Your Big Ideas…

For leaders, thinking about things at the 30,000 foot level is a necessity. It matters for these leaders and their teams to have an unreasonable vision and to set audacious goals. Their big ideas are just that, big ideas that need space to come to life.

Every great company and team has had someone at the helm thinking in this way.

But while It matters to think about the work you’re doing in the grandest terms, it also matters immensely that you do the little things well. Things like providing direction to your people, honoring their time, providing them with meaningful feedback, and expressing gratitude for the 33% of their adult lives they spend working for you. 

A while back, I was shadowing a leader. As we walked out of his office, he noticed a person in the waiting room with a scheduled meeting with him. He said, “Hey, I need to reschedule. I’ll send you a note about a new time.”

Then he walked out.

This seems harmless enough, right?

But when I coached him, I asked, “Where was the apology? This person just left their office to meet with you, and without any notice or rationale, you told them the meeting was off.”

Also, that person could have been working on something else during that time, or meeting with another member of the team, or eating their lunch. Did the leader know he’d just wasted that person’s time? Did he care?

I asked the leader why he didn’t scour his calendar that morning, proactively rescheduling the meeting as a result? That same action, three hours earlier, could’ve made a big difference for that person.

Finally, when was he going to send the note about new times? By the end of the day? The end of the week? Did the leader know that the other person, likely a bit nervous to meet with the boss, might be checking their email repeatedly to make sure the makeup meeting gets scheduled asap?

It matters to think big. It does. It also matters to be focused on the day-to-day, personal interactions with your people. As the old expression goes, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Your big ideas can’t come to fruition if you don’t have anyone to follow you.