It’s too easy to lose sight of these basic foundations of leadership. Especially in situations where the leader shares in operational duties, the sacred duties can take a backseat. Somehow.
As a leader of a team (assuming the team setup is working) there are two activities that should likely take up 80% of my time.
Direct
Everybody should know where we’re going, and why. Anyone who is tasked with directing work should be especially diligent in this endeavour, and in communicating it often, early, and far more frequently than seems natural.
Direction spans from context about the company vision, across strategic and tactical objectives, and translating and mapping those things to operational activities.
With the proper direction, the team will work out the operational specifics, given the equipment.
Equip
Once direction is established, fling yourself at equipping the team.
For digging a ditch, you need a shovel. For making a Facebook funnel, you need training in interfaces, communication, psychology, sales, marketing, and more. But more importantly, you need a mentor who is constantly pushing you to improve, in the context of your work.
Lead as a teacher, and give your team everything you have.
Lead as a student, and your team becomes the teacher.
Lead as an equal, and facilitate sparring sessions for mutual growth.
That’s it. Direct and Equip. The rest is triage.