As I endeavored to embody these qualities, I soon discovered that identifying and confronting fundamental issues in my company was far more challenging than it appeared to be. At first, I encountered many tactical obstacles to accomplishing my goal, such as a lack of awareness of key issues, identifying root causes within complex systems, overcoming resistance to change, gaining access to accurate and reliable information, and sorting through subjective biases, to name a few. However, in short order, I found these to be relatively straight-forward hurdles to address. What was more difficult was my own internal struggle, which I finally identified as avoidance, or as I jokingly call it now, “executive-level laziness.”

Some may find “laziness” to be a bit offensive when self-reflecting on their own leadership style. And I agree. It’s difficult to really look at our patterns and acknowledge our own shortcomings. Our egos tend to reject anything that could be an attack on our own way of doing things. But as leaders, our responsibilities are more important than our own slight discomforts. And we know that ultimately, the buck stops with us when it comes to facing key issues that affect our business.

While leadership is about showing up 100% even (or perhaps especially) in the face of discomfort and difficulty, executive-level laziness is about (oftentimes subconsciously) shying away from whatever we find to be challenging. This may come in the form of a tough work conversation with someone we have been friends with for years, restructuring our organization, identifying and committing to bridging our own skill gaps, and so on. See Crucial Conversations, Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High.

For me, one of the main areas I couldn’t bring myself to address for years was that I wasn’t being fairly compensated for the high level of value I was bringing to my organization. It took a lot of self reflection, trial and error and other means to finally deal with this issue properly. Instead of facing it directly from the start, I allowed the problem to build to an unnecessary extreme.

Over the years, I’ve seen so many variations of laziness come up in myself and other leaders. Here are a few ways it can manifest:

Avoidance mindset is a type of laziness which involves consciously or subconsciously ignoring or evading confronting core issues (many times it is confrontation itself that is being avoided). This hinders a leader’s ability to proactively identify and tackle fundamental problems affecting the organization.

Lack of initiative often manifests as a lack of motivation or investment in the necessary effort it takes to thoroughly investigate and understand underlying causes. Instead, leaders with this type of laziness will often spend more time and resources cutting corners rather than relating directly to the problem.

When leaders struggle with Superficial Focus, they may prefer to work on peripheral tasks, which gives the illusion of busy-ness rather than engaging with the deeper, more complex issues. This approach can result in addressing symptoms rather than the root, leading to recurring problems in the long run. See Sam Altman’s post about Fake Work.

Resistance to Change is a kind of laziness that is often associated with a preference for maintaining the status quo. Here, in the name of comfort and seeming stability, the company is prevented from healthy growth and forward progress.

Leaning into discomfort

As usual, the antidotes to these different styles of laziness start with honest self reflection and awareness of what we are personally and professionally cultivating. So much of learning and growing as leaders comes down to our ability to place ourselves in a humble and vulnerable state of mind. When we do, we can look beyond our own agenda and see how our style of laziness is affecting our business.

Learn your cues. To counter Avoidance, an interesting activity you can do is to start paying attention to your habits when you are actively trying not to deal with something. Like noticing an opponent’s tells in a poker game, you can set an internal alarm for whenever you see yourself avoiding a challenge or task. This will allow you to change your behavior on the spot. Changing even one small thing per day quickly adds up over time.

Commit to thoroughness. Seeing something through from beginning to end can be extraordinarily rewarding and powerful. Here, the emphasis is on quality over quantity. You can cultivate the attitude that each step in the process is a success, rather than a chore or a waste of time until you can get to the end. This is the antidote to a lack of initiative. The key is to create a balanced style of effort that is both relaxed and efficient so that you maintain momentum without burning through resources too quickly.

Stop and take stock. Don’t do tasks just to keep busy. Busy-ness is its own form of being lazy. Instead, take a moment to ask yourself, “What am I doing? Is this the most important, most impactful thing I can do for the business right now?” This easy practice cuts to the heart of the matter in seconds. Be proactive in your inquiry AND your follow through here.

Remember the vision. This one is about not forgetting the purpose of your company and recommitting to aligning your daily activities in accordance with the mission. Getting back into lock step with the company trajectory is a powerful motivator—using all your skills to push the business forward rather than hiding out in the spot you have carved out for yourself.

These days it is so easy to distract ourselves from what is really important. But by embracing a proactive approach, actively confronting challenges, and leaning in 100% to whatever situations arise, leaders can create an environment that promotes healthy growth, problem-solving and long-term success. Most importantly, through our own desire to participate, we can foster a culture of collective care and extreme ownership of the company’s core values and challenges to counteract the trap of laziness.