“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure.  It is:  Try to please everybody.” – Herbert Bayard Swope

The world is always changing, and as it changes, leaders are continually faced with new opportunities and challenges.  Sometimes the opportunities and challenges are two sides of the same coin.

One positive change over the past few decades is the idea that employees have the right to have an opinion about the direction of their careers, or the direction of the company itself.  Not only that, but employees feel like they can and should express those opinions.  Every human being was created with the ability to think and speak for themselves, and the fact that people want to use those abilities in the workplace is a good thing.

The challenge for leaders is that, when people express those opinions, they expect a response.  And if they feel like they aren’t being heard or respected, employees are perfectly willing to leave and go work somewhere else.  Again, that in itself is not a bad thing.  People pursuing the job or career that’s right for them is good, both for them and for the world as a whole.

Unfortunately, many leaders’ response to all of that is to attempt to do everything they can to meet every need and grant every wish or desire of every employee.  They try so hard to create an organization that works for everybody, that it ends up not quite working for anybody – especially the leader.

Leaders need to have a vision of what their organization looks like, and the core of that vision cannot be negotiable.  They can’t just announce that vision and expect everyone to fall in line, but they can’t cave to every demand that weakens that vision either.  Not everything is worth fighting over, but some things certainly are, and leaders have to be willing to fight for what they think is best.

Sometimes, that’s going to mean that some of your people might decide that your organization isn’t the right fit.  That’s OK.  If it really isn’t the right fit, then they need to leave for the place that is.  And you need to be comfortable with that.

I’m not suggesting you be a jerk, or purposefully drive people off, or don’t make any attempt to listen to your people.  Just remember that you need to lead the organization the way you think is best.  If your version of leadership is simply “try to keep everybody happy”, you’ll fail miserably, and no one will be happy.  Especially you.