Moving Yourself from Here to There

Transitioning from being the doer to being the leader is one of the most difficult adjustments for a new leader. However, to grow a career and especially to be entrusted as a leader, it is critical to be adept in setting strategy. For many new leaders, it is hard to let go off the day-to-day tactics of the work and focus on the bigger picture – the strategy. The best leaders successfully implement strategy while understanding the requirements to execute the tactics.

It’s the difference in seeing a photo from a smart phone that was snapped in pano view versus the one taken in portrait view. The portrait view displays a beautiful elk in a meadow of flowers at the foot of a blurred mountain in the background. The panoramic photo reveals that the elk was actually in a meadow next to a large lake in the midst of an enormous snow-capped mountain range.

The role of the leader is to see the complete picture, understand where the organization wants to go and be able to formulate a tactical plan to take it to the desired destination. Often times, a really good “doer” is promoted in the position of leadership without having developed the important skill of strategy. This results in a leader who is a great task master but doesn’t achieve the ultimate goals of the function and the organization. 

This style of leadership frequently happens because many people achieve those positions not based on their capability as leaders but rather because they were the best “doers.” These type of leaders tend to do even more doing when they become leaders expecting their teams to follow them. This behavior leads to a burned out leader and exhausted followers. Psychologist and journalist Daniel Goleman, an expert on emotional intelligence writes, “Pacesetting works well when all of the employees are self-motivated, highly competent and need little direction or coordination.” He also noted that it, “destroys the climate and many employees feel overwhelmed by the pacesetter’s demands.” 

Personally, this was one of the biggest mistakes I made as an emerging leader. I loved my work as an individual contributor and my personality and achievement orientation drove me to work very hard. With little preparation for my first supervisory responsibility, I assumed all of those on my team were wired like me and they would love to work hard, too. Furthermore, I continued “doing” along with the leading and they struggled to keep up with my growing demands communicated by my work ethic. 

I expected my team to join the vision and be as passionate as I was about our goals. I failed to notice that explaining only the “why” of our work was insufficient. Many of them needed to be taught the “how” as well. Without instruction, there was no way a team member could perform to my satisfaction, so I kept doing, believing no one could do it as well as me. I created a vicious cycle of failing to teach, expecting more, being disappointed and then just doing it myself.

Then one day, I realized what I had created on my team. I was surrounded by talent, many of whom were smarter and more capable than me. However, my leadership style had hindered both their development and contribution. I had to break the “doing” cycle and start effectively delegating so that I could lead the team.

Quickly, to avoid failure in my first leadership opportunity, I had to change my mindset. It is one of the most difficult mindset shifts to make, but absolutely necessary to grow a career. World- renowned leadership coach, speaker and author, Marshall Goldsmith writes, “What got you here, won’t get you there.” The ideal time to make this shift is before being appointed a leadership role. However, sometimes, because of the tactical responsibilities, that is impractical. Here are some steps on how to begin to make the shift:

Grow from specialist to generalist. You have likely built a career based on your expertise about a specific function. It’s now time to focus beyond that function and increase your knowledge of the entire organization. You will need to learn how the function you lead impacts other areas of the business and how your team can better support those areas to achieve organizational results. Create opportunities to spend time with other leaders in the organization. Pay attention to what is going on in the business at every level, including the impact on the customer. Don’t lose sight of the “portrait” view, but invest heavily in gaining the “panoramic” view.

Develop the skill of delegating. Delegating is not simply telling someone else to do something you cannot or don’t want to do. Delegating requires identifying the talent who can best accomplish a task and teaching them to do it, holding them accountable for doing it and then offering feedback and recognition when they have done it. Good delegation requires a level of trust and the leadership maturity to know that something doesn’t have to be done exactly the way you would do it to be effective.

Maximize team capability. When everyone on the team is assigned the appropriate task and the leader is casting vision, setting strategy, sharing in goal setting and score carding the results, the team is operating at its optimal level. When an entire organization operates in this way, it creates competitive advantage. The benefits are healthier leaders and more engaged teams.

Make it all about the team. When you become a leader, it is no longer about you. It is about the team and the individuals entrusted to you. From that moment on, “you” don’t accomplish anything. Together, “we” can accomplish everything. When the team achieves its goals, give them the credit. When the team fails, accept all of the responsibility. Find satisfaction in the success of the team and its members. You are no longer evaluated on completing a to-do list, but instead on your ability to grow your team and create more leaders.

 Growing yourself as leader requires the awareness to change and the willingness to act. Shifting from "doing" to "leading" is a critical action to take to strengthen your leadership effectiveness.