The Importance of Staying Connected as a Leader
PO-LEECE THAT MOO-STASH!
In one of the opening scenes of HBO’s Generation Kill, Sergeant Major Sixta is barking at his men about untucked shirts and a mustache that is out of regulation.
When I was serving in Afghanistan in the Army I remember things like this happening all too often. High ranking types making up ridiculous rules and worrying about regulations that didn’t matter at all in a combat situation. In non-combat situations most of these rules and regulations server a purpose. Or they just exist because some idiot ruined it for the rest of us. But in a combat situation it was obvious that some of the leaders were very much out of touch with their troops.
I often wondered how such irrational people got into those leadership positions. They weren’t all idiots but those that were took it to another level. Were they really this stupid or did they just loose touch with their roots? Each of those leaders started at the bottom of the ranks but maybe they’ve not been there for so long that they’ve forgotten what it was like to be the people executing on their orders.
I’m the Product Design Lead at Formstack so all of this serves as a nice reminder to me. I’m certainly not a perfect leader or anywhere near it. But it is a a great reminder to stay connected to everyone on my team and in the company.
Being in a management role has a way of trying to pull you away from the exciting front line where you’re talking to customers, fixing bugs and creating new exciting things. But it also gives you the chance to lead those that are still on the front line. It’s a constant battle between planning, putting out fires, answering questions, giving feedback and meetings. But it’s so important to stay connected with your team.
I’m lucky to work with such an amazing product design team. It’s not hard to want to connect with them every single day. I learn just as much from them as I hope that they learn from me. In the end it’s all about trust and vulnerability. Creating a bunch of crazy rules and regulations actually works great for SgtMaj Sixta. But I don’t want to turn into a SgtMaj Sixta flipping out about things that don’t even matter. I much prefer working with awesome people that are all leaders in their own ways.
