Leaders are busy. There are always more things to do than hours in the day: planning, budgeting, coaching, tracking KPIs, creating sales calendars, and the list goes on.
And then all the fires ruin the most well-planned day. No matter how organized a leader is, somehow, every day has multiple issues that must be addressed immediately. Oh well, that’s the job, right? It doesn’t have to be.
You can change your leadership style by transforming yourself into a Proactive Leader and your team into Proactive employees.
Reactive Management
Managers who are reactive respond to problems as they arise. They are constantly behind, trying desperately to avoid issues (and their calendars). Many give up even planning out their day because every moment is spent reacting to various crises. It’s a frustrating way to live and leads to manager burnout and disengagement.
And if your team is reactive as well, your calendar and peace of mind have no chance.
Pause and think momentarily: How often do coworkers come running with an emergency of “drop everything and do it now?"
How often do they use the phrase “I just didn’t see that coming” when describing today’s crisis? How much of your day is spent reacting to someone else’s unforeseen issues?
Proactive Leadership
Proactive leaders pause and think about what issues, what problems, and what crises might come up and take steps to prevent those problems from happening. Sounds easy, right? It’s not. But it can become a reflex. Let’s think of how.
Reflect on the last few crises that have ruined your day and start looking for patterns. If you go from crisis mode to problem-solving mode, you will start seeing predictable patterns for which you can start planning. Here are a few:
- The AE drops the ball on clients, leading to irate phone calls and threats to pull business.
- The AE who uses the phrase “I didn’t see that coming” regularly when appointments or closes go sideways.
- The AE who ALWAYS drops the same problem in their leader’s lap and says it’s your problem now.
- The manager isn’t tracking KPIs and goals and is surprised when the team doesn’t meet the goal.
Once you start seeing where your crises lie, you can start planning for them. A checklist for the disorganized AE, brainstorming possible objections and obstacles for the AE who can’t read their clients, a problem-solving checklist for the AE who can’t solve routine problems, picking important KPIs, and monitoring progress for the manager who doesn’t hold their team accountable.
At the end of each day, week, month, and quarter, reflect on common issues you can prepare for and may keep from becoming time-consuming problems.
Empower Your Team to Be Proactive Problem Solvers
Encourage your team to become proactive as well.
- Your strong Problem Solvers can anticipate, prepare for, and overcome problems before they happen.
- Strong Discipline people can form a roadmap to deal with possible obstacles.
- Strong Learners can research and see patterns.
You get the idea. Helping your team to use their talents to become proactive sellers makes them more efficient, their clients happier, and your job easier.
People are complicated, and life is messy, so unforeseen challenges are inevitable. Stack the deck in your favor by controlling the controllables, planning for the recurrent issues, and empowering yourself and your team to be proactive in taking control of your day.
*Editor's Note: This blog has been updated since its original post date.
