Theme 4: Perfectionism

When we look back on our lives especially the time we have spent leading we can do two things: dwell negatively on our failures, things that didn't go according to plan and regrets or reflect back on those times and think about the lessons we learnt as a result. This post is about what I have learnt in regards to perfectionism.

Past limiting beliefs:

• I have needed to strive for perfectionism and prove myself to others.
• Spending more hours working or at work will ensure I am always ‘on top’ of things.
• If I am aiming for perfectionism, this will impact positively on my team and increase their productivity.
• If I don’t model perfectionism, I will lose credibility and trust with my team.
• I will increase my knowledge and understanding of running an organisation by aiming for perfectionism.
• People won’t judge or analyse my performance as a leader if I don’t make mistakes and fail.

Looking back on this list, it’s a challenge to acknowledge that these beliefs have guided me on my quest to look and do everything just right. After a number of internal and external challenges, I came to the hard cold realisation that things needed to change and I needed to break this pattern of behaviour - of trying to be a perfectionist.

What I’ve learnt by reading, researching and talking to others:

• Perfectionism is a myth.
• Perfectionism is about pleasing, performing, proving, perfecting
• Perfectionism is an unsustainable behaviour which is often the cause of major health issues including depression, anxiety and in my case burnout.
• As leaders, we need to continually look for indicators we are setting the bar too high for ourselves.
• We can still strive for excellence in a healthy way without being a perfectionist.
• Modelling perfectionism has an incredibly negative impact on a team.
• Exhaustion, business and productivity are not signs of effective leadership. No one is impressed by these qualities. 
• As leaders, we need to invest time in attending to fears and feelings around the likes of perfectionism or an unreasonable amount of time managing ineffective and unproductive behaviour.
• Research states that perfectionism impedes achievement. 
• Effective leaders encourage teams to discuss perfectionism before it has the ability to impact negatively on the culture of a group or organisation.

What are your thoughts around perfectionism? 

What strategies do you use to ensure you continue to aim for excellence without becoming a perfectionist?