When leadership is a balancing act…
Leadership is rarely either/or. Wise leaders are always aware of creative leadership tensions in a both/and world. It is a balancing act between the two ends of every leadership continuum.
Finding the Balance Point
An example: when weight is equally distributed while resting on a single spot. Leaders often find themselves in a difficult spot asking how much weight to give to either end of the continuum of extremes. What are those creative tensions that beg for clarity?
- Delegate responsibility or responsibility with authority.
- Giving assignments and holding accountable.
- The under-performer and the over-performer.
- Attending to people or attending to the task at hand.
- Improvement change or standardized protocols.
- Operations or strategy.
- The telling expert or the learning listener.
- Hold power to decide or share power in decisions.
- More analysis (perfectionist) or execution (activator).
- Virtual or hybrid workforce.
- Loyalty to the employer or to the customer.
- Personal values or company values.
- The means and the ends.
- The legal thing to do and the ethical thing to do.
- Add your current either/or
Leadership Debrief
The creative tensions in leadership make the case for leaders spending less time on operational tactics and more time in the strategic analysis of relevant data. What do you keep doing that one of your direct reports could take over? When you save time then you need to protect that time to think about the current either/or tensions. Time for reflection is one of the least used tools in the leadership workshop. Let’s start at a reasonable level. Block one hour per week on your calendar specifically for strategic thinking. Perhaps the first hour on Wednesday creates space apart from the beginning and end of the week. If you are working virtually, then don’t open your computer or turn on your cell phone until that hour is over. Commit to this singular hour priority once per week. If you are working onsite then stop for coffee before you ever arrive at the office. One hour per week for the first month. Then increase the strategic thinking time to two. The more time in strategic reflection the more clarity on each continuum.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Dick Daniels is Vice President, Consulting Services and an ICF Certified Executive Coach with Right Management’s Florida/Caribbean Region. Dr. Daniels offers Right Management’s clients more than 17 years of leadership development consulting and executive coaching with C-Suite leaders. As a leadership architect he designs customized leadership development frameworks and systems to align emerging, mid-level and senior level leaders with strategic business objectives. As business strategist, coach, adjunct professor, and awarded author, he is a proven resource for shaping a results-focused leadership culture within the unique priorities of each organization.