What do you think the biggest problem facing leaders today is?
Sanjog Aul, host of CIO Talk Radio, asked me that question during an off-air discussion and I am glad I was off the air because I couldn’t not think of what to say. Our on-air discussion was focusing on time management and while I think every executive struggles with the perception of not having enough time, I don’t think that biggest problem facing leaders. Good executives figure out how to manage their time.
Sanjog’s question is a good one and it got me thinking about the executives with whom I work and teach. When it comes to big issues, good leaders ask themselves: am I delivering value to my people, my team, and my organization? Businesses wrestle with value daily in everything from customer offering to process improvement. Leaders too need to find ways that they deliver value to their stakeholders.
The value proposition for a leader is the means of finding balance between what you can do and what you ought to do. So there is an element of time as well as resources. But the question goes deeper into what a leader delivers. Certainly a leader’s job is to provide direction as well as guidance. Leaders must also enable others to do their jobs better and that requires a mixture of development as well as equipping them resources and tools as well as support in the form of training.
Leaders I know wrestle with wondering if they are doing enough as well as are they doing it right. In most instances good leaders are doing what they can and they are getting some things right but like all of us, they are not perfect. They make mistakes and in doing so they fail their people.
For example an executive can sign off on a major project which fails. Perhaps the assumptions were off, or the people in charge did not execute. Also, a leader may not be close enough to his team so he misses the signs of conflict or eroding morale. Employees may not be engaged, or downright disillusioned. In these instances well intentioned leaders may be missing the boat entirely. They are failing to deliver good value.
I am a fan of word equations and use them liberally so consider this one:
Intention + Diligence + Attentiveness = Leadership Value
Intention is what you plan to do. Diligence is what you do to carry it out. Attentiveness is the vigilance you apply to process and more importantly to people. Taken together the equation provides an insight to a leader as planner, executor and evaluator. What makes the equation work is the people who bring the plan to life the right way with the right resources in ways that achieve a reasonable outcome for customers and employees.
As with every equation, certainly human ones, the sum is more than its parts. A leader’s true value is derived in two ways. One, what she does. Two, the impact she has. Sometimes the effort can be slight but the outcome huge. A word of advice here, or a bit of counseling there, can put a project – or a person – on the right course. Or conversely effort can be huge and impact small if an executive devotes too much time to a project that fails.
A leader’s value proposition is ever changing, and as a result a leader must question himself to ensure that he is delivering what he is supposed to be doing. Every day.
