Getting out of a trap

In your efforts to become a leader in the work that you do, a recent post by Seth Godin, Trapped by the incoming, Seth describes why you have so much work coming your way.

The incoming is coming to you because a while ago, you did something brave and generous and risky.Seth Godin

Leadership should result in more work. As people recognise your leadership abilities the work will also include different forms of work such as mentoring, consulting, advising, which are all part of being recognised as a leader. These new component parts of your workload are great, until it overwhelms you, damages you or even breaks you. The volume of work and its impact is multiplied in a team producing great work.But, if you don't lift your gaze above the work to hand, above the horizon, to focus on what's next, you will ultimately lose your edge. I’ve told my team leaders often enough that next year I don't want them as they are now - that would be a problem. I need them to grow, to be better, and to be better at delivering the benefit of their experience. I need them to be demonstrating their own leadership of their specialism.

If you spend all your time dealing with the incoming, though, you’ll have no time and no energy to create the next thing. Every successful organization that has ultimately faded away via irrelevance has failed for this very reason.Seth Godin

It's important to invest in your team in terms of training, exposure to new things, and experiences that will challenge them and help them to grow. Trapped by the incoming | Seth's Blog I’m also currently reading This is Marketing by Seth and it's prompting lots of ideas and new approaches.