My family tells me that I have an unusual talent to create a leadership lesson out of virtually anything and any situation. They may be right. Often the topics of these blogs are inspired by a recent event that sparked a chain of thought. This post is no exception.
A few days ago we were hit by a huge spring blizzard. Schools closed, businesses shuttered their doors, and I was forced to stay home to try to make the most of it. The term “snow day” for me isn’t one that evokes joyful thoughts of playing in the white stuff and cuddling up in front of a fire with a cup of cocoa. Personally, while I do enjoy a cuddle with cocoa, I don’t have nice feelings for the snow. I’ve tried to make nice with it, but in the end, we just don’t like each other. “Snow day” for me is a way to get some studying done, and especially do some writing, in that there is always some project which is waiting for me to sit in front of my computer and type. I looked upon the snow day as a great opportunity to be productive. The family had gone back to bed, the animals were asleep and I had a cup of coffee, so I figured this was going to be a fantastic day… then it happened. The power went out! After a few moments of off and on and off again, it stayed out and I was plunged not only into darkness, but the inability to use my primary computer. Yes, I have back up files on my laptop, but eventually the battery will die and I didn’t have the most recent documents from the night before. I was dead in the water. Arg!
The point of this story is something that occurred to me while I was trying my best to stay productive. After the power had been out for a little while, I got on my ipad and checked in with the power company to see what was happening. It turned out that over 100,000 customers were in the same boat as I. The blizzard had even shut down the airport, and the entire state was at a literal standstill. I no longer had the luxury of feeling like the world was picking on just me; it was 100,000 others and me. The power company’s website gave regular updates of the problems and an anticipated restoration of service time. It was going to be a long day. Here’s what I learned. Once I had the news of what was happening and at least an idea of when the power would come back, I felt better. Nothing had changed and I couldn’t do a thing about any of it, but just knowing that someone who knew what they were doing was working on it made me able to somewhat relax and stop worrying about it. Then this question popped into my head. Why do I feel better? The answer I came up with was that I trusted the power company to take care of the problem. Certainly I wasn’t qualified to handle restoring power myself, but they were. I decided to let them handle it. I trusted them.
Here’s the leadership lesson. Who do the people on your team trust when the power goes out? Who do they have confidence in to handle the problem? When all is dark, a blizzard is blowing, and not even the coffee pot is functioning, who do they look to in order to get through a long day? The answer is their leader. However, it’s not just someone who has a title or holds a position, it must be someone who has worked alongside them through previous challenges and instilled faith and confidence that things will work out. In order to do that, we must be engaged with our people, present in good and bad times, doing the things that need to be done and not just delegating and remaining distant. True leaders are involved leaders. They show up, speak up and stand up. They have deep trusting relationships and they have proven that when the chips are down, they can be counted on to do their part to turn things around. When the power goes out, they are the first to go out in the snow to get to work to restore it. That’s what leaders do.
When the power goes out, who do you want your people to trust, look to, and have confidence in?
Lead well.