Growing & Maintaining: Tensions of Leadership
Ecclesiastes 3 (MSG)
There’s a Right Time for Everything
There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:
A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.
In any organization there is a tension of when is the time to grow, to change and develop and a time to hold, to maintain, and keep steady. Many leaders are known for being a great visionary or a great manager, but I believe to become the best leader, you must do both. It’s not something you can delegate or ignore, but you have to set the pace for your people.
For us at Watermarks, our time to grow and time to maintain are pretty clear cut and separate, but there are more layers that get more complex and blur the lines between the two. Fall through spring are our major growth times. We are building, dreaming, creating and preparing for summer, which is our major maintaining time. During the growing season, we change systems, structures, and evaluate how we can get better. During the summer, we plainly execute those changes and everything we’ve done to grow. What we’ve learned around here is that it takes a year for us to see if a change has worked or doesn’t. Rushing that process doesn’t give us the results we are looking for or a chance for those changes to really be tested fully.
There also is an element of this tension of when to grow and maintain that blurs the line of seasons and the tension is a day to day or hour to hour management. This plays out mostly during the growing season for us, as we still have groups that come in on weekends and we switch from growing during the week to now maintaining the growth from the season before until the following summer comes around again.
It may look much different for you and your organization or people you lead, but I believe how you manage this tension will keep your employees engaged, less frustrated and dreaming at a higher level. If you’re growing, don’t mourn the loss of what was for too long and if you’re maintaining, be ok with holding and know it’s for a purpose to better you and your organization.
Possible Negative Traits of Purely Visionary/Growing Leaders:
Many rapid changes and instant implementation
Doesn’t count the cost for big ideas
Jumps too early, not enough capital/infrastructure through a maintaining season
Team members frustrated and operate on eggshells because everything can change in an instant
Possible Negative Traits of Purely Managing/Maintaining Leaders:
Clings to policy, this is how we do things around here
Dreams are shut down without any reason
The risk is never worth the reward
One of our cultural values here at Watermarks really speaks to how we can begin to manage this tension and be better at both growing and maintaining.
We are “can do” people
Our first response is always “Yes, and…” followed by an honest evaluation and solutions on how to make an idea work for clients and fellow staff. We think critically and we bring solutions to the table. Then we make the wise decision.
With this in place you can safely dream and grow but with realistic evaluation and solutions on how to get there. That may mean hold and maintain for awhile which is ok.
There is a principle that applies no matter how this tension plays out for you and who you lead and that principle is called Adaptive Leadership.
Traits of Adaptive Leaders
There are certain traits that every adaptive leader ought to possess, including:
The ability to link organizational change to the primary values, abilities, and dreams of the stakeholders involved.
The capacity to create an environment that embraces diversity of views and takes advantage of such collective knowledge to benefit the organization.
The adaptive leader understands that change can be a painful process. Therefore, he or she can foresee and counteract any reluctant behavior from teammates.
An understanding that large-scale change is a gradual process, which calls for persistence and a willingness to bear the pressure that comes along with that.
Being proactive, looking for opportunities and investing the necessary resources to go after them.
Admitting when they make mistakes and changing or abandoning non-productive strategies.
Being open to experimentation and risk-taking
Liking and encouraging innovation among employees.
It is only through a change of attitudes and adjustment of policies that you will manage to sustain changes and thrive.
Although adaptive leadership requires a great deal of effort, it provides substantial returns. Based on credible statistics, firms that are adaptive end up with immense gains both financially and operationally. They are able to weather storms and rise to the top even during periods of volatility.
"There is, for some companies, a temptation to grow rapidly just to stay in the headlines,"
“While it's a good idea to slow down and really refine your product or service, you also need to recognize which opportunities can help you grow — and when you find one, be ready to move in and seize it, Sheinbaum said.”
“Quick, exponential growth doesn't necessarily guarantee future burnout, but slow growth doesn't ensure longevity, either. It's all about running your business smartly and efficiently, regardless of your growth rate.”
"We often see companies that are growing rapidly make the mistake of investing too much money and time into marketing and staffing, and not enough time and money on the innovation pipeline, channel diversification and development, order fulfillment, and supply chain," Okner said. "[However], slow-growth companies spend too much time and money on innovation ... while not investing enough time and money into sales. Either trajectory, if managed well, will work out in the long run."
“A strategy based on trend chasing might get you immediate results, but you'll be better equipped for real, lasting growth if you look toward the future as well.”
"Envision long-term operations from the start," Jumper said. "Not only do you need to think about what your product or service will look like a decade or more into the future, you should consider the greater trajectory of its application.
"With a clear destination in mind, we could build a strategy to win the race to get there with a deliberate strategy."
- Slow and Steady? 4 Smart Ways to Maintain Business Growth. Nicole Fallon, expert
“And the most successful people are those who accept, and adapt to constant change. This adaptability requires a degree of flexibility and humility most people can’t manage.” - Paul Lutus
“All failure is failure to adapt, all success is successful adaptation.” - Max McKeown
“A wise man adapts himself to circumstances as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it.” - Anonymous
Questions to Ponder:
Can you dream and maintain simultaneously? Evaluate your leadership honestly.
How can you not frustrate your team by keeping the operations, culture and standards the same all while growing and dreaming for more?
Do you feel that what you lead needs to grow and maintain separately or is your timetable switching between the two more day to day?
Are you mourning what was or too eager for what is to come?
Are you better at growing and being visionary or maintaining? How can you improve on your weaker one?