Imbalance is a normal part of a leader’s life. This is one lesson I consistently discuss during my training. You’re never going to find peace as a leader, nor experience satisfaction from all counterparties.
Leadership is about maintaining balance in a triangle, where each angle of the triangle plays an unique role – owner, customer, and employee. In a perfect world it is an equilateral triangle (each angle 60 degrees). As we recall from our math classes, the sum of the angles in a triangle is always 180 degrees.
Inevitably, the elevation of one corner leads to a shift in balance. Mathematically speaking, as one angle increases, the size of the other angles decreases. This is simply unavoidable, and denying it only becomes a constant source of stress.
Statements like “Employees are our greatest asset!” or “The customer is the most important!” are as absurd as saying “Our shareholder’s interest and my salary is more important than you, dear customer!”.
None can be THE MOST IMPORTANT, as it creates tensions in the other two vertices, ultimately disrupting the entire system. Those statements may be nice marketing tricks, but in real life, organizations rarely endure such an approach for long. We’re always have lack of money and lack of time in organizations and all 3 of above mentioned are competing with each other for those resources. That’s the sad (or exiting) part of life in organizations.
Leaders should understand that dynamic equilibrium is inevitable, and complete satisfaction can never be guaranteed for every corner of the triangle. As one participant in my training well concluded: “The goal is rather to achieve ENOUGH GOOD satisfaction and accept the reality that someone will always be slightly dissatisfied, feeling that their needs aren’t met.”
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