I am embarrassed in the writing of this article, as I in my early leadership career I have often failed to do what I am now strongly advocating. I have continually stated that it is good to learn from your mistakes, but even better if you can learn from the mistakes of others; in this topic, you can learn a great deal from my mistakes! In my first few commands, both civilian and military I would have been more successful and more effective had I spend more time managing from a higher virtual altitude as opposed to ground level!
While long contemplating an article on this subject, a recent encounter with a former subordinate served as the strongest emphasis. At a reunion of a military unit that I commanded during Operation Desert Shield-Desert Storm, one of my former Marines approached me to say hello, and started the conversation with, “you probably don’t remember me…,” to which I had to sadly reply was correct, but added I would have remembered him had he either been a extraordinary super star or a problem person. In reflecting on this and many other similar encounters over the years, it emerged over time as a painful reminder that perhaps I could and should have endeavored to have spent more time “hovering” over my entire commands and perhaps a little less time focusing on just the very good and not-so-good situations.
Repudiate the of 95% Time Spent on 5% Employees Nonsense!
In just about every supervisory and leadership class I attended in my first few years of courses and institutes, it was continually stated as pretty much an absolute reality that supervisors and managers spend about 95% of their time dealing with about 5% of their problem employees. For years this perception was often taught and accepted as the “industry standard!” In the evolution of the art of leadership, it is something that should have been taught to guard against as opposed to expect and accept. This nonsense became a self-fulfilling prophecy in many instances.
Climb Up and Look Down!
In different ways and with different expressions, many leaders have
somewhat addressed this issue of limited command visibility. Related, but in my opinion less impactful terms include, “can’t see the forest for the trees,” “look beyond the obvious,” and “don’t focus all your energy on one topic.” These and related terms are certainly valuable and appropriate, but for me nothing has the same impact as visually looking down at my arena from a high altitude and conceptualizing all that is or likely occurring within my scope of activities and responsibilities.
In my early years as a leader, I would have been much more effective and successful had I spent more time looking down at my arena as opposed to lateral observations.
Related Leadership Failures & Weaknesses
The leadership weaknesses of micro-management, failure to delegate, and failure to mentor align perfectly in the perfect storm of failure to lead from a virtual elevated perspective. In painful candor, I can now look back on some early leadership failures where I rationalized the inordinate amount of time that I spent in certain command activities as necessary because of degrees of importance which required my special expertise, and because the person that should have been involved lacked the requisite skills. With the benefit of hindsight there were situations and tasks where I should have provided my guidance, stepped back, delegated with appropriate mentoring and spread my limited command presence better throughout the organizations.
Case in Point
In reflecting on past command distractions, I would have to place complex and serious disciplinary and disability situations involving particularly challenging employees at the top of the list. In a continuing commitment to non-complimentary candor, I now acknowledge occasional unhealthy obsessions with problem employees who were “gaming the system” and taking advantage of every legal loophole they could find to both escape the consequences of their misbehaviors or gain entitlements (disability benefits) to which they were not entitled. I can think of no situations where my concerns were not merited, but several situations where I should have reduced my involvement and permitted others to take on the tasks. Beyond the negative leadership implications, this type of intense focus on problems situations can also take an unhealthy toll on the emotional wellbeing of command employees. From a personal standpoint, many years ago I fell ill with mononucleosis that I now attribute to excessively spinning my leadership wheels; I needed to work smarter, not harder!
Invaluable Approaches Strengthened Leadership
The key to operating at the virtual 30,000’ level is recognition and planning. I am probably not alone in the reality that I require administrative tools to keep me both focused and on track. For all of us, it necessary to take daily inventory on what has been appropriately prioritized and accomplished, and that which needs carried over to the next day, again with appropriate prioritization. An absolute gamechanger in my professional development was the adoption of a paper-based management system * where each day was a stand-alone plan, with symbols and locations to plan the day, prioritize each task, insert reminders and systemically and conspicuously move tasks to the following or subsequent days. Whatever the approach, each leader needs to find and implement a systems to maintain an organized approach to accomplished tasks with balance, prioritization and follow-up.
Summary
Talk is cheap and there is no shortage of helpful expressions, but I challenge each reader to think of few things that are more visually impactful that the image of virtually climbing to a high altitude and looking down at the important things in your life and in your command. To do so will result in even greater effectiveness; I guarantee it!
* Franklin Daily Planner System
Keith Bushey retired from the Los Angeles Police Department as a commander, from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department as a deputy chief, and from the United States Marine Corps Reserve as a colonel. Other law enforcement experience includes having served as a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff, a State of California deputy game warden, and as the Marshal of San Bernardino County. He is an instructor emeritus for the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association and has lectured and written extensively in the areas of leadership, management and ethics. His entire eight booklet Leadership Series is in the public domain and may be downloaded without cost from KeithBushey.com. He may be contacted at KDBS255@AOL.COM