I don’t know what I’m doing. Or, at least, I don’t have the technical skills to SSH into a switch and configure it via the command line like all my engineers can. I also have to Google acronyms daily and ask many, many questions. When I accepted my current job, I was worried that my lack of knowledge would make me an ineffective manager and leader. Counter to my expectations, however, being unable to do the daily work freed up a lot of time and brain capacity to focus on the management and leadership roles my organization needs me to fulfill.
This revelation has led me to reflect on my previous positions and how much I prided myself on being able to do all the things and be the go-to resource to “get things done.” Doing things, even hard things, is so much easier than having difficult conversations with underperforming employees or getting feedback about the direction of the organization and then deliberately thinking about how that feedback impacts the long-term strategic plan. How effective could I have been if I had stopped chasing the dopamine hit I got from crossing things off a to-do list and spent more time working on the hard stuff? I can think of several situations/employees/projects that could have had more positive outcomes had I changed my focus from being the doer to managing and leading.
So, having had my own Eureka! moment, I have a challenge for all of you. Imagine how your day would be different if you didn’t know how to do the work your co-workers or direct reports do. What if all you knew was how to listen, draw people out, connect resources, talk with people about their goals and ambitions, reflect on the health of your organization, share your vision, and receive feedback to refine it? If you couldn’t do, how would you manage and lead?
Which of the following best describes you when you consider your personal mix of leading, managing, and doing in your work?
Last week, we asked how often you feel your work best leverages your strengths.
- 12% said always or almost always
- 51% said frequently
- 21% said sometimes
- 10% said rarely
- 6% said not at all or almost not at all
It is a reaffirming benefit to each of us individually and to the institutions we serve so that so many can leverage our strengths in our work. That said, more than one in every six of us feel we rarely, if ever, can use our strengths in our work. That is a huge lost opportunity. What can you do to ensure you understand your and your team’s strengths, and how can you leverage them more often?