Step One for a Leader
and a little about Abraham Lincoln
You’ve just been named CEO of a corporation or that corner office is now yours because you landed the role of being a department head.
What’s your first step?
What’s the first thing a leader should do?
Define reality as it is, not how you want it to be.
Why is that your first task?
Because your team already knows the truth.
Your job is to now show your honesty and integrity by leaning in and verbalizing what everyone already knows.
Be honest about the current state of the organization.
Don’t ignore the headwinds and the hurdles. If times are going to be hard, tell them. They deserve to know. After all, their livelihoods are riding on the success or failure of the place you lead.
Be as transparent as you can be and when you are, trust is built.
The more you hide and withhold, the less your team will trust you. As a leader, everything rides on trust. (We’ll talk more about that in a future blog post.)
If things are looking up, income is up, the team is growing then that’s awesome. Share that news and celebrate. Explain what is driving the increased income, and what the roles of the new team members will be. By communicating all this information, you’re signaling you trust the team. They will feel that and over time, they will come to trust you.
Good leaders do this regularly. Either once a month or every quarter, gather the team together in person or on a video call and share the state of things. Explain what is and what got you there.
By being honest about the state of the organization, the team is more apt to follow you. They want a captain who can see the storm that is coming and is aware that it is there. Knowing that you see the storm will give them hope you will navigate them through it.
In his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln said, “I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or excitement.” It was the second sentence of his address. It was that important.
What’s he saying? In a nutshell, he’s not going to spend time speaking about things people aren’t worried about. He’s going to speak about what everyone is focused on and that is the pending civil war and the splitting of the union.
Lincoln gained trust by addressing reality as it was, not ignoring reality and trying to paint the anxiety of the nation’s citizens into a happy little corner.
Be like Lincoln.
Address reality as it is.
Build trust.
Answer questions.
You’ll be a better leaders because of it, and your organization will be healthier because you did so.
Tomorrow, we’ll address step two. Now you must paint a picture of grand and bold future.
Leadership matters,
Brian
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