by Valyrie Laedlein-On June 15th I wrote a blog post about having been named Co-Director of Community Resource Exchange, along with my colleague Holly Delany Cole. At the time, I’d suggested that this News & Views column would be a site for us to track insights we gleaned in our new position.
The fact that more than two months have passed since I posted that column gives you a sense of what the last 75 days have been like.
That said, I have had some “Aha” moments during these first two months that might suggest some insights worth sharing. A few weeks ago, our Managing Director who was leading CRE’s latest Leadership Caucus for Deputy Directors asked me to share any ideas that my experience as a new Co-[Executive] Director might suggest for those currently in a Deputy position who might be aspiring to an Executive role. A few things came to mind then, which I shared with the group, and I’ll offer them here for others in similar leadership roles.
First, I quickly had to come to terms with the breadth of what has to get done: tasks related to the transition; tasks related to planning for the future; and the tasks of daily operations – all competing with time I needed to think, prioritize, and get myself prepared for this role. Work I might have attended to before – an analysis of a program, a spreadsheet of a proposed budget, a write-up of a report – now has to be done by others in order to give me the time needed to do the work I need to do. This is the task that Michael Watkins refers to in his book The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels as “Promoting yourself,” i.e., moving beyond the work that you know well and that you’re good at in order to take charge of your new work responsibilities. As a result, each time the notion of a work task comes into my head, I ask myself, “Who other than you, Valyrie, can you get to do this work?” This is surprisingly harder to do than I would have expected – which is probably why I did too little of it as a Deputy. Lesson #1: Think first about what you are uniquely and critically suited to do, and find others to absorb the rest.
Second, my success is now measured by the extent to which others (our staff, our board, our other stakeholders) understand our priorities and are prepared to give their all to our common enterprise. Leading people requires engagement of them in the work of our mission, in productive, high-quality, innovative ways. And engagement requires time with people to get them committed to the vision, to organize their efforts, and to continually sustain the work to get the results we’re after. Some days I find myself unable to spend more than 10 minutes on email, especially during this transition period when colleagues, our board and our supporters need to understand what lies ahead and to be assured that we’ll get there. I realize that this was one area I was less sensitive to as Deputy Director, which meant that I probably was less successful at leveraging others’ talents than I should have been. Lesson #2: Recognize that time spent engaging others to understand, commit to, and work toward the results you’re after is a foundation for your success in achieving those results.
Finally, related to the second point, I have come to recognize the importance to attending constantly to relationships with those around me -- internal and external; formal and informal. It was easier for me, as a Deputy, to feel and see the importance of the Executive Director’s knowing and affirming others. It meant a lot to me to have her stop in at my doorway to speak to me. It made a difference when she participated in a meeting I was holding. I valued the time she took to offer her opinion and advice. Now I have to grapple with the fact that it is I – and my Co-Director colleague – who must offer those moments continually to our colleagues on staff. It’s a challenge for those of us who tend toward humility to think (and act) with our own importance in mind; but the message conveyed by NOT taking time to stop and chat, inquire, offer input, lend an ear and some feedback, is not likely to be what we intend either. By underestimating the importance of our making a connection with others, we run the risking of losing their commitment and sense of connection to the mission and the work at hand. Lesson #3: Make the time to frequently acknowledge, interact with and affirm those with whom you work; such interactions are not frivolous.
The upside of learning and practicing these three lessons? I spend much more time interacting with people I genuinely admire and respect who, in turn, inspire me to be my best.
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