Delving Into DEI

Hello Doctor E. Here. Hope you are doing well. Happy Wednesday, happy middle of the week, happy hump day. However, you reference being midstream trying to make it to Friday and the weekend, it is a lovely day here in the Twin Cities. I think we are right at about 79 or 80 degrees and sunny, so hopefully I will be able to get out and enjoy that at some point. And hopefully you are enjoying your day as well. Wanted to talk to you today just a little bit about leading from the rear. What do I mean by leading from the rear?

Well, typically most of us as leaders think that we have to be out front or be domineering or dominant in terms of our presence, in terms of how we practice and our visibility and all of those other kinds of things. I want to encourage you to think about leading from the rear. And what does that mean? That could mean empowering others to be leaders in and of themselves in various roles. That could mean allowing others to grow, learn and develop. That could mean, you know, taking a step back and listening all of those kinds of things where you aren't the focal point as the leader.

What I try to convey to most people in leadership positions is you don't have to wear the leadership title or tag on your sleeve. People already know you have it. And so the more you're able to invite people in, the more you're able to allow people to learn, grow, develop from you, the more you're able to, you know, learn, grow and develop from them. And I'm going to give you an acronym to kind of think about leading from the rear and how to start to do that and how to approach it. I'm going to, I call it CPR because most of us think about CPR as resuscitation or giving back life or giving life in terms of bringing someone who may be lacking air or oxygen.

So CPR, think about this. In terms of leading from the rear. C stands for cultivate. You know, how are you pouring into other folks as leaders? How are you providing space for folks to develop and learn and grow? How are you cultivating all of the spaces and places that your staff, your folks, your organization, your culture, your climate? How are you cultivating those spaces that allow folks to learn and grow on a daily basis? And I would say, essentially allows yourself to grow and learn from those folks.

So by cultivating, you could. That means you could, I mean, obviously, you could challenge, you could affirm, you could support. Maybe it's an open door policy. Maybe it's cultivating the culture in terms of how you engage how you actually brainstorm or connect or communicate with each other. But keep that cultivation spirit in mind, because as you start to do that, other folks will start to do it for their teams and for their up and coming leaders. And so the more you're able to kind of till that ground, plant those seeds of cultivation, I think the more, the more fruit you'll start to reap.

Right. The p. This is really kind of simple, but I think kind of problematic as well. And that's not what the P is for. The P stands for providing, providing spaces, providing places and opportunities for individuals to grow and mature. And what does that look like? What does that mean? Obviously, I mentioned an open door policy, but how are you putting folks in positions that allow them to be stretched, that allow them to be challenged, that allow them to grow into thinking outside the box and be innovative?

You as a leader, have to provide those opportunities. And so think about how you can do that in your role. It could be formal and it could also be informal. It can be intentional, and it can also be unintentional in terms of how you play it by ear and what pops up, particularly in meetings and conversations. But think about providing opportunities, providing spaces, providing all of those kinds of, I would say, intentional learning, growth and development opportunities. And again, cultivate that and put that into your quiver in terms of your leader leading from the rear.

And then r this is really, really important. Relationships, relationships, relationships. Every leader should be focused on positive, healthy relationships. Relationships, whether it's with your colleagues or leadership constituents, and particularly when it's when those with those whom you are leading. Relationships are super important. People don't necessarily leave organizations. They leave cultures. People don't necessarily leave institutions or departments. They leave people. And so how you begin to think about relationships, positive, healthy relationships.

And that doesn't necessarily mean you can't be critical. It doesn't necessarily mean you can't engage in difficult topics. What that means is the priority is on maintaining those positive, constructive relationships. And so that is a great habit to think about in terms of bringing folks along, in terms of your own succession planning and in terms of your own development. So leading from the rear comes down to CPR, cultivate, provide relationships. I will see you next week. And I love this shirt.

It's my Marvin Gaye shirt. So this is my first time wearing it. And if you don't know who Marvin Gaye is, shame on you. Talk to you soon. Dr. E. Signing off.