Keeping things in perspective

Monday, Dec. 10, 2007 | 1 p.m.

One of a leader’s most important roles is to help others keep things in perspective. A leader must help his colleagues and employees see the big picture. It’s hard for people that work all day on specific tasks to connect those tasks to the larger objectives and goals of their organizations.

Most businesses have strategic plans, objectives, and goals that they strive to complete in any given time period. How does Joe in Accounting know that his work is helping to meet those goals? In many organizations, he doesn’t know and that is not because he doesn’t want to. I’ve found that in general people want to be part of something and know that they contribute to a larger whole.

When people are working on any given task and they get caught up in the details of that task, sometimes they get too close to it and have difficulty seeing beyond what they are focused on. When they encounter a problem or issue during this state of mind, it can seem insurmountable. A leader can help them change the perspective of how they are viewing the situation and help them put the problem into context so the person can move forward.

Following are some techniques to help you and others keep things in perspective.

Give clear direction: When engaging someone to work on a task or project, clearly explain how the task connects to the larger objective. This will help the person you are working with see beyond his task to work toward the higher order goal or objective.

Many leaders are true visionaries and they can only see the big picture; they do not know the path or steps to get there. By clearly explaining to others this big picture view, the people you work with can help more effectively by asking questions which will lead to the appropriate path.

Don’t direct how, tell them why: People work in different ways, styles, and paces. Tell them how to do something and you may get good results. Explain them why they are doing a particular task and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results.

Every time that I dictated the “how,” that is exactly what I got–a watered down version of what might have been. By letting people develop the path to get to the objective, they most often will get to a higher-order solution than by just being told “what to do.”

Help people step away from their work: When I am confronted by a daunting task, it is always helpful for me to step back and view the the whole project. It helps me to be reminded of the larger objective and how my task fits in and supports that objective. I find it difficult to assess whether I am making progress when I am focused on the small details. There is an old saying: “he can’t see the forest for the trees.” A leader can help teach people how to step away and look at the entire picture.

I’d like to hear from you:

# Have you experienced a time when you had difficulty keeping your task in perspective with the overall objective?

# Do you have any suggestions as to how to delegate the “why” and not direct the “how?”

# Reflect upon a time when a someone helped you keep things in perspective. What did you learn from that experience?

Until next week…

Craig