One of my executive coaching clients has been struggling with perfectionism. She realized that her perfectionism diminished her ability to be an effective leader. Individuals that worked for her became frustrated and stifled. She was spending too much time on low impact tasks and projects which impacted larger strategic initiatives.

All of this caused her tremendous stress leading to feelings of guilt and failure when things did not turn out as she expected.

Through our coaching, she discovered a more empowering perspective which is to be her “best” versus trying to be “perfect”. Being her best was attainable while being perfect was not.
With her new strategy of operating from the perspective of being her best, she is able to let go of judging herself and is freed from the restraints of perfectionism. She’s pleased knowing that “being her best” is her “best self”.

Here are some traits of perfectionism:
• Unrealistic expectations of yourself and others
• Continuously trying to refine a project even when the stakes are low
• Inability to delegate appropriately
• Criticism derails you
• Excessive focus on mistakes
• Fear of failure
• Negative self talk
• Micromanagement

Here are some ways to temper perfectionism:

• Strive to “be your best” in a situation versus being perfect
• Ask yourself “How is my perfectionism effecting how I interact with others?”
• Make sure you have competent direct reports and define with them a zone of empowerment where they can act independently
• Set realistic expectations with flexible time frames for the achievement of goals
• Use mistakes as learning opportunities versus judging yourself
• Avoid spending excessive amount of time on low payoff tasks. Ask your self, “How is working on this impacting my time spent on strategic priorities?”
• Monitor “all or nothing” thinking

How do you temper your perfectionism?