Lead from Behind

I’ve just finished listening to “How to Lead When you’re not in Charge” by Clay Scroggins. I can't honestly say that I enjoyed every aspect of the book and definitely struggled with certain aspects of the content and delivery.

Regardless, I’ve been motivated to find out how I can influence people better (vs what has been described as my ‘bulldozer approach’ to change). I’m also keenly interested in how to help middle managers more effectively embrace and extend the mission of the organization. I found some solid food for thought on both fronts in this book. What follows is not a synopsis of the book, rather a recap of what I’m documenting as either next steps or food for further reflection:

·     Everyone leads from behind – The CEO reports to the board, they report to the shareholders, etc. Waiting until you are ‘in charge’ is fundamentally either a product of ignorance or self-delusion. Lead yourself, be an exemplary follower, chose a good attitude and prove that you can handle what you have been given right now.

·     Pick up the trash – I really loved the observation about how deciding what to do with trash on the sidewalk is a parable for how you see your role in the company’s mission. Are you the person who says ‘I’d better call the maintenance team’ or the one who throws it away? What about the other issues you see around you? Are you the ‘not in my job description’ guy/gal? One of my company’s core values is ‘ownership’ and it translates directly into a ‘pick up the trash’ kind of attitude.

·     Be a critical thinker but not critical – Both passivity and negativity are character flaws. Some people, especially we engineers, gravitate toward identifying the 37 ways things could go wrong. The answer, though, is not to pretend ‘everything is awesome’ but to judo-roll that type of diagnostic to ‘now, how do we make it better’. Negativity snipes at the visionary while hiding behind the cover of “I’m just saying” “I’m just being real” “I’m just…”

·     Care for my boss – He/She is a human being and we share the trait of imperfection. Exercise yourself with some compassion, understanding, faithfulness and loyalty. ‘Kind of reminds me of a certain ‘golden rule’…

·     Make my stuff great – sometimes we are waiting for more responsibility, more power, and a better position while standing in our own corner of the junkyard. Have we really done absolutely everything in our power to make sure our stuff is as good as it could be? Are we saying that there is NO room for improvement in our own area? Have we exhausted all of our creativity or are we fundamentally passive and entitled?

So, what do you think? How will you lead from behind?

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   Glenn is the CIO/CISO for NorthState and can be found here: linkedin.com/in/glennrjohnson