After 2020…
I wonder what “20/20 Hindsight” means now… or 20/20 vision. With that “amazing” year firmly in the rearview mirror, Retrospectives are popping up all over the web. Your most important “this,” how you learned “that,” which strategy was … whatever. Focusing on what you executed during the year past… what worked for us and our teams. Your most important “this,” how you learned “that,” which strategy was … whatever…
Wouldn’t a better way to start a Retrospective be – what did you expect? If you anticipated everything in the last 12 months, please go immediately to Vegas. But seriously – how much of a surprise was it? Remember, the number one job of a leader is to make things predictable… and delegate as much of that execution as you can… because YOUR unique job is to handle the unexpected. And at least for some part of this year, you were probably on overdrive…
… unexpected execution…
… with changes that seemed out of left field at the time. Hiring, layoffs, missed deadlines, bluebird sales…but I suspect many you could have predicted. One of the Retrospectives I ran across talked about what they learned from COVID-19.
- Well-Run Meetings, with notes taken and recorded for members who could not join.
- Regular check-ins weekly with each direct report, not just on tasking, but how they are doing.
- Clear goals and measures that are tracked publicly for all to contribute to.
- Rotating leadership through the team so you get a break, new voices are heard, and they experience what leading is really like.
- Allow people to work when and where they can and not have to show up at a specific time or place.
- Make allowances for the family demands that everyone is also balancing with kids, parents, etc…
…hopefully, you are getting the idea – these are all things that help teams …. ALWAYS. Not JUST in a crisis… but for sustained execution at a high level. Are there additional things that you added to your Management Hygiene this year? In my own Retrospective, it became clear I was not executing on things I knew… my lifelong partner “procrastination.” I had a list of many things on my whiteboard that I never had the “time” for… now even that excuse was removed, and I was faced with just getting it done… or not and living with the consequences, which now were much more dire…
…random plans…
Lenny White is another New York area youth in the right place at the right time. Raised in Queens, his father took him to jazz shows where he caught the bug to play drums. Being left-handed, he learned to play on right-hand kits, developing a very unique sound. His first regular gig at 15 was with jazz saxophonist Jackie Mclean who recommended him to Miles Davis as a new drummer to use on a new jazz-fusion record he was starting – Bitches Brew in 1969 – just as Lenny turned 20.
Miles found some of the best young drummers through the years, and Lenny was no different. He is known now as one of the founding members of the jazz-fusion movements and joined Return To Forever in 1972. He wrote this cut, and the video I have selected shows them live… if you don’t know the piece, here it is from the album… executed note for note the same. I found another clip from 2008, and “accidentally” started the videos at the same time… exactly the same pitch, pace, most of the notes the same. He now teaches Jazz at NYU, and sadly, lately, doesn’t wear his trademark hat…
… to execute together.
… execution in jazz is a lot like leadership. There must be good structure, design, and support for the basics – typically held down and communicated by the drummer who “keeps the beat.” Then, each player takes their turn improvising on what they are hearing now while preserving the execution of the overall song. Each takes a “ride” as they call it in jazz, and then returns to their essential role. When your players are exceptional in their parts, together is even more amazing…
My 2020 hindsight still serves me today: the critical word I set out at the beginning of the year set the theme – Now. Presented with opportunities, and with time, I didn’t wait – like a jazz musician, I stepped into my “ride” and took it. Before March even, with trips that I said: “If not now…”. I have other examples we know now if I hadn’t executed then, particularly in 2020. In your Retrospective, I encourage you to reflect on the basics – the blocking and tackling of execution: your meetings, your talent, your goals, your planning…
Knowing me as you do, I hope you are laughing… but honestly, I ended that year in exactly that role. My job morphed back into something I can do – get a team executing together, moving towards goals, and delivering. Things even they and I didn’t know they could do – spending $2 Million in 60 days upgrading a state University’s infrastructure in 60 days between Nov.1 and Dec 31. But, I knew with the right rhythm, the right cadence, the right support, we could “drum” our way into the New Year successfully. I became the drummer – something I always wanted to be. Exhausted, sure, but with Lenny’s knowing smile that it was a great gig. It always comes down to people, communication, and execution… and not The Sorceress…
