In Part 2 of this series, I wrote about two strategies for leading a large organization: ensuring excellence in every part of your organization and adapting to leading a complex senior team. Today’s post continues with more strategies for leading at scale.
Get out of the bubble you are now in. As a senior executive, you need access to accurate information about your company in order to make good decisions. You need to know what’s working well and what’s not working. You need to understand roadblocks or problems. The more accurate the information, the better.
Yet the more senior you become, the more you inhabit a bubble in which the people around you carefully manage the information that you see. There is much you can do as a leader to fight against this universal tendency (for an excellent overview, see Bursting the CEO Bubble). Start by expanding the range of people you interact with in your organization. Be curious. Talk less and listen more.
Repeatedly make it known that you need accurate information about the business—-the good and the bad. Reward people for providing that, or at least support them. It’s easy to reward the leaders who communicate using your preferred style and who present a picture of optimism and success. Every time someone raises a challenge in the organization, your reaction teaches the team about whether that’s a safe thing to do for their careers. Do not punish people for being honest. If a member of your team is open with you about a significant problem in their organization, your response shapes the future of the information bubble around you. Do you broadcast anger because they have screwed up and you would have done better? Or do you thank them for their transparency and roll up your sleeves to help?
Be direct with your team that when they report on their organizations, what you value above all else is an honest picture so that you can all work together to win. It’s harder to win if your decisions are based on inflated or distorted pictures of reality.
View your time and well-being as strategic business assets. In the seminal HBR article Seven Surprises for New CEOs, the authors point out that despite society’s expectations that senior executives are super heroes, you do well to remember you’re a human being and need to ruthlessly prioritize your time and well-being. That’s hard because leading a large organization is even more intense than the senior roles you’ve had previously. It can help to frame your well-being as an extremely important strategic asset for your company. So don’t blow off exercise, sleep, rest, good nutrition and time with your family.
Ironically, you may not be able to talk with your family about many of your most difficult issues. Perhaps worse, if you do talk to them, they may not understand enough to support you. While your family may be excited and proud about your role, they may not realize the extent of the sacrifices you’re asking them to make, the pressures you’ll face, and your complete unavailability at times. So be sure to discuss these matters openly with them and find all the support you need through mentors, advisors, coaches and peers.
For most people, leading a large organization is much more challenging than their prior roles, both in the complexity and the level of skill needed to balance competing demands. Indeed, many senior executives I’ve worked with question whether they really want the job. That said, the opportunities are extraordinary: to learn, to grow, to build relationships, and to have an outsized impact in the world. Keep your eyes on those rewards and remember these guiding principles and anything is possible.