Being a manager and a leader is all about providing context to your team.
If there is no context then there is little you can do to manage people and lead them where you want to go.
Change is always with us. Those in leadership roles are supposed to see a path ahead, clear the way and take people on a journey. A journey that makes sense, inspires hope and allows people to achieve their own personal goals along the way as well as the goals of the company.
If there is no context then it makes it difficult for people to know what to do in a given situation.
I know of a number of people who have been put in roles where they have articulated to me that they have no real idea of how to fill that role successfully. It may be there will be a time of searching and “finding the way” but the person who puts them in that role has the responsibility of providing them with a loose map, at least.
This “loose” map is the general context of what the role is meant to achieve. If they are not provided with the map/frame work/guidelines they will neither fail nor succeed.
They can’t fail as there is no clear measure of what to aim for.
Same goes for succeeding, no real measure of what to aim for.
The real problem is limbo. People who operate in limbo in business for an extended period of time lose energy, focus and drive. In the end they give up, leave or, perhaps worse, stay and cause a black hole, a bottle neck on progress in the company.
A leader’s responsibility this to provide the framework within which to operate.
- What are the measures?
- What are the time frames?
- What are the tools and resources at their disposal?
The bible has a phrase that goes something like: “Without a vision, the people perish.” That doesn’t mean they physically die necessarily. It can mean they are stunted, lost (in business to another company) and if we interpret “people” as a group, perhaps the company itself dies as people leave and/or become unproductive.
How to Provide Context
A good manager/leader will be very clear about what they want people in specific roles to achieve and focus on. This will include the financials and perhaps some specific aspect of it.
In the Global Financial Crisis it probably meant debtors, cash flow in the short to medium term.
In recovery it will be a stronger focus in business development, marketing, letting clients know they are still around.
It may be focusing on staff development, reorganizing the business to be more efficient. (Stanford economist Paul Romer said in November 2004, “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.”)
It is the manager’s role to provide context. It provides a rationale for why things are being done far beyond “Trust me, I know what I am doing”.
Context also provides mirror to hold up to on any critical decisions that need to be made. Want to appoint someone to new role? In what context? Need to move someone on? Why? In what context?
If the context is clear you will be relieved of dealing with a whole lot of non issues and questions raised by people who simply do not know the context. Provide that context and you will have more people following you.
Why?
Because you know where you are going and you can bring people along with you.
