“My success — and that of my people — depends largely on being the master of obvious and mundane things, not on magical, obscure, or breakthrough ideas or methods.”
Robert Sutton’s second belief about good bosses reminds us that while it is important for leaders to create vision for the organization, the more important work deals with leading people through the tangible steps to achieve that vision.
Consider commanders you’ve seen that set out “Command Philosophies” containing lofty goals and the challenge to reach ill-defined levels of “x” capability. These documents may chart a path but they’re not what the junior leader will rely on when he’s trying to do his part to reach those goals.
Our military typically operates in a complex environment during combat and a muddled, overtasked environment in garrison. It is the leader’s job to sort through the muck to clearly define the steps/systems the team must perform to reach his goal. Task – Purpose – Endstate. Teams need this clarity to perform well.
Incidentally, consider that our system affords certain perks and comforts to commanders (his own vehicle, good accommodations, etc) because it expects them to get their head out of the weeds and identify the “obvious” when the team is rowing too hard to see what’s ahead.
