Just Point Your Finger
October 15, 2009
As you look at the complicated areas in your work and in your life, try to remember that you don’t have to do everything yourself. It’s not a sign of weakness to rely on others for help, but rather a sign of strength and maturity.
Being a successful leader doesn’t mean that you have to know everything or know how to do everything. It does, however, require that you have a high-level knowledge of your field of expertise and the ability to coordinate the efforts of others.
A few weeks ago, I took some time to participate in the final walkthrough of our new home and spent several hours going through each room with our construction superintendent, Ken. Aside from the usual collection of cosmetic items and a few other minor problems, the house looked great.
After we finished the walkthrough, we spent a few minutes talking with Ken about the other houses he was working on, about projects he had worked on in the past, and about his background in construction.
We suspected that he must have had extensive experience in one of the construction trades, or perhaps, several. And while he did have broad experience and a good general knowledge, he never actually worked full time as a plumber, a framer, or an electrician.
A bit puzzled about this, we asked him, politely, of course, how he got to be a construction superintendent without having worked in one of the trades. His answer was quite interesting. He extended his index finger, pointed it in the air, and said, “Because I have this finger and I can point. My father told me when I was younger that this was the most important finger that I had!”
“I just have to look at the construction schedule, see what’s next on the list, “point” at the appropriate sub-contractor, and give him the green light to get started.”
“This finger works just as well when a problem or two appears. I don’t have to know how to frame a house; I only need to point at a warped board and tell my framer, ‘This needs to be replaced.’ I don’t need to be able to pour a concrete slab; I just need to point at the footprints in the cement and say, ‘This needs to be fixed.’”
“But doesn’t it get a bit overwhelming having to keep track of so many different projects at the same time?” we asked.
“No,” he answered, “We have a group of sub-contractors who do excellent work. My job is to coordinate everyone’s effort, and make sure that any problems are identified and corrected as soon as they are discovered.”
In other words, to effectively manage a construction project he didn’t need to be able to perform every single job on the construction site. He only needed a broad knowledge of each task, a general overview of the project, and the ability to identify problems and get them fixed to his satisfaction.
This strategy was evidenced by the fact that the house looked great. He had already marked several items that required attention and some were so minor that we wouldn’t even have noticed them. And this was also the case during our frame-walk several months ago when we inspected the house right before the walls were installed.
As you look at the complicated areas in your work and in your life, try to remember that you don’t have to do everything yourself. It’s not a sign of weakness to rely on others for help, but rather a sign of strength and maturity.
The next time you find yourself overwhelmed by the weight of all you have to do, point your index finger in the direction of the people around you (or in your case a simple request might do) and utilize all the resources that are available to you.
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