What You Spray is What You Get

You’re the CEO of a large organization, in this case, a consulting company. So, what’s on your mind?

At the surface level, the many issues du jour. At a deeper level, the things that always occupy your mind - threats to the organization’s reputation, its reputation as a workplace, employee retention, quality of work product, relations with critical clients, backlog, cash flow, pace/threat/cost of innovation, leadership succession, and relative competitiveness.

What tools does a lone CEO have to influence these? The most potent and influential tool one can leverage is the entirety of the leadership team. They’re woven throughout the organization at every location and level. Their daily impact on the organization, its reputation, relationships, risks, retention, work quality, and all financial metrics is unsurpassed, even by the CEO.

Every day, the words and actions of leaders at all levels adjust how much or little people inside and outside the organization care about the organization and its success. The more people care, the more those deep existential concerns of a CEO magically improve, and luck shows up more often. The opposite happens when leaders inadvertently fuel indifference: all organizational risks get amplified, and problems emerge more frequently. Your employee engagement score is your leadership score.

Every leader with a title has extraordinary power to influence the organization’s staff, clients, and public. They have the power to inspire and the power to frustrate. Without clear leadership expectations, every leader is left to interpret the role themselves and spray (influence) people as they choose.

It takes considerable effort even to be a decent leader. At a minimum, it requires constant self-awareness just to avoid demoralizing and frustrating people. With no awareness and no expectation that leaders make the effort, most won't. Humans do what they’re incentivized to do. Humans in leadership roles also do what they’re incentivized to do.

Nothing is more urgent and obvious than communicating minimum leadership expectations to your ‘leaders.’ This isn’t a big deal that requires a 6-month study and a slew of meetings. Just write a memo, as Misty Waterspring did over the past five weeks. You can always update it, and you will. Perfection is the enemy of good enough.

Send a clear message that good leadership (not just management) is essential to motivating your organization's success, especially for those who already have a leadership title!

Once again, aligning incentives with success factors is the key to running a successful team, group, region, or organization. Incentivize the actions and behaviors that accelerate success. That’s how you get everyone rowing in the same direction. If good leadership delivers better results than mediocre leadership, then incentivize good leadership. Voila’. Genius.

Post script: There’s a real opportunity here for individuals. ‘Management’ is abundant in the professions, but true leadership is in short supply. If you aspire to lead projects, teams, or entire organizations, then learn about good leadership and hone your skills right now. Believe me, you’ll stand out, you’ll progress faster and you’ll have more control over your career trajectory.

Have a terrific weekend,

Dave

Feedback and blowback, hit dave@goodnewsfriday.com

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Written by me, not ChatGPT, with speed assist and blunder avoidance by Grammarly.