Leadership
To Be A Better Leader, Don’t Obsess Over the Details
Focus on where you’re going
I’ve always been fascinated with leadership. It’s one of those mysterious things in life that some people have a natural affinity for, while others have to work hard to prove their skills. There’s never been that one perfect leader. Some have flaws, others have made blunders that have gone down in history, never to be forgotten. But we all know that being a leader is about constant learning. You’ll never know everything there is to know on the topic. Situations differ vastly, so do people. But it’s a journey worth exploring if you’re interested.
When I first became a manager, I was aware of the difference between being a manager and being a leader. I wanted to be a leader. At first, my natural instinct was to gravitate towards the minute details of the team I was managing. I wanted to know everything. All the technical stuff, how it all worked, policies, procedures, the whole shebang. I’m not saying that this stuff isn't important when you’re leading a team, but I obsessed over it. I wanted to be able to reproduce facts and figures out of my head, answer questions my technical experts were handling, and to be seen as someone who has a ‘handle’ on things.
I guess it’s obvious that this approach was based on fear. Fear of what people would think if I couldn’t answer a detailed question, fear of missing some detail somewhere, fear of looking like I was inadequate.
I wasn’t prepared to let myself fail forward.
For those seasoned leaders, you can see where this approach took me — micromanagement of my team, personal stress, and generally more trouble than I ever wanted to attract.
I was so adamant not to allow negative attention to come my way, that I ended up attracting it anyway (there might be some kind of law of attraction theory there, but that’s a story for another day).
One particularly dull Monday morning, I was presenting some information to a group of high-level directors of the firm about the work me and my team had done the previous year. I was proud of what we had done as a team, and was going over all the details when one of them stopped me mid-flow. Expecting a question I would be able to answer easily, he asked, “ What is your vision for next year? Where do you see this team going and what are your strategic goals? I haven’t seen anything on this yet.”
I’m pleased to say I wasn’t stumped into silence. But I certainly wasn’t confident in my answers about the bigger picture and where I wanted my team to go.
What I realized at that moment was that I’d been concentrating on the wrong things. I hadn’t been the leader I set out to be. There were many moving parts to the team I was managing, but as much as I tried to know everything there was to know about it, I wasn’t leading the team to where they needed to be.
Here’s what I learned.
Think strategically, rather than technically
Being a leader is much more than being a technical expert. You have to think on a strategic level, have a vision for your team, including goals and objectives. You also need a clear path on how to take them there.
Know the details, but don’t get into them
If you get too deep into the details, you run the risk of demotivating your teams. You risk taking away responsibility and accountability from individuals and micromanaging them. This is not healthy for any team and will end badly for everyone.
Understand how things work, read reports, get feedback from your team, but don’t spend hours going over something one of your team should be able to handle.
Be creative
There is no leadership without creativity. No two leaders are the same and no situations are exactly alike. People, politics, demographics, and geography all play a part in how you lead. Therefore to get the best results, get creative about how you want to get there. You can read as many books as you want to on leadership, but I guarantee you that your situation is unique — even if it’s just the people you’re managing. Nothing was ever achieved without creativity, innovation, and thinking ahead.
Creativity allows for adaptability. And without adaptability, your business won’t survive. We’ve seen that with the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
Take risks
Taking risks means you’re not afraid to make mistakes. In fact, seek them out. It’s the only way you’ll really learn. Challenge someone on something you feel strongly about. Speak up in meetings. I can guarantee you that you won’t always get it right, but you’ll learn from it. There is so much more value in that.
Delegate, delegate, delegate
Any leadership or management program will bring this into their syllabus. It’s so easy to say, but so difficult to do. It requires a lot of confidence in yourself and your capabilities.
To let go is hard as a leader.
Delegation doesn’t only allow you to focus on what’s important, it allows for the development of your team as well. Give them tasks that are challenging and see what they come up with. Keep up to date with what they’re doing, of course, check their work if you need to, but build confidence in your team.
As a leader, there are going to be parts of your business or team that require a detailed level of understanding. This is great for managers who lead teams that require this level of scrutiny. But if you aspire to lead more and take a team, company, or small business in a certain direction, you have to focus on other things other than the details. The details will hold you back. Find a comfortable balance.
