If you haven’t heard these terms, here’s a quick summary:
A Boiled Frog is a leader who has surrounded themselves with "Yes" people who agree with your decisions and encourage you, no matter the outcome or repercussions. It’s called a boiled frog because apparently, a frog that is being boiled doesn’t actually know that it is being boiled and eventually will die. (A theory I have heard but not tested! No worries, no frogs were hurt in the making of this blog. 🤣) In the case of a leader, they could be making a number of poor decisions that could be adversely affecting results and eventually leading to their demise. The people surrounding this type of leader can see or have knowledge from other staff of the eventual demise, but they do not have the courage or permission to tell the leader “Hey, do you know that you are boiling to death?”
A Mushroom leader is one who is surrounded by people who keep them in the dark and feed them a regular pile of Sh#t. Of course, this is exactly a thriving environment for a mushroom, but a terrible environment for a leader. This type of leader is actively being excluded from important decisions or certain things going on in their business yet continues to be fed information from their people that is inaccurate or glossed over truths.
The key to getting past both of these is creating awareness within yourself. Here are some questions you can reflect on:
👉🏻 Are you ever challenged by your inner core team? Is there ever a healthy debate? Do your people offer you ideas/suggestions or feedback? If you answered no to any of these questions, you may be a dying frog.
👉🏻 Do you ever hear about any setbacks, challenges, or roadblocks? Does it always seem like things are running smoothly and perfectly? Does a particular employee regularly over-complement you and always extra nice? I hate to say it, but if it smells like 💩, then you might be a mushroom.
If you think you might be a Boiled Frog or a Mushroom and aren’t sure how to get out of either of these situations, it might be time to reach out to get some support through this. I always offer a free hour of coaching.
Reach out and let’s chat.
