Clarity. I think it’s one of the most undervalued “soft” skills in leadership today. (BTW, I really dislike that phrase: soft skills.) Clarity about what business we are in. Clarity about what our job, as leaders, actually is. Clarity around our mission and strategies. Clarity in how we convey ideas. Being clear, in one respect, means that at some point we made a real decision. Decisions make us uncomfortable because each decision forks our path. Go this way, or go that way. If we choose, we have a chance at choosing poorly. And choosing poorly means we are wrong, which leads to us being excommunicated from our tribe, which leads to us dying in the gutter alone! (not really) So, instead of potentially dying in the gutter alone, we hedge our bets by not making a real decision. We do everything for everyone! And because we do everything for everyone, we do nothing for no one. Let’s make a little bet on clarity for the New Year. Here’s an idea for a little bet you can make: “I will clearly define what my actual job is as a leader in this organization in 2019.” What are the core 2-3 tasks you actually get paid to do? The little bet is to decide on what 2-3 tasks are, and then reorient your day so those become the daily focus. Deal?
With your teams, don’t get out of the way, do this instead
"Get out of the way!" I often hear some version of this sentiment when talking about building a culture to incentivize high performance teams. "You have to find the right people, equip them, and then get out of the way." People who talk about getting out of the way...