Why Great Leaders Are Letting Go of Perfectionism to Maximize Impact
Leaders are quietly letting go of all their old “shoulds.” I recently worked with a client who is accomplished, driven, and deeply capable. (She’s got the fancy degrees, working for all the “right” companies, and the job titles to match.) And yet the most powerful unlock for her lately hasn’t been about ambition or optimization. It’s been the quiet, slight uncomfortable realization that maybe not everything at work needs to be done at 100%.
She's beginning to see that her bar for “good work” is far higher than what her role, team, or business actually requires — and that giving every single task her all might actually diminish her overall impact, not enhance it.
This is a pattern I see often in my coaching: high-achievers who believe doing everything to an “excellent” standard is simply what's required to succeed.
But here's the invitation I offer them, and maybe you, too:
Is it true that doing everything excellently makes you more effective?
Or is it possible that if you're doing everything you think you're supposed to do, and doing it all at an “excellent” standard, you might actually have less of an impact – at your work, and in your life – than you otherwise would?
So, ask yourself:
What truly deserves your highest standards this month?
What could be done well enough?
Where could you conserve your energy and attention, so you can direct them toward the things that count?
A few weeks after this conversation with my client, I went to hear Oliver Burkeman speak. (To whom I could easily dedicate an entire newsletter.) He referenced a line from a Washington Post column that I later found in his book, Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts. It perfectly captures the heart of this idea:
“'My mom used to get really upset at what she perceived as my half-assing,' reads one splendid anonymous comment on a Washington Post article by the advice columnist Carolyn Hax. 'I'm 48 now, have a PhD and a thriving and influential career, and I still think there is very very little that's worthy of applying my whole entire ass. I'm not interested in burning myself [out] by whole-assing stuff that will be fine if I half- or quarter-ass it. Being able to achieve maximum economy of ass is an important adult skill.'”
Where can you “half-ass” or “quarter-ass” something this month, on purpose?
It's not laziness. It's discernment.
And it's a hallmark of great leadership.