Do you need to back up?

Several years ago a mentor of mine cautioned me – “You’re often way ahead of people in your thinking. You should consider slowing down a little.”

Looking back on his advice, I’ve learned that it’s not only important to slow down, but sometimes we need to back up.

Let’s face it – we struggle with slowing down or backing up because it’s humbling. It sheds light on the fact that maybe we didn’t plan adequately. Maybe we didn’t communicate effectively. Or maybe we didn’t execute appropriately.

And now, we’re suddenly faced with the harsh reality that we moved ahead with a major project without key team members on board.

This past week, I spent time with one of my good friends. I listened for several hours as he spoke ardently about a number of recent successes in his work.

Several times during our conversations, he mentioned that it has been necessary for him to stop occasionally and back up to ensure that the entire team understands the vision and project before moving forward.

He admitted that there were times that he began explaining a new initiative at F when his colleagues needed him to back up and start at A.

The absolute last thing you want to do is press on without your team. Yet we do. And when we do, it’s not going to end well.

Here are 4 practices that will help us move forward together with the entire team.

1. Encourage others to lead

This may seem like it doesn’t fit here. After all, if you or I are leading a project or team, shouldn’t WE be leading?

But, this is important. Remember, the goal of leadership is to develop more leaders not more followers. And if the goal of leadership is to develop more leaders, then your team members should be leading the effort most of the time – not you.

So give people a chance to lead every chance you get. To be most effective in your life and work, make the success of others your top priority.

Yes, there will be times people take advantage of you. But more often, they will place high value on your transparency, authenticity, and servant-leadership.

2. Start at the beginning

You’ve been thinking about and planning the project for weeks – maybe months. But the team hasn’t. So it’s not going to make much sense for you to rush through the presentation of the research and data that brought the project to this point.

The team needs to understand it also. They need a chance to process it, provide feedback, and take ownership.

Then, throughout the execution phase, they need you to regularly refer back to the purpose – the beginning.

You’ve heard begin with the end in mind. We would do well to make it to the end with the beginning in mind also.

Bring as many people as possible along with you – from the beginning.

3. Be clear

With all that’s going on in the marketplace, we are occasionally drawn into attempting to compete with anything and everything that resembles our service or product. This is simply not productive.

To be successful, most initiatives don’t require all the bells and whistles. Pulling out all the stops often introduces too much complexity into the mix. If people can’t understand it, they can’t champion the cause.

Great systems are simple. Great communication is simple. And although most projects don’t require bells and whistles, all require clarity – clear and compelling communication.

You can create WOW experiences without complicating your message.

4. Be patient

Great leaders don’t expect everyone to get excited about their excitement. Why? Because there will be times when your intensity confronts the passivity of others.

Some people will be inspired by your vision. They’ll buy in. They’ll take ownership. They’ll champion the cause and support it all along the way. These are the people that you want to ensure are on board.

Others will be intimidated and mask their discomfort with criticism. I wrote a previous post about 6 things you can learn from critics – you can read about it here. At some point I’m also going to write a post about critics you should ignore – but that’s for another day.

Patience with your core team may be the most important of the 4 disciplines – and the most difficult to live out.

If your team is lagging behind, maybe you need to slow down. Pop it in reverse. Back it up. Go all the way back to the beginning. And start over.

It may feel like it’s going to take forever to get moving again. It may be a little humbling. But, with the right people on the team, it’s worth it!

Question: When you and your team aren’t on the same page, what works for you? Share in the comments.