His second point I like for the way it illustrates the benefits of not only being clear on who we are and our strengths, but the positive value of us owning it. Giving ourselves the freedom to move into personal mastery and giving space to others to be experts in theirs.
You've heard me speak before about the Aquarius influence at play, and us recognizing and owning our individuality and gifts and seeing how they then play out to better the whole. His second point provides a nice example.
"2. Creative collaboration isn’t the same as people management
Another helpful distinction for me was to realize that there are two sides to my relationship with the people on my team: a creatively collaborative side – all about ideas, insights, experiments, and imaginative breakthroughs – and a people management side, which is about evaluating performance, measuring progress toward goals, and navigating conflicts.
I had assumed that as the CEO, I was supposed to have all the hard conversations. That’s what a leader does, isn’t it? The problem is, I’m not good at having hard conversations, nor any of the other responsibilities involved in management. They leave me incredibly drained even when they go well. Basically, I was running around the business doing all the stuff I’m not good at, leaving no time for the areas where I excel! Not exactly the formula for a thriving business.
I had assumed that I had to master both the creative collaboration aspect and the people management aspect, but a friend disabused me of that notion. Why spend years trying to master something I have no natural affinity for, while the business suffers and flounders in the meantime?
I could instead separate these two aspects, giving all the people management duties to our new COO, Monica Rysavy. We’d already been moving in this direction for some time, but on my first day back, I made it official: she would run the business day to day, leaving me free to explore new creative frontiers, which is not only what makes me happy, but is also best for the business.
We moved all my direct reports to her, which frees me up to have a purely creative and collaborative relationship with each person on the team. Rather than holding back my feedback for fear of damaging the creative flow of ideas, I can step fully into my role as the thought leader and visionary creator that I fulfill best."
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