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Suboptimality in leadership and organizational life occurs when there is a huge gap between performance and the expected result or when the goals that have been set by the organization are not being actualized. This is what suboptimality entails. Also, suboptimality can sometimes come from the angle of leadership, and on other occasions, it can come from the angle of the team. But irrespective of where it is coming from, suboptimality actually is like a cancerous disease that must be eliminated from leadership and organizational life. Now, there are a number of factors I believe are responsible for suboptimality in leadership and organizational life. They are:
Listen to Podcast: How to Deal with Suboptimality in Leadership and Organizational Life
Lack of Accountability: when a leader is not accountable enough in the way and manner the organization is being run, then such leader would perform sub-optimally. When employees on the other hand are also not accountable, there is no system of reportage to track whether specific tasks and assignment are being done, they will also perform sub-optimally. So, lack of accountability is the first factor responsible for suboptimality in leadership and organizational life.
Loss of Motivation and Enthusiasm: this factor, is one of the biggest contributors to suboptimal performance anywhere in the world. When a leader is not motivated or has lost his or her enthusiasm, it usually brings about suboptimality in leadership and organizational life. Also, when employees or team members have lost their motivation and enthusiasm, they churn out abysmal results.
Lack of Focus: distraction is another factor that is responsible for suboptimality in leadership and organizational life. The moment a leader allows himself or herself to be derailed from the main cause, if the main cause is not dumped along the way, it would be done haphazardly. So, in order not to be abysmal in achieving leadership and organizational goals and perform sub optimally, there is always the need to remain focused all the time.
Refusal To Seek for Help: there are times in leadership and organizational life when sourcing for help externally is required in order to achieve the set goals and objectives. This does not portray the leadership or the organization seeking for help as being weak or inadequate.
Inadequate Resources to Carry Out Specific Tasks: this factor is also one of the biggest contributors to suboptimality in leadership and organizational life. When a leader feels inadequate simply because he or she does not have access to certain resources or materials to lead in a certain area or on specific tasks, such leader would churn out a suboptimal performance. When employees within an organization are also not given the needed resources to execute their specific assignments and task, such employees also would perform sub optimally.
So, having examined these factors responsible for suboptimality in leadership and organizational life, how can they be dealt with, if any of these is what your leadership or organization is currently experiencing. The answer is simple.
1) Put In Place an Accountability System. The accountability system should work in a way and manner that both the leader and the team are accountable. When there is a system of accountability in place, everyone within the organization would work and carry out their tasks the way and manner that it should be carried out.
2) Motivation And Enthusiasm Are Key to Optimal Performance. As a leader, if you want your team to perform optimally, one way to achieve that is to ensure that they are always motivated. Motivation sometimes could be monetary and it may not be monetary. A simple “thank you for a job well done” from the leader to the team could be the single motivation they need to putting in their best. Sometimes, a financial incentive could also be a source of motivation as well. Either way, motivation is a key requirement for building enthusiasm and optimal performance.
3) Achieving Optimal Performance in Leadership and Organizational Life Comes on The Bedrock of Focus. Everyone in the organization, beginning from the top; must be laser-focused to deliver optimal performance. Distraction is always a big disservice to optimal performance anywhere.
4) Seek For Help When Needed. Even the Scriptures says two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor. Don’t tell yourself you can do it alone when you can actually seek for help and do it better.
5) Provide The Needed Resources and Materials That Would Enhance Optimal Performance. As a leader, you cannot demand optimal performance from your team members when you have not provided the needed resources they require to deliver on that specific task or assignment. That would mean asking them to do too much with little or no resources they require to achieve their goal. I believe we got that.
Alright! This is what has been laid in my heart to share with us today on Leaderview and I believe that you’ve learned something that is going to help your leadership assignment going forward. Please don’t forget to like, comment and share this podcast with your friends and team so that they can also learn one or two things from it.
God bless you.
[Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
