I couldn’t believe what I hadn’t gotten myself into.  When I would stop and look at my job in its totality, I knew I was WAY out of my league.  I had 6 Navy Installations and I was responsible for the safety and security of the 25 thousand people that worked on them.  I was understaffed, overbooked, and all of my people were looking for changes.  They had been working hard for a long time to keep things going and they had reached their breaking point.  Yes, I volunteered for the job (I had forgotten that NAVY was really an acronym for Never Again Volunteer Yourself).  I was at the crossroad of despair and action.  One road would take me nowhere and the other could take the team somewhere….but where?

Have you ever felt like that in taking on a new leadership role?  I know it’s happened to me more than once.  In the case of my role as Director of Security, we went from  “rags to riches” within a year because I took the focus off the “me” and put it on the “we.”   Despair is never the answer but collective action is.  Are you trying to get it all done but don’t know where to start?  Are you overwhelmed?  Do you want to crawl back in bed and throw the blankets over your head?  I’ve been there, done that, and have the pillow marks on my face to prove it.  Here is what’s worked for me in moving the team forward and I know it can work for you too.

First, look to your team.  Your teammates are the ones doing the job.  They’ve been in the trenches.  They know what to do.  In the case of my job as Director of Security, I pulled all of my supervisors in and asked them where I should start.  WE then prioritized the list and stepped out in action on getting things done.  I, personally, like to start with the easy things first (it helps with a sense of accomplishment and building momentum)  (I also like things on my “ta done” list and not my “ta do” list)).  As a leader, it’s impossible to know everything but you have to trust that your team does.  Get the people who know together.

Second, before you make a change, give it the sniff test.  Any guy knows what the sniff test is.  For those who don’t…if the laundry doesn’t smell dirty, you can get another day of wear out of it without washing it.  On our list, there were MANY suggestions of what people wanted now.  But, truthfully, there’s a great divide between WANT and NEED.  For instance, I may WANT a new Corvette but I need basic transportation.  For our team, I just asked before making a change that we give it a sniff test.  Could we get “another day” out of what was going on and focus in on what NEEDED to go in the laundry that day.  That simple test saved us time, effort, and resources.  It also helped us stay laser focused needs not wants.  So, before making a change…just give it sniff.

Third, I like to see what works and do more of that.  From that “list day” forward, we’d meet every week to talk about what was going on, how things were progressing and what worked.  If something was working, I’d say “lets do more of that.”  If it didn’t work, we’d take a look at why and then decide to “not do any more of that.”   Some ideas sound great in concept but don’t always pan out the way we want.  Those are the ones we don’t want to do (even though we might be emotionally invested in them).  Let it go and do more of what works.