Sometimes we are doing all the right things, but things are just not clicking. Leaders bump into this situation: the proverbial brick wall. What can you do as a leader when you are bumping into that wall?
Stephen Covey, author of the best seller “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” said that it’s not only the leader’s job to lead people through the forest, but also to recognize when you are in the wrong forest.
That sets the stage for the two simple actions that someone once told me to take that leverage Covey’s advice. He said:
- Find a crowd
- Get out in front of it
As with many things, it’s easy to say, but much harder to do. But at the same time, it does set some direction. Let’s take a deeper look.
Find a Crowd
It could be that you are operating in too small of a niche. You may need to redefine your niche to be the right scale to find a bigger crowd. This will undoubtedly involve some research, some investigating and maybe some targeted trial and error. You need to find a crowd and know that it’s a crowd with some problems that you might be able to solve.
Get Out in Front of It
This part is all about solving the problems and coming up with unique, fresh, workable solutions. This, too, requires a great deal of work again researching, investigating and trying solutions (failing fast) until you find something that works.
First, it is about identifying a platform that has commonalities, needs solutions, has certain characteristics, has rallying points and has emotions that holds it together.
Then, it is about understanding the needs of that crowd well, identifying and creating a solution to get out in front and lead the way.
Are you working hard, trying to lead but being ineffective? Maybe you are playing in the wrong forest. Perhaps you need to find a new crowd and get out in front of it.
This post is part of the series: Countdown to Leadership
This is a series covers four unique styles that effective leaders employ, three essentials that you must absolutely have and do to be effective as a leader, two simple things that you can do to put yourself into a position of leadership and one thing that all of the best leaders have in common.
