How to Lead with Cadence?

Earlier this week, at the Third Space gym in London's famous Canary Wharf area, I was powering through the spin class, along with several other sweaty souls, when our trainer yelled, ‘C'mon Canary! Your challenge is to keep adding levels while you keep the cadence.'

I loved that.

Be it in sport or any other walk of life, isn't that always the challenge?

To keep improving and growing without adding complexity that'll ground things to a halt? Or adding cost that'll make further growth unsustainable.

For example, I believe I noted in the latest edition of 'The Economist' that for every 1% growth in GDP, nation add about 0.7% to their carbon emissions.

Now THAT is the sort of problem a leader must look to solve. I.e., How to set things up so well, create foundations so strong, that we can keep adding levels without compromising cadence.

However, while several leaders obsess over growth, even failure, fewer speak of cadence. So, in this piece, I'll take a moment to explain what cadence means, how it impacts teamwork, and above all, how to establish good cadence.

What does Cadence Mean?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines cadence as the beat, time, or measure of rhythmical motion or activity. It's also used to refer to a regular or repeated flow of activity.

Think of it like a drumbeat.

Or the bells of a clock town when you're so drawn to the sound that you can't help counting the bells, even if you know exactly what time it is.

Humans like consistency and there's something strangely satisfying about cadence. Knowing that the next beat will be exactly like the one before and the one after will follow. Knowing what role you play in making that beat work.

But what's that got to do with teamwork, leadership and growth?

When used in the business sense, cadence refers to the rhythm of the way we work. For example, what we work towards, how often we meet, what sort of stuff we discuss, what we do when we're confused, and so on. I suppose a team's cadence eventually bleeds into its culture because it becomes 'the way do things around here.'

I suppose a team's cadence eventually bleeds into its culture because it becomes 'the way do things around here.'

Here are some examples that demonstrate cadence at work.

• Weekly one-on-one meetings
• Daily markets briefing calls for traders
• Monthly town halls

Naturally, cadence at work is a culmination of personal cadence which refers to things such as these.

• Your morning coffee
• Your habit of reading the paper every morning
• Your regular trip to the gym

You could also refer to these as rituals or habits.

Why Cadence Matters in Leadership?

While many of us understand the power of good habits, for the purposes of this article, we're focussed on its relevance in leadership and its potential to unlock growth.

You see, one of the biggest benefits of teamwork is that although there's no 'I' in a team, every person must try and contribute as best as they can. To be able to do so effectively, not only must the team understand who'll be doing what, but also, every person must know what's expected of them.

Like the perfect relay, or a rowing activity, high performing teams are significantly reliant on one another. While personal cadence is a great habit, collective cadence is a critical feature of a high performing team.

How Good Cadence Unlocks Exponential Growth?

With regards to its potential to unlock growth, good cadence is a powerful method to eliminate system noise. It's not an outcome, but an enabler - an ecosystem of carefully curated variables that make and break cadence.

Good cadence isn't an outcome, but an enabler - an ecosystem of carefully curated variables that make and break cadence.

Think ineffective meetings, unclear goals, meaningless performance indicators and so on.

In the example of the spin class mentioned above, the cadence she referred to was a pure outcome of variables such as good sleep, good nutrition, a focussed mind and so on.

Once you're able to get those factors right, you can add more levels with relative ease.

In the same way, when you stamp out commotion, both teams and individuals can find their beat and focus on what matters most.

How to Lead with Cadence?

Start with the Purpose

While having good cadence is key, you can't have cadence for its own sake. For example, when rowing, a stroke rate up to 30 is usually okay for normal workout while higher rates are better for racing. Pick your strokes based on what the team is trying to achieve. For example, while a monthly or quarterly town halls might be okay, weekly town halls might be a bit excessive.

Establish Principles

Regardless of the agreed rhythm, the key is to respect the agreement. Establish clear principles from the get-go - because the success of the team depends upon it.

Evaluate Effectiveness

While maintaining rhythm is important, we want the process to serve us and not the other way round. If the rhythm isn't working or if a situation needs for you to change cadence, do it.

While maintaining rhythm is important, we want the process to serve us and not the other way round.

Cadence Isn't the Same as Meetings

Meetings are part of good cadence, yet good cadence means that you have fewer and more meaningful meetings. For example, if like an assembly line, everyone knows what they need to produce and when, and do so responsibly, your meeting can focus on strategic decisions and issues and hopefully, all else just works.

Conclusion

Whether it’s personal effectiveness or leading a team, many of us compromise cadence while adding levels.?

This happens because good cadence isn't an outcome but an enabler for great outcomes. Also, like your silent heartbeat, good cadence gets overlooked and goes unnoticed.

Yet, poor cadence comes with a hefty price tag. It adds inefficiencies to the system, impacts your ability to scale, and can be very unfulfilling for the team.

For leaders today, given the pace of change, establishing good cadence is not less important, but more important than ever before - this basic principle can be a powerful way to take your team to the next level.

About Me:

I’m a?senior leader in the financial services industry with over 25 years of corporate experience and have held substantial leadership roles in prestigious firms such as HSBC, Barclays and BSkyB. I’m also an accredited coach, a published author, global speaker, Udemy instructor and a marathon finisher.?Click here?to contact me for coaching and speaking engagements.