“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.“
-General Colin Powell
Teams exist to do what individuals cannot. Leaders exist to maximize team performance. Here is an acronym I use daily to remind myself what my job is as a leader - C.A.R.E.
Clarity
Central to the execution of anything is clarity. Why are we here? (Mission) What are we going to do? (Strategy) How are we going to behave? (Culture) What does success look like? (Vision). A powerful purpose brings people together. You must help them see where we are going so they can help get us there—clarity of vision.
Alignment
Does everyone know the path? Are we all walking in the same direction? Have we agreed on the path? Lead them down the path and show them it is possible.
Are we keeping our eyes up for opportunities and obstacles? Stay focused. We are making progress. Or, in some cases, “We took a wrong turn. We have to double back.” Or, “Who needs a flashlight? That is a tree up there, not a monster. Keep going.” Or “Whoa, come back, Kelly, you’re chasing shiny butterflies again.”
Resources
Given what we ask them to do, does everyone have what they need? Time and money are the big buckets. Almost anything is possible with enough of both. It was one thing for President Roosevelt to approve the invasion of mainland Europe to defeat the Nazis. It’s another entirely to ensure that General Eisenhower had enough landing craft.
Emotional Connectedness
To People
You have had relationships with people in your life where it just clicked. Being together, communicating, and being yourself isn’t hard. Often that is a partner, a family member, or a mentor. You are open to their ideas, their dreams, and their perspectives. They can influence you, and you can influence them. The relationship works.
When this happens at work, you benefit from being with someone you like (dare I say love) and enjoy being around them. You want to help them win, and they you.
We don’t have to have this deep connection with everyone, but we do need connection. People connected 360 degrees stay longer, are happier, and perform better. It’s a team sport, and we must work to form connections up, down, and sideways. They don’t all have to be deep, but there must be a connection between two humans trying to do their best work with a mutual understanding that we are better together.
To The Mission
We have one genuinely non-renewable resource, time. No matter what we do, we won’t get more of it. We all would prefer spending what time we have done something that matters.
This is especially true at work, where we spend a lot of time. After we satisfy the necessities of life, we would prefer that our work be attributed to something bigger than ourselves. That it has meaning and is helpful to those around us, our community, and maybe the world.
When we connect to a mission, we feel it in our belly. That fire gets us out of bed each morning with a relentless commitment to excellence. We will do what’s hard and right because the mission matters. Leaders who can make this connection between the work that happens each day to a larger mission will find teams that not only perform better but will sacrifice to accomplish the mission and usually do more than anyone expected. Because it’s bigger than them, and it matters to the world.
I use this acronym to remind myself what to do daily as a leader. It’s particularly helpful when things don’t go well. Usually, when things aren’t going well, I have gotten one of these wrong: Clarity, Alignment, Resources, & Emotional Connectedness.
The good news is even when I get these wrong, almost everything is temporary. I just have to get up in the morning and work to make it better today than yesterday.
Take care,
.
C.A.R.E