One of the main themes in leadership is knowing what resources you have at your disposal, and how to make them work toward your goals. Often, though, the monotony of working day after day in a static environment can blind you to the strengths – and weaknesses – of your team. Just as you must keep your decision making uninfluenced by personal relationships – an obvious principle but one that bears repeating – you should keep a watchful eye on the elements under your leadership and how they work together.
Not taking time to “back off” and see where the friction spots are may not keep your organization from developing, but it will certainly lead to disillusionment in the stronger performers you have. These are the people you will need on deck in the near future, as I think building the loyalty of strong, capable, talented people may be more important at this moment than at any other time in the past 50 years. It's the approach of the cinematographer I've talked about here before: If you're responsible for the picture, you have to know that each element in your scene contributes to some overall emotional, cerebral, and qualitative impact.
I believe that nationally and perhaps even globally we are at teetering on the cusp of a large financial hole, and how deep it goes is anybody's guess right now. As more companies begin to collapse in the next few months, there will doubtlessly be a lot of frantic evaluation of employees. Who do you want to keep on your team, and who should have been gone a year or two ago? Now is the time to start looking at what you have – and don't ignore the reality of what you see.
