“Excellence does not require Perfection.”
— Henry James
There are certain kinds of leaders who proudly tell their clients and employees that perfection is their goal. It’s the kind of word that sticks in people’s minds and it’s the kind of goal that they think is worth pursuing: “Anything less would be a betrayal to our clients!”
When I think of perfectionism I think of a mistake free universe where every detail is accounted for and every process is smooth and wrinkle free. That sounds like a pretty good environment for your clients and employees until you understand what ends up being lost in all of that ‘purity’: an environment where people are free to experiment and take risks and create solutions that no one’s thinking of if they’re too afraid to make mistakes.
Perfectionists see themselves in a world of scarcity. Resources are always limited and must be protected at any cost. Eliminating mistakes or the possibility of mistakes means that scarce resources will always be protected and the organization they’re leading will always survive.
If you stop and think about the kind of world and words that the perfectionist embraces it’s a pretty bleak existence for all involved: ‘scarcity’, ‘limited’, ‘protected’, ‘eliminating’, and ‘survive’ don’t sound like the kind of words you’ll find in a healthy organization that consistently produces great results. In fact, it starts to look like a form of ‘betrayal’ to the perfectionist’s clients and employees.
As an executive search consultant and coach, I spend a great deal of time speaking with, thinking about and writing about leaders. The leaders who enjoy boasting that they’re perfectionists makes me think they’re more concerned with how they may appear to the outside world than they do about their team’s well being or their client’s actual needs. Perfectionism looks a lot like selfishness if you ever get an opportunity to spend much time around a true perfectionist.
Excellent leaders and their organizations are defined quite differently; the words associated with them tell you all you need to know: ‘superiority’, ‘brilliance’, and ‘supremacy’ just to name a few. Leading a team that’s known for its superiority, brilliance and supremacy requires tremendous commitment, talent and energy from everyone. A team with an excellent reputation is an amazing goal to reach but will be far more rewarding to you, your employees and clients. Not because you reached it but because of what you became in the process.