Are You Guilty Of Swoop & Poop Leadership?

You just spent an hour washing and waxing your car. It’s gleaming in the driveway, and you’re admiring your work when a seagull swoops down out of nowhere and leaves a fresh white mess right on your hood. You’re left standing there wondering what just happened, holding a dirty rag and dealing with the chaos.

Now picture your Monday morning team huddle. You burst through the door, fired up about a new patient experience idea you heard at a conference. You spend five minutes explaining your vision, tell everyone “we’re starting this next week,” then rush off to your first appointment.

Sound familiar? Congratulations—you’re a seagull.

You swoop in with big ideas, drop them on your team without context, and leave them to figure out the mess. Zero follow-up. No plan. No consideration for how this affects their day. You may think you’re being decisive, but your team thinks you’ve lost your mind.

It’s swoop and poop leadership.

Here’s the problem: Your team didn’t attend that conference. They don’t have access to the ideas in your head. When you dump a brilliant idea on them without that foundation, it just feels like more work.

Great leaders don’t poop and swoop—they land and stay. They show up with ideas and a plan. They provide context and follow-up. They’re accountable.

Before you unleash your next big idea, test it before you launch it. Give yourself time to flesh out the details and consider how it affects each team member’s workflow.

Start being the leader who lands, listens, and actually helps clean up.