By dirty work, I do not mean menial tasks or work that maintains the status quo. I am not talking about illegal, immoral, or unethical acts when I use the word dirty.
I’m talking about stepping into difficult, uncomfortable situations, where a good outcome isn’t guaranteed. It is the hot potato, a recurring drama, and it is preventing your business from performing at its best.
Leadership can be messy work. From time to time it’s about getting dirty. Diving into dirty work means pinpointing the situations that are mission critical, yet nobody is stepping forward and taking ownership for them. There is uncertainty and risk involved and there may be pain and emotion wrapped around it.
Addressing dirty work isn’t about pointing out blame, it’s about claiming it, naming it as dirty work and then setting out to clean it up.
Go after dirty work. That’s why they call this leadership.
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