What Do Leaders DO All Day Long?

A co-worker told the story of his 8 year old son who was presented with an opportunity to meet with the plant manager. When the plant manager asked the son, who was swirling madly in the conference room chair, what he thought a plant manager did, the reply was direct and disconcerting: “My Dad says you are the person that they pay a lot of money to for sitting around in this fancy office.”

We all had a good laugh and my co-worker had a bit of explaining to do… but many of us ask the same questions. What do leaders do all day long? How do they spend their day? What are they accountable for?

Leadership is like most other great endeavors. Done well, it appears easy, as if it was no big deal. It seems as if almost anyone can do it. Done poorly, we wring our hands. How can they botch “it” up so badly? Why can’t they see what needs to be done? What in the world are they thinking?

Leadership is much studied, discussed, written about and agonized over. The ills of the nation, the state, the business, the team, the group, get blamed on the leader. When in poor straights, we hope that a great leader arises – one that pulls us out of our current funk and into a better place.

And I don’t disagree that great leaders can create great organizations and that poor leaders can wreck them. So that implies that they must actually do something… and it is something that we need. In its simplest form, leaders help a group get to a better place. But that raises the question of “how” and still does not define “what” they do.

Better people than I have tried, but here is my simple list of what leaders do:

They clearly see the possibility in what this team, group or organization can be. And they help others see it too, and inspire them to do the hard work required to achieve the possibility.
They develop a deeper view of the interconnected organization. They see what is happening inside and outside. They make connections between the two and enable their organization to navigate in the outside world by their actions in the inside world.
They deeply hold and model a set of values that serve the organization well.
They connect people in the organization to the vision, the values, their part in achieving something of value, and to each other.
They manage the connections, so that the work of the organization flows smoothly. They are like the symphony conductor, who must enable many different musicians playing many different instruments into a coordinated whole.
They provide direction and chart the way.
They allocate resources – and ensure that the resources that are available are allocated appropriately.
They are always working to make the organization better – a better place to work, a better experience or product for customers, a place that gets better and better over time (profit, wins, outcomes).
They insist on performance, measure progress, and demand accountability. They know where the organization stands – and insure that folks inside the organization know where they stand.
They build and grow: people, products and services, impact and reach, profit and results.
They make hard decisions and take tough actions that are in the best long-term interest of the organization.
They have one foot solidly planted in the hard reality of today and the other in the possibility of the future – and they help those in the organization make the transition from present to possible.