Where To Go As A Leader? (#21)

We have all heard the leadership mantra that the best leaders “lead by example.” Yet in day-to-day work and this crisis, deciding where your physical presence as a leader has the most impact is a little more complicated. Often leaders tend to go where they are most comfortable, the part of the business where they grew up, or where they believe they have the most talents. And in the current crisis, there is a risk aspect to where you go as a leader that wasn’t there before.

In Afghanistan, I tried to balance my time as a leader. I tried to spend six days a week outside the wire, but split time between each of the subordinate units (companies), the Afghan Provincial Governor, the Afghan NDS Chief, the Afghan Army Commander, the Afghan Provincial Police Chief, the Provincial Reconstruction Team, and my higher headquarters. In addition, I worked with the staff to develop intelligence, future plans, and track our progress (or lack thereof). There never seemed to be enough time in the week to get to all the places I felt I needed to be and there was risk every time we stepped outside the wire. And in retrospect, I feel that I didn’t get the balance right — the time I spent trying to cultivate relationships with the Afghan government leaders didn’t result in the behavior or results worthy of the effort I put into it.

Where you go as a leader needs to be a conscious decision. And there are trade offs to consider. Here are some questions to ask yourself about where you should go as a leader:

  • Where do I need to lead by example?

  • Where do I need to demonstrate shared risk to the team?

  • What location gives me the best situational awareness?

  • Have you asked your team where they need you?

  • Where can I do things that others in the organization can’t, such as:

    • Who is thinking strategically for the team?

    • Who is communicating upwards and outwards for the team?

    • Who is communicating to the team? When was the last time I communicated to the team?

  • Where can I go to decrease friction between two parts of the team (like sales and marketing or sales and operations)?

  • Have I worked from home recently? Am I working from home too much?

How are you deciding where to go as a leader during this crisis? What are your rules of thumb?

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The Long Pandemic (Or War #22))

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Managing Inequity (#20)