Hey Leaders: It’s Now More Important to be "Grounded" than "Great"

I don't need to tell you that 2020 has been one of the most difficult and harrowing years in living memory not only for businesses, but for most of us as people and communities. In the thick of all of this, I've personally moved countries (again) and started up a Management Consulting Practice, which has meant talking with friends and ex-coworkers in my global network as I tinker with my business model.

Many of the conversations I've had have come back to the same topic: values - both personal and organisational, and how clear it is that we're at a crossroads here to better define them as both organisations and people leaders. This post is about the fundamental shift in values I've seen in 2020 - especially in the field of Technology - and why it's not only a healthy change, but an imperative one if we want to plan for better times and stronger companies in 2021.

Being Grounded.

The dictionary definition of “grounded” is to be well balanced and sensible - and while that's a great place to start, let's look at some of the other ways we've been forced to be "grounded" in the last year.

Go to Your Room: For anyone who previously worked in an office or communal space, this year we’ve all been grounded to our homes - sent to work in bedrooms and kitchens from makeshift desks like a kid sent into "time out." (Sorry if this is a very American analogy and I've lost you. Here's Wikipedia to clear up the confusion.)

Travel Alert: For those of us who previously traveled for work (who knew it was possible to miss airport hotels?!) grounded flights were the first big milestone of the COVID Era.

Grounded Relationships: For the most proximate people in our life - our flatmates, partner, children, closest friends, family, even coworkers who for many have been the single point of continuity in this year - relationships have felt more important and grounded than ever.

Deeply Rooted Beliefs: with political volatility and the widespread discussion of racial equality, this year has also grounded many of us in our beliefs and personal values. In many cases, that has been especially difficult as it has become part of the workplace to have dialogue around personal and cultural truths, and an imperative to show kindness and empathy to "others" who've had fundamentally different life experiences than your own.

Staying Grounded in Crisis: Leaders have been forced to make difficult decisions this year, and will surely continue to in 2021. Staying personally "grounded" in times of uncertainty with a calm, clear and balanced mindset is challenging - but it's more important than ever. In the absence of clarity, Leaders provide basic psychological safety for their teams - ultimately owning the communication of go-forward plans and business continuity.

Times Have Changed: The Shift Away From Greatness

When I look back at the last roughly 10 years I’ve worked in the technology industry, the consistent personal and organisational value that was modeled to me most by leadership teams was the pursuit of BEING GREAT. Just look at these slogans from Sales Kickoffs of years past (I still own many of the t-shirts and hoodies with these phrases inscribed on them): 

“Achieve Your Greatness” “Good Enough Isn’t Good Enough” “Better. Stronger. Faster.“ “Breaking Barriers” “Build your Legacy”

Sure, it was fun to rally around these messages at the time - but against the backdrop of an unprecedented inability to forecast macroeconomic trends, a mental health crisis, and a moment of market and political volatility, this self-centric dialogue rings a bit hollow.

To be great, by definition, is to be “important,” “distinguished” or showing “intensity considerably above average. Reading those words, you can imagine how someone suffering from reduced self esteem, emotional capacity, instability (environmental, mental, financial, medical...), and/or a recent understanding of the structures making it more difficult to "break the barriers" that exist in their world (socioeconomic, racial, gender or otherwise) may no longer feel as motivated by these rallying cries.

...So not to be the party pooper, but if you're still using "greatness" as your core theme, I strongly suggest you re-evaluate.

It’s Harder to be Icarus When Our Wings Are Clipped ...And That’s a Good Thing.

To be honest, I originally titled this post “why it’s more important to be grounded than great” out of spite. It's been an uphill battle for me to find philosophical agreement in the field of technology, and tech sales especially that being balanced and sensible is a more sustainable business strategy than being “important,” “distinguished” or ruthlessly “above average." In many Sales Leaders, I've seen a true aversion to "balance and sensibility" - deeply rooted (grounded?) in a Machiavellian perspective that mental health shortcuts and hard work now can lead to personal (ie: financial) gain and validation later. If you ask me, it's never worth the trade-off.

Predictably, this comes from a place of having my own "I saw the light" story.

Before the forced grounding of 2020, I spent large portion of my career being told that “striving for greatness” is the key to driving true innovation, personal validation (ie: self esteem - never being good enough is super motivating) and reaching the full potential of my intellect and performance. As one of the few females in a leadership team, it always felt great to be pat on the head and told that I AM GREAT... or have the potential to be someday, if I just kept working hard enough. This adage kept me motivated, and running full speed for a long time.

In parallel to my experience, I regularly watched talented coworkers and leaders make career decisions that traded family relationships, physical and mental health for a shot at “greatness” and all the validation it provided. It often ended badly. Like them, I learned to pull “work overnighters” barely sleeping, regularly sat in front of the glowing computer screen in the dark office that everyone else had already left, and (sincere apologies to those who worked for/with me in this phase) I absolutely was the person sending emails at 2am, unsure of how else to draw boundaries with my time and still maintain an equal place at the leadership table with men twice my age. 

Taking a step away from San Francisco and moving to London, I saw more clearly that this icarus complex was unhealthy - and that there was value in learning to build healthy boundaries, have more balance to spend time with friends outside of work, and to truly enjoy the more sensible aspects of European culture (like having business meetings in the pub?). So easy to say that this philosophy was already brewing for me when COVID hit. Making the move to the land of Jacinda Ardern and getting even further away from the “greatness trap”, as you can tell I've become even more crystal clear that there's a better way.

How to Make the Shift to a More Grounded Team.

If you lead, influence, or someday want to lead a team and philosophically agree with me here that “To Be Grounded” is a much better north star than “To be Great”, here’s my advice on how to put it into practice in your organisation:

• State it explicitly in a Team Call - As a Leader, carve out time at the beginning of a meeting to define what “being grounded” means to you, and why you value seeing it in the culture of your organisation
• Be vulnerable in sharing your own struggles with being “grounded” - my "found the light" story isn’t unique - most people have experienced similar workaholic/“must be great” patterns in their career. Share from a grounded place of reflection why that didn't work for you, and give your team permission to make the same mindset shift
• Find examples of “groundedness” and acknowledge or celebrate them - for example: look for people who are talented at defining, and holding people accountable to project scope. Celebrate employees who are brave enough to draw clear boundaries with their time/capacity at work, and still accomplish key milestones. Acknowledge employees who make regular, small contributions to improving the team dynamic - ex: the “planner”, the “scheduler,” the excel wizard, the really knowledgable tool person, the positive voice or optimistic perspective, etc. << call them out, make them feel seen.
• Audit unnecessary heroism and “greatness” behaviour out of your team - ex: Look out for people adding unnecessary scope and extra hours to projects - stop them, don't pander to it. Be explicitly clear on the expected outcomes of projects, or indicators of success if the outcome isn't clear. Do not reward unnecessary over performance. From Situational Leadership Theory: be keenly aware of when people are D1 or D2 at a task, and give them appropriate directing or coaching guidance. If it’s their first time doing it, do NOT tell team members to “figure it out and come to you with questions" - that will only feed into over-work.

My hope is that by recognising that as Leaders (and the people who they lead) we're all at a crossroads here together to define the new standards of a virtual working world. Like all good transformation - digital, personal - the action of redefining clear, sustainable values at each juncture is a great way to build healthy and resilient structures (and people!)

What are you thoughts on the topic?