It can be hard to read the room when you can’t see everyone, you can’t see how they are sitting, if they are slouching, what they are doing, are they listening, did they lean forward for that last comment, are they staring up at the sky. The kneejerk reaction is to tell everyone to turn on the video. The reaction of the leader is to figure out why everyone isn’t in engaged in what they…
I’ve written before about going into a cave. Sometimes you need to do it, sometimes you need to leave your team to do it. But you can’t do it every day. You can’t do it all the time when something goes wrong. The cave is where you are most productive without hindering your team’s productivity. If you’re always in the cave, you’re not doing you’re best work, you’re hiding.
The task itself doesn’t get easier. You get better. And it becomes easier. You learn what makes it difficult and come with ideas, suggestions, and new paths to figuratively make it better, make it easier, but the task itself never changed. You did. It only stays difficult, when we refuse to change.
How many times does this keep having to be said? I’m not sure, but for review… If you trust your team, if you have faith in your team, it does not mean things will go well, it does not mean the journey will be smooth, it does not mean that everything will go perfectly well and you and them will become superstars. You will screw up, they will screw up – but you will trust…
What do you need to know to do your job? Now, what do you not know? Focus on those gaps.