Leadership Principle #13: Landmines – The Career Killers. A 5 Part Series.

If someone were to tell you that 5 simple things could prevent you from achieving your next level of success, and even worse, potentially kill your career, you’d likely stop and take notice.  These are professional landmines, and if you don’t pay them enough attention—they will kill your career.  Ignore these at your own risk!

In your daily job as CEO, you are under extreme pressure to succeed, but no training exists to warn you about the potential landmines that WILL explode on your path if you’re not prepared to avoid them.  Naturally you’ve been dealing with roadblocks of every kind for years as a business leader, but the ones I’m talking about now are so important, they require a different level of attention.  But, if you’re not prepared, you won’t see them until it’s too late.  On the other hand, if you do manage them appropriately, your chances of success are greatly increased. 

You might be asking, “Jay, I have so many potential issues that could blow up like a landmine, so why are these 5 so critical?”  My response is yes, there always are lots of priorities that play into your success or failure, but you can make adjustments to these and survive.  The landmines won’t give you that same flexibility.  Furthermore, the way in which you handle the landmines will determine success or failure in every other area because they are all interconnected.

So what are these 5 landmines?  The first is a lack of clarity or prioritization of your top objectives.  Second is the isolation you experience as CEO because its lonely at the top.  Third is failure to adapt.  Don’t become the next Blockbuster because you failed to adapt to a changing marketplace.  Become the next Netflix.  The last two landmines deal closely with people – specifically those above you (board, investors, the bank), and those below you (your Executive team and other leaders). 

This list might surprise you, but in the following posts I will explain how each of these landmines has the potential to catch you off guard, and what you need to do to avoid then.

Next Up: Landmine #1 – Lack of clarity and prioritization