Why and How We Need to Support Leaders

Steve Huffman, former CIO, Beacon Health System

Countless articles, books and podcasts have been published recently on how to lead from the “second chair,” or how to lead when you are not the CEO. Based on my experience navigating the lead position in a company and taking on a supportive role in ministry, here are my tips on how to support your leader, which in turn, will allow you to flourish in your leadership potential.

• Create a culture of no surprises. Over 20 years ago one of my leaders told me, and other staff, that “as long as there were no surprises, we should not fear making a mistake. If you make a mistake, you should eat crow while it’s warm.” I’ve tried to continue to use this principle throughout my career and I believe it is critically important in maintaining a leadership position when you are not the primary leader. Inevitably you will make a mistake; as soon as you do, let your leader know about it and what your plan is to resolve the problem. This helps minimize the impact of the mistake, and shows that you refuse to pass your messes on to someone else.
• Communicate that you have time to help. In the healthcare industry, we used to train staff to say, “Do you need anything? I have time.” This question translates beautifully in the marketplace with your leader. The intention is not to create a culture where you are getting them Diet Cokes every day, but to create and reinforce a culture in which one of your primary roles is to ensure your leader succeeds. If you think you can accomplish everything you want to accomplish but have your leader fail, you are wrong. The only way you succeed is by ensuring that your leader succeeds along the way, which means developing an understanding that you have time to help them be successful. The majority of times, you will find when you ask that question that they won’t pass anything along; however, after some time you will realize that you are being asked to do more important tasks and being invited in to decisions because you seem interested, and seemingly have time.
• Develop agendas and updates for your regular meeting. I meet with my leader on a weekly basis and nearly 100 percent of the time I’ve developed between four and ten things that are on my agenda (I’ve made sure to pass them along via email prior to the meeting). It’s an informal document — many times just a list of things in email, but it helps to foster a no surprise culture, and gives my leader time to process what we might be talking about. It keeps me aligned to the most important topics. And when there is a larger issue at hand, allows me to highlight things we need to connect about in the future.
• Clarify expectations and needs. When you are leading a large organization or a large group of people, too often decisions need to be made on the spot, and the clarity is not always communicated perfectly. The best staff members instantly recognize when a gray area could derail progress or decisions, and attempts to clarify the situation and decision. This is especially helpful when you encounter a decision that you may somewhat disagree with. It is fine to push back, but out of the discussion, there should be enough clarity to move the decision forward without countless discussions and clarifications. Stop in the moment and clarify in a respectful way.

[This piece was written by Steve Huffman, former CIO at Memorial Health System of South Bend and Beacon Health System. To view the original post, click here. Follow him on Twitter at @SteveHuffman_IN.]