Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday!

Perspective is an honor and an expectation of leadership. You receive a certain amount of data and information from your core areas of concern like financial, legal, information technology, human resources, sales, marketing and communications and, of course, operations.
In addition to what you know of your organization, you work hard to gain access to valid external information like the political and economic environment, industry trends, and client feedback.
Finally, you must decide which information will demand your attention, which to monitor and what you can (or should) ignore. Now you’ve assembled your perspective.

The internally generated information should be readily available-I would argue to the entire company (i.e. open book) , easy to understand and have some range of acceptable operating parameter that ties to the business philosophy of the organization. One of the many dangers here is the “loudest voice in the room” where an issue in an area may be important but not critical yet the manager of that particular area has succumb to the tyranny of the urgent and will contend it is actionable and immediate in nature.

Today we have an abundance of external information readily available for little or no cost beyond the time it takes to consume and digest it. What and who to listen to as well as what information you can trust is becoming the new focus; facts versus opinions, old data, new data, market research or trusted advisor.
All leaders need to elevate their thinking, the way they process data and information to reach assessments that guide an organization forward. If we allow ourselves to be pulled into the muck, who’s steering the ship? Who is there to pull others out of the muck?
Do we tend to feel, as leaders, we must get our hands dirty to demonstrate our relevance?
Let’s not mistake our prerogative to dig into an issue as an excuse to soil our hands and prove our worth in a tangible and widely recognizable manner. If so, you are depriving someone else in the organization the opportunity to earn their own wings.

A leader immediately gets issued a megaphone and a spotlight that follows them around. Each word measured, each facial expression questioned whether it is consistent with the words spoken and the barrage of questioning why something was decided upon, specifically if it creates negative impacts, even though the data and information used by the leader to make decisions is often not obvious.  There is a delicate balance between some necessary short term wins to pacify the masses and making the harder, long term investment type decisions that sustain the company for the long term.

What you do with information is what differentiates a great leader from an average one…and everyone will have an opinion about the conclusions you’ve reached and the actions taken. The sad irony that follows leadership in this immediate gratification world we live in is that you may not be present to witness the resultant of all the critical decisions made.

Have a blessed weekend!