Two Perspectives All Leaders Must Consider

The title makes a definitive statement - “must” is a strong word. And observing leaders for over thirty years, I know that not all leaders think about what I’m about to tell you about. But all the most effective ones do. That means that if you are serious about being an effective leader, “must” is exactly the right word.

Everyone knows these two perspectives, but not everyone thinks about and acts on them both consistently. Here are those two leadership perspectives…

Content Perspective

If AI isn’t the word of the decade, content might be. We have content creators, tv shows are now content, you read content, and people talk about the content of a meeting. Leaders must be aware of and be thinking about the content or “the what” of the work.

What are the expectations and outcomes we need?

What are the key job requirements?

What result do we need?

What do I need to say/communicate?

What do people know?

What are the goals and the objectives?

All these questions come from the content perspective. These are certainly important questions and leaders need clear answers to these questions.

But it isn’t enough.

Process Perspective

The content perspective is looking at the world or situation from the outcome or “what” perspective. The process perspective is about the path, the approach or “the how”.

What approach will get us the best results?

How will we achieve the outcome?

What approaches have been successful?

How do I need to communicate my message?

How will we build collaboration and commitment?

Who will be involved?

These are also important questions. How we achieve outcomes matters. And, as a general statement, these are questions that encourage leaders to consider the viewpoints and perspectives of others – and not just their own.

Application

Intellectually, you know both these perspectives matter.

Practically, we all have examples where both aren’t considered.

• Ever seen the sales leader who talks incessantly about the target – whether encouraging or exhorting – people about the target every day, without considering or examining process (“they know what to do!”)?
• Ever noticed the leader who continues to tweak the approach and allows themselves and the team to lose sight of the goal?
• Ever noticed the leader whose meetings never get any more effective? (Because they aren’t considering process?)

The point isn’t to pick a perspective and recognize both isn’t enough. The best leaders consciously and consistently consider and apply both all day long.

While I have seen many leaders who lean far to the process side as well as to the content side, I would suggest that the content perspective is the lean of more leaders.

If that is you, and you aren’t considering the process viewpoint, you may be seen as a micromanager and might have a hard time delegating (we need to get the results after all!). If you are locked in on results, you might be missing the chance to adjust, adapt or flex your approach – or allow/recognize the inputs of others into the process.

All humans, not just leaders, operate in ways consistent with what they see, value, and notice. If your viewpoint is all about the outcome and the content, you may not engage others as effectively as you could. If your focus is all process, you might find yourself missing targets.

Work is complex, and for us to lead it most effectively, we must have that full complexity in our view. Most importantly, that means our leadership perspective must include both the content and process perspectives.