The Three R’s for Leaders

You may remember the quick and informal way people refer to the three core skills we learn in school as the “three R’s” of reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic. I propose that there are three foundational leadership habits that serve leaders very effectively that could also be called the “three R’s” - Reflection, Rituals and Rhythm.

Reflection

It would be hard to overstate the value and importance of reflection as a learning tool. In a different context or situation, if I asked you about the word “reflection”, a mirror might be your first response. We use mirrors every day to see how we look. But we can use time to create personal reflection to see how we are doing or what we have learned from things we have done.

To move towards our potential as a leader and human being, we must be continual learners. One of the best habits we can build to learn continually is reflection. (Here and here are two articles I have written about the power of reflection.)

How often do you reflect as a way to learn and grow?

Rituals

Lots of great stuff has been written about habits, and for good reason; habits are powerful, often unseen forces in our lives. While rituals can be societal or group based and are often connected to religious or beliefs (think marriages, baptisms, or bar/bat mitzvahs), they can be more personal and not have a religious connection.

Rituals are a big-picture activity; habits are the details. The amount of each we need depends on our own leadership path.

Rider Carroll, in his Medium article titled “Habit Vs Ritual”, states the difference beautifully, and directly to my point. Just replace with the word habits where he writes routine.

"Though routines and rituals share many of the same means, what is often lost is that their ends are very different. Whereas the goal of a routine is to make a behavior automatic, the goal of a ritual is to make it intentional."

What acts have you intentionally created to help you be more effective and successful?

Rhythm

The work of leading, while important and rewarding, is complex and hard. How can rhythm impact leadership success?

Leaders can build a rhythm for the timing or 1:1 meetings, team meetings or huddles, quarterly revies and more. When we create a known and expected cadence, we can keep ourselves and our team better focused and reduce uncertainty.

Beyond this, the best leaders observe the energy and inclination of a team. When the energy and engagement are high, they can use rhythm to tap into that energy, to sustain it in a positive and healthy way. Conversely, there are times when teams or individuals may need a breather, and if as leaders we aren’t attentive, willing and able to adjust rhythm to accommodate that, both result and mental health may be adversely affected.

Rhythm isn’t just about your team either. When you are more personally in tune with your rhythms, be they time of day, seasonal, or based on your personal energy and engagement, you can become more productive, effective and more mentally healthy too.

Why the Three R’s are so Important

While the three R’s from school are foundational, they are also kind of obvious. Being able to read, write and do math are everyday activities. The three R’s I just shared as just as important to our success, yet they aren’t visible or obvious. Read biographies, talk to or observe highly effective leaders and you will see they are applying these three R’s in multiple ways.

More of these three R’s will lead to these things (and much more):

• More intentional behavior
• Better communication
• Less conflict due to misunderstandings and reaction (rather than intentional responses)
• Ongoing growth and learning
• Process improvement
• More effective teams

How to Help Leaders Organizationally

Look at the leadership development strategies of most organizations and you won’t see any (or enough) of these habits being discussed or taught. If you believe in the importance of these three R’s, the question becomes how do we teach, apply, and expect these of our leaders?

A complete discussion of that question deserves another article, but here are a couple of starting thoughts:

• Provide training and provide ways for people to practice reflection.
• Add discussion and training on both habits and ritual development
• Set clearer expectations about the rhythm and timing of meetings, coaching sessions, planning meetings and more.

Just for Leaders?

These three R’s aren’t just for us when we think about our leadership role – as you are more aware of and apply them to other phases of your life, you will grow, be happier, healthier and create greater success.