{"id":517,"date":"2009-08-07T22:56:19","date_gmt":"2009-08-08T02:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"\/news_blogs\/john\/?p=517"},"modified":"2023-12-21T15:57:41","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T20:57:41","slug":"what-does-a-leader-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2009\/08\/07\/what-does-a-leader-do\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does a Leader Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A\u00a0few years ago, I was out of the office for 10 consecutive work days attending a conference and then an annual meeting of an association<\/a> that\u00a0CCCC belongs to.\u00a0While at the conference, I noticed that many of my peers were checking emails or calling their offices at every break during the day, as if they were personally indispensable to the effective operation of their ministry. I\u00a0checked my email and voicemail just once a day after dinner, more out of a sense of duty than any\u00a0thought that I was actually needed. I was quite confident that the CCCC staff could handle all of the operational decisions and that things needing my personal attention would either be handled with the evening check-in or\u00a0be waiting for my return. Well, as it turned out, the evening check-ins found no voicemails\u00a0or emails needing attention and when I got back the only thing on my desk, no kidding, was the circulation file of magazines and newsletters. There was nothing waiting for me at all. “Drats!” I exclaimed. “I came in extra early for nothing.” The staff had handled everything!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found this somewhat troubling as I realized they really and truly don’t need me. What if my board found out??!! But I quickly found a bright side. “I can take a vacation and not worry.” The next thought that occurred to me was the brilliant “Aha!” that if they can make these decisions in my absence, then I shouldn’t be making these decisions even when I am present. So, now I had the opportunity to think about what I, as a senior leader, should spend my time doing. What does a CEO actually do?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Day in the Life of a Leader<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

John Kotter wrote a great little book called John P. Kotter on What Leaders Really Do<\/em><\/a>\"\", but the title is actually a misnomer. This book is about line managers<\/em> rather than executive leaders<\/em>. The main case study is of a typical day in the life of a plant manager. It turns out that what this sort of leader really does is talk to people in short, often ad hoc<\/em>, snippets all day long. Kotter says this is actually a very efficient and productive way to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As an aside, I highly recommend\u00a0Kotter’s book\u00a0for all managers\u2014and that includes senior leaders because we all do some management.\u00a0You will never look at interruptions the same way again! While we all dream of hours of uninterrupted time, this is not how the real work of a manager is done.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Different Roles of a Leader<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’ve continued to think about this question of what senior leaders do and have drawn some conclusions. They may be blindingly obvious to everyone else, but I had the fun of figuring them out myself. Sort of like the mathematician who works out the proof for an equation that was discovered long ago. Anyway, I’m interested in what you think about my conclusions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n