by Lester Coupland

Leadership Maturity

What is maturity?

According to Daniel Goleman, a key aspect of maturity is the ability to lengthen the gap between impulse and action. This means that instead of immediately reacting to a feeling or urge, a more mature person can pause, consider the situation, and choose a more thoughtful response.

Goleman's concept connects to his research on emotional intelligence, where self-awareness and self-management are crucial for recognising impulses and regulating them effectively.

What is reality?

Some leaders have a deeply-rooted instinct to act fast. This may be accentuated by an innate ‘’hurry-up driver’’ relating to parental messaging from early childhood whereby ‘’getting a move on’’ was conveyed as the best (and maybe only) problem-solving option.

Let’s be clear. It’s not that this is wrong. On occasions we all need to move quickly, decide fast and be agile; the circumstances will determine this and realistically we may have no option.

A very smart senior leader whom I was coaching said to me recently (referring to the company where he worked) ‘’we’re all running at the moment.’’ I knew what he meant and I believed him.

What is the risk?

Here at LSC, we have learned through working globally with thousands of leaders that some seem to be permanently ‘caught’ in this way of being. For these leaders, everything has to be decided this very moment; they believe acting quickly and being decisive is what leaders must do; slowing down and reflecting are not attributes which belong to this leadership paradigm.

What is the solution?

In the recent past, a new member of the team which I was leading was giving cause for concern. His performance was below standard. He had clearly not endeared himself to his peers and he was struggling to adapt to the norms and practices of the organisation sought feedback from his immediate supervisor and three trusted team members and the conclusion from all was ‘fire him.’ I pointed out that there were other options available to us and. if we did fire him, we would rapidly have to find and hire a replacement, a process which would take several weeks and leave the team very stretched. I asked his supervisor to change the team member’s role, assigned a colleague who could coach him closely and asked two colleagues to monitor the team member’s performance and get feedback from the customers. It worked a treat and we were able to retain the team member who grew in competence and confidence. We had avoided the impulse to fire him by reflecting on the implications and finding another way forward which ultimately proved successful.

What are the lessons for leaders?

• Separate the true level of urgency of a situation from your own feelings, impulses and urges
• Think carefully and systematically about the possible implications of a course of action if you’re minded to act fast
• Beware group-think if there is a group impulse to act fast and encourage those involved to consider options and potential consequences