The Larger the Organization, The Less Attention You Can Pay to Details
Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash
Today’s second topic is Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.
Word Count: About 1,000, approximate reading time 4 to 6 minutes. Please share your thoughts in the comments. Please be kind and subscribe to my newsletter.
This article serves as a wrap-up to the theme of the last two newsletters. The role of the modern CEO, but the idea applies to all leaders in an organization that want to improve their effectiveness and achieve consistent positive results.
Source: World Economic Forum
Systems thinking is a critical senior leadership skill. Professor Edward Crawley of MIT believes that “System thinking is the cognitive skill of the 21st century.” System thinking enables leaders to make sense of complexity by looking at whole components rather than focusing on the specific details that make up each part. A good analogy is that your primary care physician understands cardiology, oncology, and other medical specialties. The doctor uses this understanding to know when to refer you to a specialist for more expert care when you need it.
Influential CEOs and senior leaders recognize that if they try to do everything, little, if anything, will get done. “It takes discipline to insist on doing everything yourself.” To lead well, you must build capable teams and trust them to do their jobs. The broader your responsibilities, the more important it is to manage by exception. The larger and more complex the organization, the further away leaders must step away from details. This requires a different approach to time management. Rather than focusing on getting more done, leaders must manage time to concentrate effort where it will have the most value. Leaders need to do fewer things exceptionally well.
The World Economic Forum Strategic Intelligence provides an excellent example of system thinking. Their website presents interactive Transformation Maps. For example, the Artificial Intelligence focal point has eight sub-categories. When you focus on AI and the future of jobs, they show links to other topics. When you select one of those items, you are presented with a new view of the information. This is an excellent display of system thinking that shows how diverse ideas are interrelated.
Volodymyr Zelensky & The Spirit of Ukraine
Time’s 2022 Person of the Year has two recipients. Volodymyr Zelensky and the people of Ukraine. Their decision provides an excellent opportunity to revisit the outstanding leadership that President Zelensky has displayed since the Russian invasion of his country. Nothing in his background would have predicted his success in the face of these challenges.
Since the beginning of the war, Zelensky has made few, if any, missteps. He has forged a global alliance that provides the military and financial they desperately need. Russia’s actions and his adept diplomatic responses have united NATO and encouraged Finland and Sweden to join the alliance. After early military setbacks, the tide is turning as the Ukrainian military retakes lost territory.
Most importantly, Zelensky has kept up the morale of the Ukrainian people. Their support in the face of suffering and hardship is a major factor in Ukraine’s success against the Russian military. The Time included The Spirit of Ukraine in their decision; they recognized that Zelensky would not be enjoying success without the support of the citizens and that the citizens would not have the courage and resolve to continue the fights against Russian occupation with Zelensky’s leadership.
What I’m Up To
I am gearing up for the holidays. At our neighborhood Christmas party, we hosted Trinity High school’s Swing Choir. They were excellent, and we raised $500 to help them attend spring competitions. At the party, we had an ugly sweater contest. I did not win, but I can remember a time when I would not have participated. I remember being like that. I’m glad I have learned to embrace silliness when it’s called for.
We attended a performance of the Fort Worth Chorale. Our neighbor is the Artistic Director. This included the Mansfield High School Acapella Choir.
I caught up on some streaming as well. Wednesday on Netflix was enjoyable. We watched two interesting documentaries on business leadership – The Murdochs on HBO Max and Fugitive: The Curious Case of Carlos Ghosn on Netflix. Given the strength of the cast, I expected Amsterdam to be better. Depending on which review you read, it is either a 10% accurate telling of a story about The Business Plot to remove FDR from power or a whitewashing of American fascism. My rating for Amsterdam is two stars because the pacing is too slow and the missed opportunity to tell an often-forgotten history of the world’s challenges during the great depression.
Chips and Salsa: Snack-sized news and posts
Culture evolves over time and usually changes over time. How South Koreans determine their age is a rare cultural norm that will change quickly.
Reuters - South Koreans set to become younger
The key to life success is having a growth mindset and learning from trials to accomplish greater things.
Farnam Street - A Summary of Growth and Fixed Mindsets
There will be many articles about FTX and SBF. Whether we ever understand why and how this happened remains to be seen.
Wired - Why the World Fell for Sam Bankman-Fried
The most important responsibility of a leader is to prepare the next generation. After all, if you don’t train someone to do your job, how will you ever be able to prepare for your next opportunity?
thoughtLEADERS LLC - Developing Your Team
thoughtLEADERS LLC - Identify Rising Stars on Your Team
Perhaps the most important thing to remember about developing leadership skills is that a leaders journey is a repeating adventure. The skills you harness today enable you to learn more tomorrow.
David Burkus - How to Develop Leadership Skills
Dark clouds often have silver linkings. All you need to do is look for them. Many of my best opportunitys came after something happened bad happened.
Keep it Human - The silver lining in a layoff.
The end of the year always includes Year In Review lists. This is the rare list that is both retrospective and forward looking.
The Atlantic - Breakthroughs of the Year
Quotes
“Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind.”
- Samuel Ullman
“When you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck.”
- Paul Virilio
The Leader With A Thousand Faces is available on Amazon.
My goal is to make this newsletter as interesting and valuable as possible. Please share your thoughts and suggestions for improvement. If there are specific topics in leadership you would like me to focus on in future issues, please send them my way.
