In our modern age of incredible electronic devices, one secret to keep them functioning well is mastering the less glamorous skill of cable management. Large corporate server farms can manage vast stores of data, but only because the storage “fabric,” a complex design of data cables, provides high-speed connections. Musicians play exotic guitars through stacks of advanced amplifiers, but their riffs sound muddy without high quality audio cables to connect them. Your new big-screen TV is useless if the cables in that rat’s nest behind the screen are not connected properly.
Similar issues challenge us when we lead teams. Our brilliant visions stall and our meticulously-managed morale sinks like a stone when the team’s interconnections, information feeds, or essential supplies are not in place. Team members start spending time and effort mining back channels and rumor mills to find essential details. Initiative falls off when team members discover their efforts may be wasted because key requirements weren’t passed along to them. Productivity fails and frustration soars when talented specialists spend long hours scraping together their fundamental supplies.
This may seem obvious, but this “cable management” problem is a common risk because the core personality traits of an energetic and charismatic leader are different from the traits of a good supply chain manager. Cable management is exactly the focus on mundane details and the anticipation of what might go wrong that many leaders fight against as they try to energize their teams to “go for the ring.” First Corollary to Rule #8: Don’t measure your followers’ commitment solely by the emotions displayed.
For many leaders, cable management means finding and elevating persons on their team to perform this crucial role. We need these “specialists” to make the whole team run smoothly, just like a Las Vegas illusionist needs skilled workers to create the props that make the illusions work. You may find it hard to relate to these cable managers because of your differences. Have patience with them… or you may be stuck having to do those “cable management” chores yourself. Second Corollary to Rule #8: It takes all kinds!
In the bygone era of large-scale ground wars, good generals knew that battles could not be won without a strong supply chain. Battalions that outran their supplies defeated themselves when they exhausted their food or armaments. Our teams won’t suffer capture or starvation, but our teams will not tolerate leaders that can’t supply the prerequisites to support the plan.