On being realistic

Being realistic is an underrated leadership skill.

Many of the founders and senior leaders I work with are, by nature, visionaries. They are good at imagining something that doesn’t yet exist and then persuading others to believe in it too. That kind of optimism is often what gets a restaurant open in the first place. And you could argue that a certain level of delusional optimism is required to make it in this industry right now.

But this optimism can also create a blind spot. I often find myself sitting with leaders who are setting targets that don’t quite match the reality on the ground. The plan sounds compelling but the team delivering it is already stretched and the time and resources aren’t quite enough.

And so I ask a question that can feel uncomfortable: are you being realistic?

It’s not always a welcome question. It can make me feel like I’m dampening something or getting in the way of momentum. But often, it’s the question that needs to be asked. When your plans consistently go too far beyond what’s actually doable with the team, time and resources available it can start to erode trust. And instead of achieving something visionary, we end up achieving very little at all.

Being realistic is not about thinking small but is more tempering your visionary side just a little and being grounded enough to build dreams that work in the real world.

A few useful questions to sense-check yourself:

• Given the team we have right now, is this achievable?
• What would need to change to make this work?
• Are we trying to do too much at once?
• What actually matters most here?
• What are we willing to deprioritise to do this well?

It’s not always the most exciting approach on paper. But it’s the one that builds trust, confidence and delivers results over time. Back to The Good Life mantra: Doing less, but doing it well.