Some additional musings about leadership...

One of the hardest transitions I had to make as an officer in the Army was taking a command position (I had two company-level commands...I guess I screwed up the first one so they made me do it again!).  The saying "you're only qualified for the position you just left" applies here, where a commander knows well how to lead and manage platoon level activities.  But the path to success for a commander (and any other leader I have since realized) lies in the effectiveness of their subordinates.  You could be a great doer of things at the hands-on level but that will kill you as a commander.  Simply stated, you can't do everything and must trust your subordinates to pull things off.  Here's what you must pay attention to:

*Ensure your folks know and have interalized the mission, vision, and scope of the organization.  In this respect I spent much more time talking about what we were about (full-spectrum healthcare at the point of injury) than how we accomplished things.  This is critical, and the tendency is to slip back into focusing on 'how' because that's what you know personally.  Forget being the star player anymore, and even forsake coaching over pure cheerleading if you don't have time.  Coaching is harder than you think, but cheerleading we all can do.   

*Make sure your folks have the following two things: 1) a sure sense of ownership of the mission with the responsibility AND authority to pull it off, and 2) the resources to pull off that mission.  Too many times we expect people to somehow just absorb ownership of the mission because you gave them the task to accomplish this.  Think about the successful projects you have been on, and I bet you weren't doing them because you had to but because you knew it needed to be done.  THAT'S ownership + responsibility + authority in action.  And don't buy into the false buzzphrase of 'do more with less'.  Resource the mission/project so it will succeed.  And understand that much of the costs/time/resources will be expended well before much of the mission has started.

*Don't be afraid to push people to achieve tough goals...but make sure you are with them the entire way.  I have had a reputation of asking for the moon from my subordinates, but I can tell you I was pushing them less hard than I have myself.  But some amazing things come out of this push to excel.  1) People stretch their personal understand of what their limits are and gain tremendous confidence.  2) People WANT to be stretched.  No soldier goes to field training exercises and enjoys playing cards 12 hours a day but it happens in some units.  But good units train hard, back off, and ramp back up again to peak at the appropriate times in exercises.  3) The byproduct of this pressure is often some wonderful moments of teamwork, stories to brag about to their fellows, and an extreme sense of accomplishment.

*Leaders should be adept at finding good junior leaders under them, give those leaders increasing responsibility, and spend more time mentoring and nurturing those folks.  Remember, you ain't Da Man anymore.

*Look for opportunities outside your normal mission boundaries.  Coupled with an organization that expects to do miraculous things they will pull off more missions outside their normal operational scope.  And it provides them an opportunity to show to others their multifaceted capabilities.  My medical units were often called on to help provide primary security for the assembly areas we were in.  Why? Because we often trained in environments other support units wouldn't attempt, and we employed the same tactics, techniques and procedures that a combat unit would in our operations.

*Make time to get together outside the work environment.  Work hard and play hard but do it together.  Have a beer (or three) with your folks.  I found out more about the pulse of the organization by being available to talk in an informal manner with folks.

*Don't take yourself too seriously.  You should account for what has brought any success your way, and if you followed the items above you know that somebody ELSE made the great things happen.  Not you.  I also think a great sense of humor can ease tensions, bring off-track conversations back to the forefront, and make for a more fun workplace.  Especially fun for your subordinates is when you go along with them teasing you about some attribute you exhibit.  If they feel comfortable enough to poke fun at you to your face then the organization is probably healthy.  If they do it behind your back then something is dysfunctional.  There's a great article in this month's Havard Business Review about humor in the workplace  http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml;jsessionid=BMRTF4MBXCGEOCTEQENR5VQKMSARUIPS?id=F0309A 

*Reflect often on how you are doing as a leader.  Are you the type of person that you'd want to have as a boss??  Be a reflective-practitioner of leadership and know that you will never 'arrive'.  Some may mistake this process as some sort of second-guessing oneself, or a flaw in their confidence to lead.  We all have blind spots, but if we never try to find them because of hubris then we will never grow as leaders.

*People sense a phony and respect genuineness.  I can't tell you how many times I have validated this with both subordinates and superiors.  I have been fortunate to work for people who appreciate candor.  I have even had to tell subordinates things that were quite difficult but by speaking in a frank and honest way with them they have appreciated it much more.  Even when disciplining them I have had feedback that the soldier appreciated knowing how things stood rather than me shirking away from telling them.

In my next post I'd like to share my feelings about visiting Marc Pierson in the flesh...what a special treat to meet a dedicated and talented group that Marc has formed.

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