We lead with authenticity when we’re honest about the uncertain parts. We’re effective when we’re able to carry the plot anyway.
In senior leadership roles we have a responsibility to communicate the company’s vision both internally to our teams and externally to customers and candidates. What’s required is more than a passive sharing of predefined material. Whether it’s for our team or directed externally, this communication relies on our ability to translate and synthesize. It’s story telling and our job is to carry the plot.
Even when you aren’t directly involved in setting the vision and direction at a company level, transmitting the vision is a fundamentally creative act. You’re telling a story about the future. Your job is to describe the world that could be.
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
We aim to inspire with the story we tell. The goal is to bring a team together under a larger common purpose and help them achieve something bigger than they thought possible. A good story helps the team navigate around obstacles and wade through ambiguity. When we’re successful at transmitting the vision, our team has a shared understanding of where we are today, where we’re going, why that matters, and a sense of how we’re going to get there.
A vision story has to be out in front of what’s certain in order to be useful. By definition these stories require us to accept assumptions, suspend disbelief, and have some faith. The story carries us beyond what we know today acting as a bridge over uncertainty. Whether that bridge feels solid or shaky depends on our level of belief in the story. When your belief dips, a gap widens between what you think will be true and the story you’re telling; the bridge creaks and wobbles. Effective leaders help maintain a stable bridge. They are calm and collected amid the chaotic churn and able to point the way to calmer waters.
But the uncertainty affects us all. When things are going well, your belief is increased. When things get tough it can deplete your confidence and lower your level of belief. How do you keep the plot through the valleys and dampen the impact of your own belief-meter? I’ve applied the following three tactics to help me strengthen the bridge.
Weather the storm. Apply your patience, experience, and self awareness. Acknowledge the facts of the situation, the reality of the day, and your place in it. Remind yourself of your role. Make peace with your doubts. Leading in an authentic way means acknowledging the difficulties and, perhaps in some cases, sharing some of your doubt, but maintaining a grasp on the vision. Find comfort in the work. Focus on the next milestone and enjoy the ride.
Explore your belief. Put a number on your belief to make your scale concrete. If you’re currently at, say, a 40% belief level (whatever that means for you), ask yourself why you didn’t put your level at 20%. Shift your mind into describing and defending the parts of the bridge that are solid for you. Describe what it would take to increase your confidence. What parts of that are under your control? Can you act on something that will result in an increase in confidence?
Borrow belief from others. With luck, when you’re low you will have a boss or peer that is succeeding at weathering the storm. Have them repeat the story to you. Share some of your doubts and ask for help (approach this with care not to dump and spread a negative mindset). Sometimes you can even borrow belief from elsewhere in the organization, for example, having a chat with that engineer with an infectious enthusiasm and attitude.
These tactics won’t always work. Sometimes you can’t keep the plot. When the accumulating evidence keeps diminishing your faith instead of reenforcing it, watch out for your level of belief dropping too low. What’s too low? For me, I’ve noticed two signals. First, when I’m sharing the story I become aware of an emptiness and observe spots that feel hollow. The second signal is that instead of repeating the story to bring others in, I’m repeating it to recharge my belief. This is like a politician practicing the alchemy of repeating a lie until it becomes “the truth”. It doesn’t feel good. In his post Deciding to leave your (executive) job, Will Larsen explores how to know when it’s time to leave. He writes,
“Can you authentically close candidates to join your team?”
If it starts to feel dishonest to switch into selling mode, that’s a sign that you’re losing your ability to effectively perform your role
It can be painful and scary to stop and find a different story to tell somewhere else, but taking such a step demonstrates a broader kind of responsibility. You’re protecting your authenticity and effectiveness and making space for someone else who will have a different take on the story based on their perspective and experience.
Thanks for joining me on this exploration of story telling and leadership. I’m curious what discussions might follow.