The Biggest Dichotomy in Leadership

This article will likely be shorter, as it's somewhat stream of thought on something I've been pondering lately. Let's start with the definition of "dichotomy"

I previously wrote the article Demanding AND (not or) Supportive which is another good example of a dichotomy in leadership. There's another though that's been weighing on my mind lately.

As a business leader, it's the question of how you determine your priorities and what you're going to focus on. This is a gross oversimplification, but I think there are two high-level ways to look at it:

1) You as the leader know what's most important. You're the only one who's fully accountable, and who has visibility to the breadth of everything going on internally and externally to your business. You can tap into peer groups and other skilled business leaders to determine the top priorities in your business

2) Your team knows best. The closer to the front-line, the better. This could mean service technicians and salespeople that interact with customers, or assemblers and machinists if you're manufacturing something. Your job as a leader is largely to support your team and extract those good ideas and critical insights to take action to improve the business

I've thought long and hard about this, and my conclusion might disappoint you. Like many things in life and business, it's not an either/or. It's a combination of the two and a constant balancing act.

I'll share a recent story to highlight this point. I spent this past week in Tampa with the family office I'm partnering with to rollup home services business. I was asked to prepare and share a 100 day post-acquisition plan for one of the businesses. We discussed as a team, generated a lot of good ideas, and tweaked the plan. That afternoon we visited with the owner and a few key members of their team. By the time dinner was over, we had an entirely different picture of what the 100 day priorities should be. And I suspect after 2 weeks of operating that business, it will change yet again as I get more context and understanding working directly with the team.

Does that mean all the ideas and priorities we generated prior to the site visit were a waste of time? Absolutely not. We have an extremely bright, well read and networked team. It's our job to leverage that experience to set the vision and strategic direction of the of the business. We do have an edge in certain regards with fresh eyes and a bigger picture perspective on the industry and business. But this shouldn't be done in a vaccuum, and certainly not without tapping into the vast knowledge of our team and front-line employees.

So where does that leave us? My main conclusion is if you find yourself leaning too far in one direction, it's time to pause and think about finding that balance. If you spend most of your time in front of a computer screen or talking to peers, and you haven't spent time on the assembly floor or out with a technician in a couple months...it's probably time for a change. On the flip side if you spend considerable time with your team, but your opinion shifts with who you talk to and the direction of the wind, it's probably time to take a step back and get clear on your strategic direction and priorities.

I previously wrote the article Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics. In general I think leadership should set the objectives, the strategy should be a collaboration with leaders and employees, while the team should be provided most of the tactics.

Below are some of the favorite things I've read, watched, or listened to the past two weeks:

·        Article - Putting Ideas Into Words by Paul Graham – This nails one of the biggest reasons I invest time in writing. It started with a personal journal, and turned into a blog and then this newsletter. Writing exposes gaps in your logic or thought process, especially if you do it publicly or share with other people

·        Short Funny Video - Shaq on TNT – Shaq is my favorite athlete of all time and this clip is priceless. If you need a laugh to breakup the day, check this one out

·        Article - Facing Opportunity Costs by John Wilson – Opportunity costs are such an important concept, and John explains it really well here. What he calls “the opportunity cost of attention” is something I’ve been trying to be more mindful of the busier I get. Applies to all areas of life, not just business

·        Podcast Episode - Rich Jordan on the SMB Ops Show – This was extremely applicable to me given it was a deep dive into a plumbing business. That said, I think it’s worth the listen for anyone interesting in business, metrics, process, and leadership. I’ve enjoyed other interviews with Rich and Josh Schultz does a good job taking the conversation into the nitty gritty details

·        Article - Fighting Perfectionism by Guesswork Investing – After a trip to Tampa this week and meeting with two owners and their leadership teams that we’re working to acquire, I feel this article bigtime. I can already tell there’s so much I’m going to immediately want to tweak and improve, but I need to take the time to truly understand why things are done the way they are before making big changes. Usually there’s a pretty good reason, and Guesswork explains this very well in this article

·        Quote – Time will multiply whatever you feed it. Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time your enemy. James Clear