In his book The Next Generation Leader, Andy Stanley lays out a simple principle that helps us understand why disorganized leaders tend to lose the trust of their followers. “Clarity is interpreted as leadership.”[1] If the people you are entrusted to lead sense an unclear picture of the future, they will only follow you blindly for so long.
Everyone likes to know where they going and how they are going to get there. Disorganization screams to followers, “I may not be able to organize the small stuff, but trust me with the big stuff.” It comes off as inconsistent to those that are paying any attention. The state of your desk, your email inbox, your calendar, your meetings says more about your ability to lead than you might think. Sure you can overcome these things, but why give anyone a reason to question your authority to begin with?
I’m not talking about the occasional organizational blunder (we all have those). This is about the chronically disorganized leader. I have stood in your shoes. I know the anxiety and trust issues that come from my own lack of organization. Luckily, I have been blessed with people around me willing to confront me with the harsh reality of my disorganization. They challenged me to make a change.
Leadership is already hard enough. Why make it more difficult by complicating your role with a mountain of disorganization? Here are a few tips to the leader that struggles with organizational skills…
1. Find A Program – Especially in a small organization or department, you will have to learn to be the best organizer on your team. There are several programs out there to assist you in becoming organized. Franklin Covey, Google Calendar and Tasks, Entourage, and many more tools are available to give you the necessary tools to get organized. Get trained by someone that uses the program. Commit to it! Don’t let the program become a personal fad. See it through until it becomes a habit.
2. Find A Person - If you already know that you are not the most organized person on your team, make sure that you find someone else who is. Make finding an organized person your next hire or volunteer recruitment. Build trust and clear communication with that person to ensure that they understand your vision. Supervise them, but don’t micro-manage. If you try to micro-manage your best organizer, they will become frustrated because their organizational skills eclipse yours.
3. Find A Purpose - The deeper issue for many people who are disorganized is a lack of real purpose. If you have no target, then there is no reason to organize in such a way to hit it. You have to start with the purpose and then organize to achieve it. Figure out your purpose so you can align personally and organizationally to see it through to completion.
Being organized may not make you a leader, but it certainly does enhance the leader’s ability to win and keep faithful followers. What steps do you need to take to organize your personal leadership today?
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