The Proximity Principle
The Proximity Principle: Leaders tend to serve people they see, touch, and spend time with.
Leaders who huddle rather than mingle grow inward and serve each other.
Distance allows detachment.
Detached leaders falsely believe the work of others is easier than theirs. Detachment turns into a bubble of perceived simplicity. Proximity bursts the bubble.
People who aren’t seen often feel under-appreciated and misunderstood.
Leadership potential expands when you connect to real people doing real work.
10 ways to leverage the proximity principle:
- Show up where the work is actually done. Schedule it.
- Show up unannounced.
- Show up to serve. Put on a hardhat and learn someone’s job. Get dirty. Look foolish. (This doesn’t work for brain surgeons or pilots.)
- Touch base with the supervisor, but don’t allow them to control your visit.
- Avoid disrupting workflow as much as possible.
- Help. Don’t fix. Learn. Don’t tell. Show up to improve yourself, not others.
- Tell people they matter. Explain where they fit in and what’s important now. Admire and affirm.
- Send thank you notes to the people you meet.
- Give yourself reminders that you are responsible to others just as much as they are to you. Post pictures of the people you meet on your bulletin board or Facebook page.
- Bring gifts when you show up, company gear, for example.
Proximity opens hearts and strengthens influence.
Proximity and dispersed teams:
Long distance relationships are tough. Use technology to leverage proximity.
- Hold brief video huddles regularly. Try once a week.
- Send snail mail. Something you can touch helps.
- Work and socialize when you get together.
- Visit off site team mates and play a little.
- Post pictures of off site team members on Facebook.
Bonus: Celebrate birthdays, weddings, and special occasions, just like you might in an office.
What happens when leaders isolate themselves?
How might leaders connect with off site teams?
How might leaders leverage the proximity principle?
To Paraphrase Wayne Dwyer – be a leader as a Human ‘Being’ – not as a Human ‘Doing’. It is a challenge to lead by simply listening to and working with people across the organisation. I think part of the magic though is in not just what you bring to others (recognition, reward, companionship, belonging, purpose…) but what you do with what you glean – how you take those leadership learnings and leverage them within the organisation and beyond. In the back of your mind needs to be the constant question along the lines of “how can i bring better outcomes for these people and for this organization and for our community on the basis of what I have learnt or shared today…’, and not simply posing the question but putting it to action…
A great reminder Dan about not becoming isolated, regardless of how physically isolated we or others might be..
Thanks Richard. It’s very easy to slip into habits and patterns that work over the short run but fail over the long term. I think our tendency to drill down and isolate is an example. We drill down to get the job done. It works for awhile.
Your added insight is so helpful. What will I do with these interactions and learnings after the fact? How will we be better? What might we adapt? What system might help?
The occasional physical contact helps. I think of the times you and I have been together and I feel connected to you.
Thanks Dan… though in your last example it’s a good thing it’s only occasional!!! 🙂
Wow! Another homerun, Dan! I don’t know where you get all your ideas, but keep ’em coming. People who have been a leader and people who are new leaders need to learn and be reminded of the principles you teach.
Thank you.
Thanks Alan. This post originally began with the story of a friend of ours who lost her husband last night. She’s in her 30’s. It’s sad. It got me thinking about the importance of proximity.
Just showing up.
Because it’s so fresh and raw, it didn’t feel good to include the story. Now you know the rest of the story.
I’m sorry for her loss. Just being there makes a difference. I believe Jesus called it the “with Him” principle.
Working my way up through the ranks of law enforcement, it was twenty years before I was promoted to a position that took me “off the streets” (did not involve patrol, investigations, or the direct supervision of those functions). I quickly learned how disconnected one could become from these “heartbeat” functions without a deliberate effort to get out of the office and stay in touch with the folks doing the heavy lifting. I maintained one duty -crisis negotiator- that kept me plugged in to the work of street cops on a “where the rubber meets the road” level. I continued my efforts to “know and be known” throughout the second twenty years of my career, and as “the old man” I was always made to feel welcome at patrol roll-calls and detective briefings right up until I retired. These things kept me focused on the real work of the agency and thinking about how to best support that work n my administrator role. I successfully negotiated my last “barricaded subject” incident two weeks before retiring, and the SWAT guys gave me an unofficial “MVP award” for my negotiation work. I am as proud of that as any other plaque or certificate I was awarded during my career.
Huddling with the “corporate office” around the water cooler leads to the issuance of edicts arrived at by pontificating in the glass room. You can imagine all you want about how it IS and how it WILL be, but those are not the facts that the real world deals with. So yes, go “touch” those that pay for your overhead.