“Leaders build roads. Managers fix potholes.” Andre’s comment hit me like a ton of bricks. My friend, Andre, has managed some of the biggest hotels in the US overseeing thousands of rooms. So he ought to know.
His point was simple. When leaders spend their time putting out fires and making operational decisions, they’re really behaving like managers. Could this be you? I hate to be that blunt. But is an important distinction. And with it comes all kinds of implications.
If you’re a leader, you have probably known the challenge. You’re supposed to be setting the course, communicating the mission, coaching up-and-coming talent, and all the other responsibilities we think a leader does.
But first, you have to put out the fires, resolve the crises, and clean-up after the tasks you delegated that weren’t completed. Yeah, I know. It’s frustrating, time-consuming, distracting. You get to the end of the day and realize that you did lots of stuff, but it wasn’t the stuff you planned to do.
By the time things have settled down, you’re too tired to focus on planning, mentoring, and development that a leader is supposed to do. As the saying goes, you’re working IN the business instead of ON the business.
The result is ongoing stress and fatigue. When you’re dealing with endless distractions and demands, it’s tough to focus on what’s most important.
Then there is the impact on vision. If you’re the owner, you need to set direction and think of the future. If you’re senior executive, it’s tough to execute mission when continually fighting fires. Making decisions that should be made by others becomes a major time suck.
Finally, there is the impact on the firm’s decision culture. When you train everyone to depend on you for the decisions THEY should be making, efficiency vanishes.
So what’s Andre’s advice? Say NO a LOT more often. Delegate authority. Stop trying to control everything. Trust those around you. They may not do it the way you would have. But if they achieve the outcome, what’s the problem? Want some simple strategies on how to say more often? Check the other posts this blog.
Pretty good advice, huh? Give it a try. It works for me. I bet it will work for you.