Boundaries for Leaders: Results, Relationships, and Being Ridiculously in Charge

by Henry Cloud

There are several aspects of a leader’s behavior that make everything work, and one of those is his or her “boundaries.”

A boundary is a structure that determines what will exist and what will not.

you will be reminded that, as a leader, you always get what you create and what you allow.

This book is about what leaders need to do in order for people to accomplish a vision.

Sometimes even with all of that energy spent, results are negatively affected by the ways that different people function both in teams and as individuals. Too often such “soft” issues become ingrained patterns that determine how the business itself looks and functions. When added up, individual weaknesses and poor interpersonal dynamics can overshadow the strengths. All the smarts and skills of individual team members just don’t produce the results you are looking for.

The good news is that the issues Chris and his team faced—the issues that many of you face in your own organizations—are fixable. When leaders lead in ways that people’s brains can follow, good results follow as well.

No matter where you see yourself in this story, I want you to remember that when leaders begin to behave differently, most of the issues that hamper results and harm company culture are truly fixable.

You might be further down in the organization, feeling the effects of dysfunctional leadership issues above you, and have a desire to make things better but don’t know how to do that from your level.

“So what kind of culture would you like?” I asked. “What kind of culture would drive the business forward if you had it?”

He realized that he would have exactly the culture that he creates and would not have the one he did not allow to exist.

As a leader, he was going to get what he built, or what he allowed.

What are boundaries? They are made up of two essential things: what you create and what you allow.

the leaders’ boundaries define and shape what is going to be and what isn’t.

In the end, as a leader, you are always going to get a combination of two things: what you create and what you allow.

‘who is the DRI, the directly responsible individual?’”

Leaders define the direction and are responsible for making it happen. And they are responsible for the accountability systems that ensure that it does happen. It always comes back to leadership and the boundaries they allow to exist on their property.

The vision, the focus, the attention, and the activities that create forward movement are defined by leaders.

The emotional climate of the organization and its culture is created and sustained by leaders.

The unity and connectedness of the organization and the teams are built or fragmented by leaders.

The thinking and beliefs of the organization are sown and grown by leaders.

The amount and kinds of control and empowerment that people have are given and required by leaders.

The performance and development of their teams and direct reports are stewarded by leaders.

The leadership of oneself, which entails establishing one’s own boundaries and stewardship of the organization, is required by leaders.

Leaders, through a handful of essential boundaries, make sure certain things happen, prevent other things from happening, and keep it all moving forward.

Positively, they establish intentional structures, values, norms, practices, and disciplines that build what they desire.

Negatively, they set limits on confusion and distraction. They prohibit practices and behaviors that sow the seeds of a negative emotional climate in any way, realizing that toxic behavior and emotions impede high performance.

They disallow silos, compartmentalization, individual agendas, fragmentation, isolation, or divisions among their people.

they do not tolerate negativity, helplessness, powerlessn...

they make sure that nothing exists in their culture that works against the vision and the drive for results, or against people being developed into all that they can be.

Once you come to appreciate that you are truly “ridiculously in charge,” you can establish and realize the vision that you have for your company, your team, your department, your project, or whatever else you lead.

When a leader steps up and leads, and sets boundaries that provide clarity that cuts through the noise, it is a new day.

good leadership boundaries diminish bad behavior and forge an immune system that automatically identifies, isolates, and stamps out toxins, infections, or other viral patterns that would make the organization sick or lead it away from its values, mission, purpose, and results.

It will not work well when leaders are doing things that inhibit brain functioning, or are leading teams and organizations in ways that literally make it impossible for people’s brains to work to their full potential.

the work of leaders is always twofold: to make sure positive conditions exist and to rid organizations of the negative elements that stand in the way of high performance.

The principles are universal. Whatever you lead, you can make it thrive.

As you focus on the “plan,” how can you add focus to how you lead the people who have to execute the plan?

What kind of culture, team, or organization have you created or allowed?

How do you and your team need to be different from what you are?

How do you hold yourself and your team accountable for the results you are getting?

What does it mean for you to be “ridiculously” in charge?

You do not have to be a brain surgeon to establish the boundaries that are usually made by a great leader.

if you are trying to lead people and do not establish effective boundaries, your people will not be able to do what you need and want them to do because their brains can’t work that way.

Show me a person, a team, or a company that gets results, and I will show you the leadership boundaries that make it possible.

if leadership is operating in a way that makes any of those brain functions unable to perform, or creates a team or culture in which they cannot work, results will be weakened and the vision damaged.

Neuroscience has shown that when these processes are cultivated and protected—which is exactly what strong boundaries provide—good things happen.

In brain terminology, executive functions are needed to achieve any kind of purposeful activity—such as reaching a goal, driving a vision forward, conquering an objective.

In other words, our brains need to be able to: (a) focus on something specific, (b) not get off track by focusing on or being assaulted by other data inputs or toxicity, and (c) continuously be aware of relevant information at all times.

attention” is like a magic key that unlocks higher-order brain circuitry.

Attention is essential, but not enough. It can’t really thrive without enlisting its siblings: inhibition and working memory. You need all three executive functions.

Leadership must set the stage and ensure that: a. What is important is always being attended to—attention.