One of my favorite phrases is “I’m getting my ducks in a row.” For some reason the image of a flock of ducks organized in neat rows and columns, like a well-practiced marching band, just puts a smile on my face. Anyone who knows me at all is aware of my fondness of ducks in general, but more than I like ducks, I really like it when things are organized! I love it when my ducks are in a row. In fact, one of the things I’m really good at is bringing order from chaos, so if I come across a bunch of chaotic and disorderly ducks, I get all tingly inside in anticipating the order which I’m going create!
Okay, I understand that this conversation is yet to be helpful, and is perhaps just a little bit strange. However, I bring up the mental picture of the ducks, marching along to the theme song of the old movie Bridge Over the River Kwai because I believe one of the things that exemplifies a great leader is that they have their ducks in a row. Part of who a leader is, is organized. Now, I’m not saying that all leaders have desks clear of clutter or that they never miss a detail. That’s not the type of organization I’m talking about. What I’m saying is that great leaders have a clear picture in their mind of what they need to do to get from point A to point B in everything from a single task to a project to an organizational mission, and they stay on top of it all.
Personally, I currently I have a lot going on. This time of year is the busiest for me as I am in the final 100 days of active production for the biggest event of my year. I just released a book, I’ve got another writing project just getting started, doctoral studies, and so on. I have no choice but to stay on top of everything. When I look at my calendar and things-to-do list, it seems that there is always a deadline approaching. Actually not seems, there is. The way I do it all is to keep a big picture view and force myself to stay ahead of the schedule, never allowing myself the luxury of procrastination. With my ministry, I stay planned six weeks ahead of the weekly services; with the production, I have a timeline of tasks I’ve developed over the years that tells me exactly what I should be doing as the opening approaches (It’s a 12-18 month timeline, by the way); and writing projects are broken down into reasonable chunks of creative time that gradually come together for a finished work. School, however is especially challenging with the immense amount of reading, research, dialogue, and writing required. But I have found that if I continually view the whole forest, the individual trees are not as imposing, and I am able to keep things moving (and stay out of the way of falling trees)!
A few weeks back I wrote about some of the things a person can do to be a high-capacity leader. Consider this post to be a few more that you can use.
- Always keep a big-picture view. Heifetz, Grashow, & Linsky, in their 2009 book The Practice of Adaptive Leadership, refer to this as taking a “balcony view instead of a dance floor view.” I believe leaders have to be actively on the dance floor, but their perspective has to be from the balcony. It’s like playing chess — the best players see the whole board with each particular move they are considering.
- Carve out time to think about the final objective. Some call this leading with the “end in mind.” The end doesn’t just happen; leaders need to think about it first. Once they know the end, or at least have some picture of what the end looks like, they can get to work.
- Make lots of lists, put yourself on a schedule of time blocks devoted to particular projects, and practice another thing which defines a leader – discipline. Great leaders do what they need to do before they do what they want to do. Always.
Add those three tips to your how-to-get-things-done arsenal and I promise you’ll have a better chance of keeping those pesky and unpredictable ducks in the rows you need them to be in. Quack!
Lead well.
Remember – All Things Leadership is now a book! Available through most bookseller outlets.