“Leadership is action, not position.” – Donald H. McGannon
I frequently talk with new leaders who ask me when someone is going to tell them what to do or how to do it. My response is always, “You are the leader. You have to figure out what needs to be done.”
As the leader, we are responsible for ensuring that the vision is a thread that pulls through everything in the organization. It can be very easy to become a “reactive” rather than a “responsive” leader. Responsive leaders see the big picture and have an appropriate response based on moving the organization closer to the identified goals. In organizations run by responsive leaders, every action is strategically put in place and aligned to the overall plan. Reactive leaders do just that, they react to whatever is happening. In organizations run by reactive leaders, it can feel like you are constantly chasing your tail.
It is easy to fall into the reactive trap. Someone brings you a problem. Your first thought is to solve the problem. That would be the easiest response. But, thinking like a leader means you have to consider how the problem intersects with other problems and whether there is an overall systems problem that ultimately needs to be solved by more heads around the table. It just takes a few seconds to consider what else might be happening to be responsive. And responsive leaders ultimately build capacity in their team and build other leaders as a result.
Self-care for today: Very often, we give our best self away to the work and there is not much left to give ourselves or the people we love. The challenge, then, is to consider how we are “responsive” or “reactive” in the many other roles we play in our lives.
When we are responsive, we feel organized and able to keep up. Being reactive often feels like rushing, yelling, and running late.
Being responsive doesn’t mean that everything runs smoothly all the time. It means that we give ourselves the time and space to consider how what we say or how we act aligns with what we believe in and our ultimate goals in our relationships with others. Yelling at our kids when we feel stressed only makes us have stressed out kids. Knowing that we are stressed and asking for help creates empathy and compassion in those around us.
Reflections:
In what ways was I reactive today?
In what ways was I responsive today?