Everything Bagel Leaders

Some leaders say yes to every opportunity, challenge, initiative, and assignment. They commit their teams to perform at a high level for every idea and proposal that comes from above. Their inability to say No creates an unnecessary burden on the team that often leads to exhaustion, frazzle, and burnout. 

When everything becomes a priority, and the list continues to grow, team members begin to underperform and suffer from chronic fatigue. 

The fact that this Everything Bagel Leader also finds best practices in books, podcasts, and social media and introduces them to the team to elevate performance actually makes matters worse. 

There is nothing worth saying No to if you’re an Everything Bagel Leader. Ideas and projects arrive in a never-ending wave. 

For some leaders, this approach is rooted in a fear of missing out. Heaven forbid they turn away an opportunity or project that might pay big dividends. 

For others, they are energized by everything new. They want to be on the cutting edge of everything happening in the organization, and overwhelming the team is a necessary step to be state of the art. 

Sadly, though, the primary reason leaders inundate the team with too many initiatives is often to impress the leaders above them. They surmise that pitching in on nearly every project is the way to stand out as a leader. Of course, the team suffers from this reckless ambition. 

Team members working for an Everything Bagel Leader either leave the organization or find ways to cope. 

Of the many strategies that might offset the overload of too many initiatives, many team members choose to re-prioritize their leader’s priorities. This means deciding which projects and assignments to invest in and which initiatives to ignore in the short term. 

The Everything Bagel Leader will never accept this re-prioritization, so team members ask for forgiveness later rather than permission, as the saying goes. 

A team and its members can only deliver excellence on so many projects at one time. If the leader is unwilling to narrow the possibilities, it is up to the team members to do it. 

In many cases, the leader doesn’t even notice, as they are too busy saying Yes to another slate of projects. Good team members who have the misfortune of working with an Everything Bagel Leader refuse to be overwhelmed and burned out. They keep it simple and focus on what they believe matters. 

A leader who always says Yes can be a curse for a productive team. Turning 10 priorities into three is how good team members survive.