The Rock & The Hard Place

Alone in the middle

Leaders at all levels of authority are responsible for the results of their teams But sometimes the teams don’t understand the goals of their leaders. Focusing on the team’s goals, or individual team members goals, sometimes combined with a corporate goal, does not provide the context required for teamwork. With responsibilities all over the place it’s easy to see how we as leaders can all feel the Rock and the Hard Place move closer together. To create space requires perspective past your own responsibilities.

Lowest rung on the ladder above

At the very young and unprepared age of 36, I got my first job as a president of a large company. Immediately after sitting down behind my new desk, working with nobody I knew and living in a new city, I realized I was not necessarily in charge of  more than was before, my responsibilities were just bigger. Hoping for omnipotence, I realized that I was the lowest team member of the team above me.. Shareholders, analysts, board members and a CEO were my other team, and a team that had very different motivations and demands.  

This is what I’m working on….

Most of us have a good understanding of our teams KPI’s, but do our teams have an understanding of ours?  How can they help us achieve our goals if they don’t know what those goals are? In order for our teams to create space between the Rock and the Hard Place, they need to see both sides of the crevasse. Communicating what we as leaders need to succeed creates a space where all team members can help one another incrementally towards goals beyond individuals. Sharing our individual goals as leaders provides information rather than allowing our teams to guess what we actually do for a living other than manage them.

Is that the sky above?

We are not supposed to know all answers because we are “in charge.”  If omnipotence didn’t come with the territory, then neither did an all-knowing, all-seeing skill set. As a young leader I felt compelled to be right all the time and know all the right answers. Not knowing is not a managerial frailty, just a reminder that there is always something new to learn.  If we use our need for input from others, we are empowering a culture where each team member can be of assistance to one another without judgement. With many people working on keeping the Rock and the Hard Place from touching, the chances of getting squeezed go way down.

 Crowd in the Middle

With “clowns to the left of us/ jokers to the right,” it’s best to be in the middle with a crowd of well-informed teammates.  Individuals working on individual goals do not generate the power required to move mountains and take market share. As leaders alone in the middle, we have not created the links from up, down and across to harness the true power of the team.  When the Rock and the Hard Place touch, our time as leaders is often up.