The Leader is the Navigator

In my reading of Becoming a Person of Influence this week, author John C. Maxwell asserts how leaders are supposed to mentor the teammates for whom they are responsible. Maxwell refers to the leader as ‘the navigator.’ The overarching theme is that leaders have perspective; they have experienced things before; they have honed their problem-solving skills; they have a way of looking at situations and not immediately overreacting. The truth in this theme makes me think about the superiority of the leader who is proactive over the leader who is reactive. As a strong leader, you want to be proactive – you want to get out in front of problems before they get too big or before they become urgent emergencies. The reactive leader is great at problem-solving but every problem ends up being an emergency or a big, time-sensitive problem because they didn’t give it any attention previously. As a leader, you are providing such a gift to your people when you teach them how to think out into the future so they can be proactive and handle issues – or, as the navigator, course-correct– before they get too far off the actual course.

Plan and Course-Correct

Part of practicing proactiveness is understanding the saying, “Set your goals in concrete, but write your plans in sand.” Even Mike Tyson said, “Everybody has a plan until you get punched in the face.” As a military officer, we always set out with a plan – until the first shot was fired. And then after that first shot was fired, we would react to contact and rely on our training to close width and destroy the enemy. And it’s not all that different in the business world. You certainly always start with a vision and an expectation of your desired outcome. But you also better be paying attention to where you are going and what information you are receiving along the way. Then, you must remain very willing to course-correct by relying on your model for decision-making, your model for idea-creation, and your model for revising your actions so you can stay proactive and on-course, no matter what the world around you or the competitive landscape may throw at you. When you stay proactive and make necessary little adjustments along the way, no big problems arise. Nothing becomes an urgent emergency that can detour you from your most-productive course of action.

Stay Present

Personally, my leadership style is the absolute opposite of micromanagement. I don’t even know how to micromanage, so I don’t hire people to work for me who need to be micromanaged to stay productive. As such, I am constantly needing to remind myself to not be the leader who gives advice or a couple of ideas and then back away completely. It is important to stay with your teammate(s) through the times of intensity or change. Continue to ask them if they need more of your involvement. Make them feel supported. Make them feel like you are right there, “spotting” them – you aren’t going to let them crash and burn on their own. This will foster their ability to act and make decisions with confidence.

It is also so important to be willing to put your ‘player hat’ on from time to time. Of course, you want to keep your ‘leader hat’ on so you can continue to leverage your time appropriately and focus your attention and efforts on the bigger opportunities. But every once in a while, it makes sense for you to put your player hat on and get engaged with your teammates at a lower level. This not only ensures the company is doing the right things and moving in the right direction, but also demonstrates to your team how things are done correctly. In doing this, you are accomplishing multiple things: you are training your team, you are keeping the business moving in the right direction, but you are also just instilling a lot of confidence in your individual people – assuring them you will always be there to help grow them, to help steer them in the right direction, and to help them improve over time.

As a leader, be the navigator of your ship. Train your team to not just react to today’s most urgent issues. Teach your team how to think and see the landscape of the course out into the future.

God Bless!

~ Schuyler Williamson

Written by Schuyler Williamson

REALTOR. Leader. Veteran. Business Owner. Investor.

Weekly Email List: https://www.schuylerwilliamson.com/weekly-leader-note

God Bless!

~ Schuyler Williamson