December 2024
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Sir Isaac Newton 1643-1727
As leaders we are tested every day by those who “want to know.” They seem to be waiting for us at the door when we arrive at work and frequently are waiting at the door when we arrive home. Why us? Who made us the ones to come to? First, we need to respect the fact that others see us in that light, and second, it should be a compliment that they choose us! But… what if we don’t know the answer, and if we don’t know, who does?
In 2002 I had an opportunity to hear Betsy Bernard, who was at the time the President Elect of A.T.&T. During her message she addressed this very question: “If you don’t know, who does?” She very wisely pointed out, “It’s that same old vision thing…It is the leader’s quintessential role. Nobody else can do it. The facts do not speak for themselves. Nor can the role of setting direction be delegated. If the people hear a certain trumpet, they will prepare for battle. You, at the end of the day, have to sound the trumpet. In the end, it’s your vision, your honesty, your caring and your respect for customers and employees and shareholders that people will follow. In the end, it’s your self-discipline, your truthfulness and your excitement and commitment that people will emulate. In the end, it’s how clear you make the message, how close you watch the money, how bravely you share the problems, how widely you spread the praise. These things will determine what you can do with the gifts you’ve got. If you lead well, then the most potent of those gifts will be the one you’ve created — a winning team that believes you’re worth following.”
We have all worked in an environment where the purported leader absolutely believed they knew all that needed to be known and acted like it! This often serves no purpose other than throwing the entire team off track. I once had a friend that said, “If you and I don’t know, then we always know someone that knows someone that knows.” And in retrospect this was true. Usually, we ended up reaching out to find the people who knew the answers to our questions.
If you want to answer the question: “If you don’t know, who does?” you might want to look around just a bit for the right person. The absolute worst thing is to be so self-committed that we think that we know all the answers, because we are, after all, the leader (boss, owner, manager, etc.)
The concept of being a leader is simple. It is in the “doing” that we get lost. Each day we should focus on increasing the value that we bring to our teams. But to also bring as much value as we as individuals can bring to the team. In his book “Leader Shift,” John Maxwell makes a great point to this very concept. Maxwell tells us, “The more seeds, the greater the harvest.” The more leaders the greater the harvest. "If people have better information they make better decisions – period," says Suzanne Muchin, CEO, Civitas. The more people that you have involved and providing input, the greater their harvest and the greater your harvest.
"Whatever we can do to ease the mental burden of the people in our care will pay back tenfold in their contributions to the company," writes Manoj Gupta, managing director for UK and Europe at Qualitest.
So, who knows? I promise that you either know or you the person that knows, invest your time and look around.
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” | Aristotle 384 – 322BC
(More than 2000 years ago Aristotle had this all figured out! Yet, many struggle with it today!)
Michael M. Carney mr.mikecarney@gmail.com
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