Why Leaders Must Find New Rhythm

It’s not just the earth’s temperature that’s rising. The geopolitical world continues to heat up causing tempers to rise as well. There’s little end in sight particularly for those tracking contentious elections and tenuous alliances.

Nascent sense of dread.

At this point in the year, it’s tempting to turn up the heat inside the organization, too. For most, September brings the end of a quarter and often, a renewed push to achieve year-end objectives. Even when year-to-date results are good, there may be a nascent sense of dread as teams look ahead.

Intentionally or not, senior leaders set the organization’s rhythm and pace. When either rhythm or pace outside the office shifts, it’s time to take stock inside also.

Rhythm is the recurring sequence of events, actions, or processes that underpin how the organization works. Pace stems from the speed of these recurring activities – and how the organization navigates the plethora of other initiatives that crop up.

People lose sight of the destination.

A lack of clear rhythm creates discord or dissonance. Sometimes, that disruption prompts a needed reset – much like a power outage requires electronics to reboot. At other times, it becomes difficult to follow along or anticipate. People lose sight of the destination (your vision) and their place along the path. This makes it harder to connect their work to the strategy.

On the other hand, too much constancy in the rhythm can be monotonous. Worse, it breeds complacency which then also affects pace. When that happens, the executives I advise deliberately vary the rhythm to stimulate creativity or new thinking.

Uncover the most critical interdependencies.

Grounded in a solid understanding of their business context, a CEO considers the constraints and interdependencies that have the greatest impact on progress and performance. Together with their team, they address constraints – often by injecting additional or different resources – and uncover the most critical interdependencies. (Discover how in my book; there’s a whole chapter.)

Fortunately, senior leaders can readily find tools that help to manage the flow of work and throughput, two tangible pieces influencing the organizational sense of urgency. Both composition and timing of meetings are also easily adjusted. Yet, change for change’s sake is rarely welcome – or effective.

Before adjusting, take stock:

• To what extent does our organizational rhythm create energy?
• In what ways do current works flows and meetings impede progress?
• What regular activities enable connections between staff, customers, and outcomes?

Is the rhythm you have the one you need?

Involve others in the conversation to access a broader range of ideas to reset or maintain the current rhythm. Most importantly, explore whether the rhythm you have is the one you need to sustain the pace and achieve objectives.

Of course, rhythm is only part of the equation. In music, varying tempo – the pace or speed of the composition – can dramatically shift how the rhythm is experienced. It’s another lever executives may pull to shift performance. (Discover what to consider in this article from the archives that remains relevant today.)

Finding new rhythm can be a powerful way to inject energy or calm a rising storm. Skilled leaders can adjust rhythm at any level of the organization. Savvy CEOs empower their teams to set the rhythm that’s most needed to achieve objectives.

The executives I advise routinely make their strategies work better. I can help you too.

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?2024 Tara J Rethore.?All rights reserved.?Permission granted to excerpt or reprint with attribution.