Communicating Roles Clearly | 120 Seconds to Better Leadership

I’m here today with a business group outing at our TinCaps Stadium, which I think is the number one ranked stadium in the country. It’s a beautiful place. I don’t come often because I’m not a sports person, but here’s what I’m noticing.

When you see the movies of the little kids playing baseball, they’re often going after the same ball at the same time and they clash into each other and it’s hilarious. But you don’t see that in this arena, right? The guys know where they’re supposed to go to catch the ball. They are super clear about their swim lanes and what they’re supposed to do and not do, so you don’t see those fumbles.  

And the biggest thing I can say is that at the VP level, even director level and above, the best thing they can do for their organizations to be more effective is to make sure that people’s swim lanes are clear. You don’t want people bashing into each other trying to catch a ball, them both thinking that something is their responsibility when it may not be. The more you can make those swim lanes distinct and clear, and make sure the hand offs are agreeable to everyone, the less you’re going to have conflict, the less you’re going to have confusion deep within the organization where they have no tools to solve the issue. So, that’s one thing that I think you can do to make your organization function better. Top priority.

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