The Traps of Staying on Top

When an organization is performing well, that is exactly when investment in talent and innovation should be at full throttle. Yet in my work with executives, I see the opposite happen again and again. Success breeds comfort. Comfort breeds complacency. And complacency is almost never noticed until the damage has already been done.

It is more difficult to stay on top than it is to get there. The things that created your initial success are rarely the things that will sustain it, especially now. AI is changing how every job gets done. Teams are spread across locations and time zones. Restructuring has become a constant rather than an event, and market disruptions arrive with very little warning.

Staying ahead requires what I call managing disruption: finding new ways for the organization to win, grow and stay relevant, and doing it in ways that inspire hope rather than fear. It means discovering untapped connection points among your people, their capabilities, your technologies, your partners and your brand. It means leading with an entrepreneurial spirit even when the P&L tells you that you don't have to.

Here are eight traps successful leaders must avoid, especially when times are good.

1. Ignoring the Problem on the Horizon

As a leader, you are always solving a problem, coming out of one or heading into the next. I have watched too many leaders ignore an emerging threat because the current quarter looked strong, only to see that small problem turn into a costly one. Confront problems before circumstances force your hand. When you see problems as opportunities, you stop fearing them and start using them.

2. Managing Tactics Instead of Leading Growth

When leaders become risk averse, they retreat into the details. They manage tasks instead of leading growth. Your job is to keep your eyes on the bigger picture: the growth of your people, your customers, your culture and your relationships. Get lost in the tactics and your vision becomes blurry, just as a competitor is getting clearer.

3. Letting Complacency Spread

Employees watch their leaders closely. When your intensity and expectations fade, they read it as permission to withdraw. That is why leaders are so often surprised when their top performers leave. High performers want to be around people who push themselves. Set the tone, and hold yourself to it first.

4. Stopping the Change Pipeline

Change should be part of the culture, not an occasional initiative. In my own organization, I challenge the team to "discover the next phase." Every quarter we select one big idea for the change pipeline. It gets a budget, a timeline and an owner, and once it launches we measure its impact on our clients, our culture and our people. The goal is for everyone to become comfortable with change and the good it can produce. When leaders stop selling change, they become vulnerable, and they shortchange the clients who depend on them.

5. Underusing Your Resources

Leaders forget how many resources surround them: their people, partners, vendors, relationships and communities. Try this. Ask each person on your team to list five to ten resources they believe could help the business grow, and to explain how each could save money or create revenue. A team of ten gives you fifty to a hundred ideas. More important, you have taught your team to see and value what is already around them.

6. Letting the Culture Drift

Running a business is a fluid activity. Nothing stays the same, and neither can your culture. People want to trust one another and they want transparency from their leaders. Keep a strong pulse on your culture, test new ways of working, and be willing to evolve it to meet the needs of the business. A culture that is out of step with your strategy makes every goal harder to reach.

7. Losing Passion for the Mission

Success makes it easy to think more about the money and less about the impact. You sold the mission to your people, and they expect you to live up to it. Keep asking what you must keep doing, stop doing and start doing in pursuit of that mission. Remind your team of it often, and show them the progress being made.

8. Neglecting the Development of Talent

The strength of an organization always lies in its people, yet talent development is still one of the first line items to be cut. In my work with Fortune 500 companies, we continually find untapped potential that leaders never took the time to discover. Don't manage to the job description. Manage to the potential inside each person.

Questions to Ask While Things Are Good

• What problem are we choosing not to see because the numbers look strong?
• What is our next phase, and who owns it?
• Which resources are we ignoring?
• Whose potential have I not taken the time to discover?

Your people and your organization deserve your full attention at all times, especially when success tempts you to relax. Avoid these traps and you can keep your momentum alive long after others have grown comfortable.

Want to explore these ideas further? Learn more about my work on leadership, identity and conviction at www.theglennllopis.com.