The Washington Nationals are going to celebrate opening day in their new stadium on March 30th. The Nationals' manager, Manny Acta recently said,

"If there are things out there that can improve me, I can't just be such a hardhead and say, I'm doing it this way--- You have to adjust to life--- I've evolved a little bit in life. I haven't been afraid to change my mind."

His remarks remind me of the number of times I've heard leaders complain about their subordinates' reluctance to change while failing to recognize the ways that the leaders themselves have not changed.

What might be the reasons why they act this way? Here are a few.

Leaders, understandably, compare their current situation to the past. The problem occurs when they use the past as a guide for how to manage the present without sufficiently taking into consideration the differences between the two situations.

How many times have you heard a leader say, "When I was at ---, we did it differently"? Their belief that what worked in the past will work now can get them into trouble if they don't understand how the current situation is different and how their previous ways of doing things will have to be revised accordingly.

Some leaders also obstinately refuse to accept responsibility for their actions, relying instead on subtle and sophisticated means of avoiding personal accountability.

I used to work for someone who never, ever took responsibility for his actions. He was very good at finding plausible explanations for why it was always someone else's responsibility. He'd say things like,

"My job is to make sure that everyone who reports to me is held accountable. If you're doing your job, then I've done mine." And while this makes sense at one level, he used it to deflect any conversations away from what he had to do - especially those things which, because of his position, no one else could do.

Other leaders continue doing what has repeatedly not worked. They want others to change, but they repeat the same unsuccessful approaches time and time again. Then, they complain that others are still resistant.

Their frustration rises as their unsuccessful efforts continue to fail. Their focus of attention continues to be on those who resist instead of on themselves and what they need to be doing differently.

Persistence is a good thing, but persistence in doing the same things repeatedly and continuing to get the same, unacceptable results is not a virtue. It's obstinacy.

Pogo had an observation to help leaders whose obstinacy gets in the way. He said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

You can help yourself avoid the pitfalls of obstinacy if you candidly answer two questions.

"What am I doing that may be contributing to the problem?"

"What else might I try?"

John F. Kennedy wrote, "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."

I couldn't agree more. There is no better laboratory for learning than being a leader. The changes and challenges that cascade onto a leader's desk provide continuing opportunities for learning about how to become a better leader.

The best leaders use those opportunities to the fullest. How about you? What opportunities have you taken advantage of recently to learn to lead better?

John Gardner, the founder of Common Cause, wrote about "a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems."

As a leader, it's easy to overlook the opportunities that lie embedded in and often obscured by the problems that land on our desks.

What opportunities exist in the problems before you now?

email: archie@archietinelli.com archie@archietinelli.com