Reduce the Load, Raise the Bar
How to lead by lightening your leaders burden
Dear Leader,
Happy December. I bet this is a good time to be grateful for 2024 Journey, be grateful for the experience and be grateful for the privilege to lead.
As we approach 2025, one of the things we must nurture is our ability to ask leaders above us; what is your biggest problem and how can i solve it?
This question is golden and unlocks opportunities.
I remember reading “Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg where she told a story about Lori Goler.
When Sheryl joined Facebook as COO, she got a call from Lori Goler, a highly regarded Senior Director of Marketing at eBay at that time. Lori made it clear why she was calling “I want to apply to work with you at Facebook, so I thought about calling you and telling you all of the things I am good at and all the things I like to do. She said, then I figured that everyone was doing that. So instead, I want to ask you: What is your biggest problem, and how can I solve it?”
Sheryl in that book said she was surprised because out of all the thousands of people she had hired, no one ever said anything remotely like that. People are usually focused on finding the right role for themselves, with the implication that their skills will help the company but Lori put Facebook’s (and in another way, Sheryl’s) needs front and centre.
According to Sheryl, it was a killer approach and that made Lori get a Job at Facebook. Lori got a Job Leading People@Facebook - running recruiting and human resources.
This story came to my mind while writing this letter because when you work with leaders above you, you realise that they carry most of the burden of the organisation and as an employee who is also a leader, you can do one of two things for the leaders above you; lighten the burden or make it heavier.
If you help lighten the burden, then you help your leader succeed and conversely, it is almost impossible for you to win if your boss fails.
Helping to lighten your leader’s burden shows you are a good team player and it can also get you noticed, even though that is not the goal.
In practical terms, how can you lighten your leader's burden?
Do your own job well. First, do so well what you were hired to do. It begins with that. Don’t try to solve another problem when the one you were hired to do is failing. It’s bad investment.
When you see a problem, provide a solution or recommend different solutions as options to the leaders above you. If you see a problem in your organisation, make it a habit to come up with 2-3 potential solutions before going to discuss it with your leader. It will help you become creative and resourceful. Your leaders will think of you differently, as a solution provider and not a problem to be solved.
Tell your leaders what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. If you are not sure of how it will be taken because you have not done it before, then start small and be diplomatic about it. If your leaders becomes receptive, only then can you become more frank overtime.
Go the extra mile. Again, only when you have done your job well. When you do more than is asked, you will certainly stand out from the crowd.
You should be known for someone who is making it easier for leaders above you to lead effectively and efficiently.
Leadership is a skill. Cultivate it, and rise!
What new ideas will you like to add to the above?
I’m rooting for you.
The Great Owete