Great Leadership is Not Heroic - It is Maintenance

Compared to the performing arts or athletics, the business world feels unsatisfying. Instead of standing ovations or exploding scoreboards, businesspeople confront a daily grind to keep the lights on another day. The size and scale of most business operations also make many professionals feel small and insignificant. It's hard to get excited about a dividend increase or a new ERP system when your role in that change is nonexistent. As a leader, project manager, or Scrum Master, you have a duty to help others focus on business goals and address them professionally.  

Philosopher Kathryn J. Norlock describes human experience as something that requires constant maintenance. Each day we make our beds, clean our homes, and show up for our families. It is not a heroic struggle, but being alive demands this maintenance. The business world works the same way: customers are not served, and invoices go unpaid without others doing the unglamorous work. This is why philosopher Will Durant says excellence in anything is a habit we cultivate. As business leaders, we must support that cultivation.

Cultivating those habits isn't complicated, but it requires deliberate practice. Each day, focus the team's attention on a specific goal, like answering calls faster or ensuring code is documented in unit tests. Celebrate small wins and big ones. Finally, make sure the team receives credit for the work. You might be the person the executives notice, but the messy humans who make up the team are the ones getting the work done.

Leadership is isolating and difficult, but if you can get a team pulling together, it feels like winning the World Series.

Until next time.