Leadership: Diagnose the Situation

When I received the letter that I had been accepted into the inaugural "open enrollment" training class offered by the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC), I was thrilled. Founded in 2007, the KLC had been funded through an initial 10-year, $30 million investment from the Kansas Health Foundation with aspirations to create and deliver specific initiatives that strengthen and expand the state's civic leadership- across generations, political aisles, geographic expanse, and other divides. 

I was excited for several reasons. First, I knew it would be good. The staff at KLC is innovative in their thinking and experienced at the task of implementation. Second, I knew the people invited to attend would be the same and I looked forward to engaging with them. It was a given that KLC was investing in both which meant this would be a tremendous opportunity.

I thought it was a misprint at first but quickly realized it wasn't: Kansas Civic Leadership - Context and Competencies started on a Sunday night and ended Friday at noon in a sequestered environment! They wanted a week of my time! But hold on, there's more. They also had a reading and writing assignment for all of us. It became clear to me from the onset that this was going to be more than just listening to faculty teach leadership concepts and practices so that we could take them back to our respective places of work. This was going to be different. There would be many life and leadership lessons learned that I'd like to share over the next couple of newsletters. These lessons provide an opportunity to impact how we handle issues, problems, and opportunities that impact not just our community or organization but our personal lives as well.

Have you ever heard the phrase, "He or she is a problem solver!" Have you ever been the person that is considered a problem solver? In fact, that's what most people who are considered leaders spend a great deal of their time doing. They quickly assess a situation and make decisions about "what to do." They provide technical fixes that are "one-offs" that may help that particular problem at that particular time. But they don't address any underlying issues that have the potential to create real change--change that can be sustainable over the long haul. They may work for the short term but they aren't sustainable. These are technical solutions characterized by the following:

 --They provide a short term solution that relieves the pressure of the current situation

 --They require no personal change by any participants

 --Status quo is maintained

So what's wrong with operating this way? It's simple; we haven't addressed the real issue. We've haven't spent enough time diagnosing the situation to figure out what really needs to change. The entrepreneur thinks a little more cash will solve his or her cash flow issue. The community thinks one more federal grant will fix the downtown area. The Director of a non profit (guilty as charged) thinks the next initiative will be the one that really makes the difference. The legislator thinks the next session will get the state moving in the right direction. And on and on and on we go - passionate people who would rather "do something even if it's wrong." We can't wait to solve the problem when the problem may be us!

So this is why we spent an entire day on the exercise of Diagnosing the Situation. Too often those of us in leadership positions default to technical solutions for issues that require significant changes in people, organizations, and communities. That's the hard work of exercising leadership: staying in the diagnostic phase much longer than is comfortable and fighting the urge to jump to solutions that may be short-lived. The long term sustainable solution demands it. 

Lesson one clearly taught me that we so often rush to get out of the phase of diagnosing the situation. This is clearly a difficult conclusion for most of us to swallow. We want quick technical solutions so we can quickly move to action. And even more importantly, we've been providing those technical solutions our whole lives! But unless we spend enough time in the diagnosis phase, our solutions may be short lived and costly. That's why entrepreneurs need business plans. That's why communities must think beyond the immediate needs. That's why directors of non-profits should sometimes say "no" to new initiatives. That's why legislators should think beyond their own agendas. It's a tougher road, but has the opportunity to provide a better future. So next time you're asked to solve a problem or fix something; don't say a word for at least a couple of minutes and ask yourself the question: "What is the real situation here?"