In need of systems

The real edge in today’s world is not to have all the answers, but to motivate people to invest their resources – time, energy, money, attention – to find the answers. Possibly working with others.

We all heard that the world is more complex than ever, more ever-changing than ever, more fast-paced than ever. Yet we fail to understand what that means. Most of us are not asked to draw from their previous expertise to come up with ready-made solutions. Quite the contrary, the more you can tame the knowledge and information you have, sit with a problem, ask around, collect ideas, prepare the setting, coach people, lead the execution, the more you will be relevant.

We don’t need actions. What we need is systems.

Time to heal

You need to give wounds proper time to heal.

Of course, you want to get back to work. Of course, you want people to accept your point of view and get back to their tasks. Of course, you are all working on something bigger and the time spent grieving is time not spent pursuing a new opportunity.

But wounds do not heal as fast as you’d want them to. People do not heal as fast as you’d want them to. You do not heal as fast as you’d want to.

Give it time. And in the process, do listen. You will learn something about wounds, people, and yourself.

Getting ready for the next wound.

About goals

There are two things, I believe, you really to need to highlight when leading a team.

Number 1 is that the person’s well-being, in whatever format that comes, is infinitely more important than any business goal and organisational achievement.

Number 2 is that goals, especially individual goals, are not a way to get rewarded or fired, but rather a way to challenge – how do we get there – and be challenged – what do you need to get there.

The way you, as a leader, navigate setting goals and delivering on them is 99% of how your team will feel about them.

Not a support function

Don’t go to marketing with tasks. Go to marketing with ideas.

As marketing owns many of the communication channels of a company, marketers often find themselves swamped with (last minute) requests to push out this or that message. An upcoming webinar. The latest integration. A landing page. A logo to add somewhere. The next newsletter.

Approach marketing with ideas, instead. Ideas are broader, they give marketers the possibility to prioritise, plan, create. They stimulate ownership and foster better organization.

Marketing is not a support function.

Give before you ask

You have to give before you can ask.

Lead with your expertise, your point of view, your research, your data, your guests, your knowledge before you actually ask to sign up. Even better, never ask. Set up a vision for your world so unique and appealing that people will want to be part of it without you even having to ask.

Sometimes you might get lucky. You might have people onboard before you have to do anything. That “free trial” banner might get enough curiosity for it to actually have an impact on your top line.

But don’t let luck misdirect you.

You have to give before you can ask.