how often I have been in similar situations as part of my career.
How It Relates to Leadership
Have you ever had a similar experience with a project, team, or just life in general? Have you wanted something so badly or felt so much pressure that you just couldn't back off and just kept pushing more and more and more? I know I have had that experience many times.
It seems like when we are in the heat of the moment, it’s hard to see that the best course of action may be to ease up or take a step back. Instead we default to a “I can push through this” mentality or “If I just keep working hard, or even harder, it will all work out”.
Signs to Look For
In my bike ride, my body was telling me that I was pushing too hard. Sometimes we see similar signs as we lead. Here are some things to watch for:
Significantly diminished progress (significant work with very little to show for it).
Increase in the number of mistakes/errors/etc.
Non-productive conflict (tempers flaring in unusual ways).
Brain fogginess (I know it’s not a technical term but you know what I mean).
What To Do
Don’t keep pushing.
Take a step back and breathe and let others do the same.
Involve the team in identifying the issues.
Evaluate the current situation and identify an action plan to improve the situation and to keep the goals on track.
Follow the action plan identified in step 4.
Summary
I know this all may sound elementary but it is usually the simple things that can make the biggest difference. We need to do this regularly in life, especially when things get tough. Many times we do need to work harder or push more, but that should be a deliberate decision. Just as important is to know when the continually push is going to do more damage than it does good.
If we learn both sides of this coin, we can keep our goals in sight and will be much more effective in reaching them.