Patience is a superpower because it allows for better long-term decisions, builds trust, and fosters team development by enabling failure and learning. However, it can be a kryptonite when it leads to tolerating poor performance, delaying hard decisions, or causing customers to pay for employees' incompetence.
Patience helps in making better long-term decisions by ensuring that initiatives are done correctly the first time, avoiding the need for rework. This is particularly important for large projects or new product lines, where rushing can lead to costly mistakes and delays.
Being too patient with poor performers can lead to a depreciating asset within the team, as they may never improve without proper guidance. It can also negatively impact team culture and cause high performers to lose respect for leadership, potentially leading to their departure.
Patience builds trust and loyalty by allowing team members to fail and learn without judgment, fostering an environment where they feel supported. This approach encourages continuous improvement and resilience, making team members more likely to stay and contribute long-term.
Being patient with results means allowing time for outcomes to manifest, especially when effort is high. Being patient with effort, however, can be detrimental, as it may mean accepting lack of effort or commitment, which should be addressed promptly.
Being patient in such situations can harm the business's reputation, as customers expect quality service. Allowing incompetence to persist means customers are indirectly funding training or mistakes, which can damage the brand's credibility and customer loyalty.
Leaders can focus on being impatient with effort but patient with results, ensuring that team members are putting in the work. They can also create processes, trainings, or other activities to stay productive while waiting for outcomes, rather than nagging or micromanaging.
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