Leadership advice is everywhere these days. From bookshelves to podcasts, there’s an endless stream of experts offering the ultimate guide to being the ‘best leader.’ Titles range from The Prepared Leader and The Resilient Leader to the more dramatic Leadership and Training for the Fight.
Each claims to hold the key to success, squeezing the leadership lemon one more time.
Who has the time, energy, or bandwidth to master (or even read about) them all? The result is a maze of expectations that leaders feel compelled to navigate, but often find themselves lost within.
This obsession with perfection in leadership has its pitfalls. Many leaders, especially those who’ve been “A players” in their earlier roles, may fall into one of two traps:
The overachiever’s trap
These leaders try to keep getting A’s in everything. They work long hours, micromanage, and resist delegating because they believe nobody else can match their standards. They rarely take a break and convince themselves they’re indispensable.
The opt-out trap
Others avoid risk altogether. They stick to familiar paths, shy away from pitching bold ideas, and avoid stepping into challenges where failure – or even mediocrity – might be a possibility.
Neither approach works. The reality of leadership is that resources, especially time, are always scarce. The key isn’t trying to do everything perfectly, but deciding what truly needs excellence, what’s good enough, and what doesn’t need your attention at all.
The power of good enough leadership
At ig, we’ve seen an alternative approach take root in organisations: ‘good enough’ leadership.
Based in Donald Winnicott’s concept of ‘good-enough mothering’, this approach shifts the focus from perfection to practical productivity.
Good enough leadership isn’t about doing the bare minimum. It’s about making thoughtful choices and modelling behaviours that encourage responsibility, growth, and progress. It’s a mindset rooted in realism and balance, where leaders:
- Understand that perfection isn’t sustainable.
- Foster an environment where mistakes are possible, and learning and growth are encouraged.
- Delegate responsibility and trust their teams to deliver.
This approach stands in stark contrast to a ‘perfectionist’ approach to leadership, which often leaves teams feeling exhausted, micromanaged, and disempowered. While some people may prefer a controlling leader (because it absolves them of responsibility), this can counterproductively create a culture of dependence rather than growth.
Why ‘perfection’ hurts more than it helps
The dangers of striving for perfection are well-documented. Research by Avgoustaki and Frankort, for example, which surveyed over 50,000 people across 36 countries, found that excessive effort is associated with reduced well-being and worse career outcomes.
The harder people work, the more likely they are to experience stress, dissatisfaction, and burnout.
Numerous economic principles reinforce the wisdom of embracing good enough. Take the law of diminishing returns, which suggests that the more time and effort you invest in something, the less value you gain from each additional increment of effort. Beyond a certain point, striving for perfection can become inefficient and counterproductive.
Or the Pareto Principle, often called the 80/20 Rule, which observes that 20% of your effort typically generates 80% of the results. Together, these principles highlight the importance of prioritising impact over perfection, focusing energy where it counts most.
Increments and iterations – testing, learning, and improving over time – are far more effective than striving for perfection on the first attempt. Lean start-ups, tech teams, and designers thrive on this philosophy, creating early prototypes to gather feedback and improve over time.
Practical steps to embrace good enough leadership
Prioritise ruthlessly
Not everything needs to be an A+. Decide what matters most and allocate your effort accordingly. Some things only need a B+ or even C-level effort to achieve acceptable outcomes.
Delegate and empower
Stop holding everything yourself. Trust your team, let them make mistakes, and allow them to learn. This prevents bottlenecks and fosters growth across the organisation.
Model ‘good enough’
Demonstrate to your team that good enough is often more effective than chasing perfection. First drafts, mock-ups, and rough cuts are opportunities for learning and efficiency.
Clarify standards
Help your team understand what good enough looks like. Clear goals and measurable standards reduce ambiguity and build confidence.
Embrace iteration
Focus on incremental progress rather than perfect solutions. Encourage small wins, continuous feedback, and iterative improvements.
The courage to be imperfect
‘Good enough’ leadership isn’t about being lazy or lowering standards. It requires self-awareness – understanding your weaknesses, biases, and insecurities – and embracing vulnerability. Leaders who strive for absolute certainty and confidence often become closed off, missing opportunities for growth and collaboration.
At ig, we believe in helping leaders navigate these complexities with both subtlety and purpose. Leadership isn’t about ticking dozens of competency boxes or striving for perfection in every area. It’s about making choices, fostering growth, and recognising that sometimes, near enough is good enough.
Ready to rethink what leadership means for you and your organisation?