I serve on a Board in my Town and recently some data came before us. The data was not ready for us to review in neither content nor format. We moved the vote to the next monthly meeting to give us time to review with the source.
After a few days, another board member and I took the initiative to reach out to the person with the data and have a call with them. Ends up the data was good, but just not presented in a way the Board could understand it. No ones fault, just a failure to communicate in the same language (CPA versus non-CPA Board members). We coached the person on presenting the data and the following month the Board approved.
Leaders sometimes have to work behind the scenes. “Behind the scenes” refers to efforts that can benefit the process overall, but are not done in large group settings. They are a great way to gain consensus with our people before having to present to a broader audience. It is a forum to give leadership guidance, not to hide data or circumvent the process, but to help our people with the process.
How can we as leaders help by working behind the scenes?
– Coach our people on format and process (help to create the best data possible with a small group)
– Practice key message delivery and form in private (deliver constructive criticism)
– Review our people’s work and become aligned (you never want go into a meeting where you leader is not your advocate)
– Build up our people with other leaders (help to create more diverse opportunities for our people)
The bottom line; working behind the scenes often isn’t noticed, except by our people!