Leaders under perform for a variety of reasons.

First, they do not have a stake in the ground. A stake in the ground is much like when President Kennedy stated, “We’re going to put a man on the moon and bring him back safely again by the end of the decade.” That quote has been used numerous times. It is a good one. That is a stake in the ground. Leaders need to place a stake in the ground. They need to be able to clearly state, “We’re going there.” They need to identify and communicate it so that everybody has the same understanding of what they are doing, where they are going, and how long it is going to take.

Second, they do not have a process. Most organizations are people-dependent. The key to success is to be process-oriented. What I am talking about here is having a process around both strategy and execution. A strategy process is one in which everybody is able to have input and author the plan, and an execution process is one in which everybody knows where they are going, what is important, and what they have to do to make it happen.

Third, they lack organizational culture. Culture is nebulous. It is difficult to get your hands around it. Leaders like having their hands around things. The definition of culture is what differentiates an organization from others in terms of values, beliefs and behaviors. It is a leader’s job to define, defend and maintain a culture. You must be able to wrap your arms around it, define it and not tolerate someone breeching it.

Fourth, they don’t know their strengths. Every leader has their own strength areas that are unique to them. It is a God-given gift, they are born with it and they develop it throughout their lifetime. We find that people are working at their highest level when they are spending about 70 percent of their time in their natural strength area. It is important that they are clear about what that area is and that they have other people in their organization who have strengths in areas where they are weaker.

Fifth, they don’t have support. Leaders do not have anybody to go to in the organization and it is very lonely at the top. It is common for leaders to wonder if they are the right person, right now, for their organization. The fact is, what they do not know is that many leaders think the same thing. It is important to have someone at the top where you have a closed container of confidentiality and you can converse with them, expose your vulnerabilities and get clarity and focus from them as well.

Sixth, they don’t distinguish between leading and managing. It is very common for leaders to confuse the two. They get too involved in the management part instead of staying at the leadership level. They need to spend more time understanding when they are toggling between the two and having people giving them feedback so they can shift themselves back into a leadership position.

It makes sense to think of leadership like surfing. If you are surfing, you want to be in front of the wave. The wave pushes you. You can steer yourself, but the wave is pushing you. The hardest part about surfing is getting in front of the wave. A lot of times I see leaders who are paddling very hard for the wave. They are just at the crest of it, but they still have to put forth a lot of energy to get over that crest and get in front of it. By being able to follow through on these areas, they will be in front of the wave and be able to steer their own course.