Wouldn’t it be great to just hire a bunch of subject-matter experts and let them focus on what they know how to do best? And yet, that’s not how great organizations are structured.
In other words, what is the job of a leader? Why are they so necessary to the success of any team?
I believe it’s because understanding how to move the needle and streamlining the agenda vs. letting team members aimlessly tick off tasks from the to-do list is a skill.
A leader who understands how to prioritize, how to align, and how to push individuals to do their best work in a way that pushes the entire firm forward is the difference between an efficient team and one whose talents are underutilized.
Just because someone is an expert in their field doesn’t mean they know how to do their job in the best interest of your firm.
That’s where a leader comes in. They take resources from lower levels of output and move them to higher levels.
They ensure that the teams don’t just do the work, but do it in the most efficient way possible.
Priorities change, deadlines get adjusted, the market requires modifications. A leader is there to ensure that the team’s work shifts and realigns with any circumstances so that the company keeps winning.
That’s what I do every day at Crisp.
Here’s an example. Each week, I meet with my marketing team to discuss what our goals are in that specific week, that month, and that quarter. Sometimes, those goals change week to week. Other times, they remain unchanged for months. But we meet anyway, reiterating the “plan” and ensuring that each individual team member is still aligned with it.
Every member of the team has an individual list of KPIs they are accountable for. At the end of each day, they submit their top three results of the day — usually a quantitative variable attached to a metric of some sort — as well as clarify their top goals for the next day. We realign on that list every single week.
This not only ensures everyone is always clear on what they need to do, never scrambling for work in the morning, but that they’re aligned with broader goals of the organization. Leadership reviews the submissions every single day and, if need be, sits down with the team member to refocus.
As a leader, you’re performing at your best if everyone around you is pushed to perform at their best, and even better. If you’re helping raise their level and performance while ensuring they align with the firm’s longer-term priorities, you’re succeeding.
Doing tasks isn’t the same as working to push the firm forward, and a team without a good leader is a team where lots of things get done, but nothing gets accomplished.
