INSIGHT VS HINDSIGHT

Leaders who create an environment of insight vs hindsight have organizations that are motivated by something bigger than themselves, innovative, collaborative, and attract the best people. Insightful leaders look at the current situation, not the past.  Insightful leaders are interested in making the organization and its people better.  Hindsight leaders are interested in protecting themselves.  Hindsight organizations are reactionary.  Insight organizations are always growing and adapting. 

The most successful organizations extend trust down to the lowest level.  But leadership must ensure absolute clarity of purpose, provide resources, and guidance along the way.  If you give people the responsibility, they will take it. If you do not trust them, then you do not trust yourself as a leader.

Leaders must delegate yet not abdicate.  Leaders cannot let folks learn from mistakes that they or others have made or are predictable.  A big part of trust is the leader understanding and underwriting the risk and demonstrating it by actions, consistently.

Leaders must empower, check, correct, and provide guidance on what the end result is expected to be.  Not tell people how to do it, but what must be done.  Leaders must make the time to really figure out and resource the what.  But most spend too much time on the how, really telling the team they are smarter than the entire team put together.  That is seldom, if ever, true. Yet, getting the what right is what is really important, and how you mitigate risk.  When you provide the end result and how to do it, you take away the ability of those that must execute it to react to the unknown.  The leader responsible for executing must make it his own plan, or he will not be able to react to the changing situation on the ground.  He’s got to understand the assumptions put into the how, to make it work, they must be his. 

That said, everybody needs to look up and ensure they understand the guidance of the next level above them, truly understand the intent.  It can’t be a finger drill.  It’s something that needs to be discussed and read back to ensure it is crystal clear. 

RLTW!

mike