As a leader do you have the freedom to act? Or, do you find yourself reacting to the situation around you? Immediate events can cause you to react and lose sight of your goal. Your carefully crafted strategy can evaporate in a minute if you react without thinking.
As a leader your first task is to convey a mission to your group. You need their buy-in and support. Casting a vision is a skill of a talented leader. Your people need to be able to see, feel, and know where you are taking them.
The moment you act in discordance with your vision, you could lose them.
Recently, a manager I know reacted to an email. His response was immediate and defensive in nature. He was responding to data that reflected badly on his area’s performance. He sent a series of emails trying to defend the performance, and discredit the interpretation of the data.
In retrospect, those few emails eliminated the vision he created, that his organization was dedicated to continuous improvement. He had spent a great deal of time building a team vision based on “it is OK to fail”, and “experiment to find your path for improvement”. His credibility quickly vanished because of his reaction.
When you are a leader, you need to lead. Be out in front clearing a path. Act, don’t react! This week take a moment and reflect on when you have reacted badly, and what course of action would have prevented the situation that it caused.