Minding the Gap - #1

Those who have ridden the Tube in London, UK are familiar with the sights and sounds of “Mind the Gap”.

As the train approaches a station, a gentle female voice in the train and on the platform calls you to mind the gap between where you are and where you want to disembark/embark. It’s a fitting leadership metaphor. The Nomadic Leader must mind multiple gaps encountered on the leadership sojourn.

We of course would value getting announcements about the gaps that challenge our organizations and leadership. That's not our reality. Whatever does get our attention rarely comes in reasonable time for us to act propitiously and expeditiously. The “Mind the Gap” announcements often come in forms such as: crisis, a bad quarterly report, reduced donations, missed benchmarks or employee departures.

Could it be different? Could we better ‘read’ the signs to get more advance notice? Not always. There are some events that occur out of our control we just have to adjust to. However some gaps could be ‘minded’ much earlier by implementing 2 habits of a Nomadic Leader. Both involve some ‘wandering’:

1. Conduct a regular ‘Walkabout’. The term originally refers to a rite of passage during which male Australian Aborigines would undergo a journey during adolescence and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months. It was a spiritual and ‘coming of age’ event. The basic and more ‘global’ concept is to leave what you are doing for while to see & experience something else outside your everyday context.

Effective Nomadic Leaders will ‘walkabout’ the work locations of their people and use these questions to take an inventory through their eyes. In other words, don’t ask, just observe:

o What is the spirit like here?

o Do people enjoy their work and each other?

o What kind of cooperation do I see?

o How can I tell they are aligned with our purpose?

o To what extent is this an innovative place that will inspire and advance our organization?

o What kind of team is here? (and will it get us where we need to go?)

o __add your questions____________

Further walkabout targets are the locations where your product or service is delivered. I once worked in a global organization where a financial controller had never seen the international context & constraints of those over whom he instituted financial policy & procedure. It created gaps of understanding and inappropriate processes. Once you SEE, your leadership has a more accurate map to work from.

2. Ask Ask Ask . The greatest danger for any leader is assuming you know what you know. “The greatest barrier to discovery is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge” (Daniel Boorstin from his book, The Discoverers). Accurate information comes from asking questions. Whether via surveys or face to face, continually update your knowledge about the context of your employees, clients, suppliers and team.

Try on a Curious George perspective!

Dissatisfaction with the status quo is the beginning of all innovation. These practices to Mind the Gap are simple starting steps that help you move toward filling that gap between what is and what could be.

Next blog – Minding the Polarity Gap