Leadership’s blind side

WE TAKE the cue from them. Their style of governance can set the climate for a work environment that can either enable or hinder productivity. They supposedly call the shots. In them rests the final decision. Some of them are consultative while others have clear, definite and exacting ways of executing game plans. We feel their passion when events unfold as foreseen but we also sense their lack of zeal when setbacks arise. We know when they are charged up or simply going through the motion. They are under the scrutiny of everyone’s magnifying glass. We call them leaders. Managers. Supervisors. Team Heads. Vice Presidents, Higher Ups, Top Honchos… what have you.
The view from the top can be perplexing. The need to think conceptually has to be married with the devil in the details. Individual and team efforts should align with the big picture perspective. Here are just seven of the many harsh realities we leaders are prone to neglect when we’ve become much too overwhelmed by a flurry of deliverables and pressing timelines.

1. We need our staff more than they need us. It takes humility to admit that. At the end of the day, we’re dependent on how they will support our aspirations. Be off with the macho game. We no longer work in a culture of entitlement. The leader must be the master motivator and cheerleader.

   2. Wisdom can come from the ground. Listen to the folks who are at the thick of real service encounters. Dignify inputs from interfaces where rubber meets the road. Let them take personal responsibility as well.

   3. The millennials have to be managed well. Sweeping to say that they are taking over but not hasty to conclude that from their generation, we must breed the next business shapers. Learn to speak the language. Learn to operate in their realm. Prepare for the eventual passing of the baton.

   4. Instead of fighting for the cause of one generation, be consumed with the cause of making the diversity work well for the organization. Build an ecosystem of talents where strengths are milked and peculiarities contribute to the workforce DNA.

   5. Do not peg ’digital’ with age. While it is technology driven, digital has become the prevailing lifestyle that enriches connections between people. And the need for that transcends IT quotient. Accessibility has simply become a birthright. What’s more powerful that a legit citizen? A connected netizen!

   6. Don’t impose on your team what you won’t be willing to do in the first place. Be a playing coach. Be the first role model.

   7. And finally, don’t railroad your own agenda. People thrive when they’re given room to be creative and allowed to take intelligent risks. Communicate the goal. Communicate the strategies. Communicate the business imperatives. Enable. Then get out of the way! But be available for coaching. There’s a right time to micro-manage and firm handhold. But the ultimate objective is empowerment!

   Blind side? Don’t we all have our share? For the blind to see, well-meaning feedback is in order. Brave is the leader who solicits it. Wiser even is the one who processes it and moves forward with fresh enlightenment.