Early in my career at Pioneer, one of the VPs used to stop in my office for a few minutes and we would discuss the books we were reading. (This was a privilege I didn’t appreciate until much later.) I learned a great deal from what he shared, and hoped I was helping him. I felt we had an open relationship.
One day I exploited that relationship. There was a big issue brewing and I was convinced he should step in immediately and fix this. I think I got out four or five sentences before he interrupted me with laughter.
“I’m sure you think that’s a big issue, Glenn,” he said. “You think it’s a bleeding artery. From my perspective it’s not even an infected hair follicle.” And he chuckled again.
Those words stung. I was shocked that he saw it differently than me. For a short while I thought much less of him, frankly. (Oh, the arrogance of a promising young manager in a big organization!)
Over the next few months this VP kindly gave me a few insights about the kinds of issues that merited his attention. It was a great education about the different levels of focus and attention, and radically different timescales that execs need to manage. Execs aren’t immune from the tyranny of the urgent and crisis du jour, but it cannot occupy more than a fraction of their effort.
He also turned me on to some different books that I wouldn’t have picked out myself but he knew were influential. I’m grateful for this mentoring.
One of the greatest gifts a leader gives to others is perspective.
