What does it mean to lead through layers?
I hear this question a lot!
Think of an org chart--the visual that helps communicate in a company who reports to who, and how teams are organized and work together.
Side note: I cannot sing the praises of an org chart enough--as a tool they are so helpful in making sure everyone is clear on this information: worth the paper they are printed on simply for the time it saves people needing to ask and explain this over and over--not to mention incredibly helpful in getting new hires caught up and in communicating complicated information easily.
A very unfancy drawing of what this looks like.
Even in a relatively small organization, there's someone at the top--who typically reports to a board of directors. That’s the pink smiley face in the picture above.
That person has some people who report to them--their direct reports. Those are the blue smiley faces in the picture above.
Those direct reports have people that report to them. Those are the green smiley faces in the picture above.
It looks simple enough–but like many things involving humans, this can be more complicated than it looks.
Chances are very high that the pink smiley face is accountable and responsible for the result that the green smiley faces work on.
In a school, this can look like a Principal (the pink smiley face) who is responsible for student achievement that teachers (the green smiley faces) are the main drivers of. The blue smiley faces are the instructional leaders (like the Assistant Principal, Dean, instructional coach, etc.) who coach and/or manage them.
In a nonprofit, it may look like an Executive Director (the pink smiley face) who has a development team, with someone responsible for major gifts, another person for events, etc. Those are the green smiley faces and they are managed by the Development Director, the blue smiley face.
So what does the principal do when student achievement is falling short of goals?
What does the Executive Director do when the nonprofit is not on track to meet their fundraising goals?
I work with leaders all the time–1 on 1, in groups, facilitating professional development–who are agonizing over these scenarios right now.
They don’t want to undermine their middle management layer–and at the same time, something needs to be done differently.
A lot of the tools, templates, trainings and work I do with clients focuses around the ecosystem of skills that help with these situations–setting, maintaining and reinforcing expectations–having difficult conversations–structuring their team’s role and responsibilities to work as well as Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, getting on where they are (and are not) involved in decisions, projects or workstreams…to just a few.
I hope this helped–I am eager to hear your thoughts.