When Leaders Get Sick: How to Build Teams That Thrive Without You | Episode 367

Scott McCarthy [00:00:01]:
You know, it happened to me, it’s going to happen to you. And the reality is it already has. And the question that you need to ask yourself is how did I handle it? And you know what I’m talking about. It’s been getting freaking sick. Let me get real with you for a second. I am legitimately talking about what happens when we get sick. And we need to take some time because that’s exactly what happened to me last week. That’s right.

Scott McCarthy [00:00:38]:
Ladies and gentlemen, today on the Peak Performance Leadership Podcast, we’re not talking about inspiration, we’re not talking about big grand strategy, we’re not even talking about mindset per se. We’re talking about what the heck do you do when you get sick. And are you ready for this? Alright, let’s do it. Welcome one welcome all to the Peak Performance Leadership Podcast. A weekly podcast series dedicated to helping you hit peak performance across the three domains of leadership. Those being leading yourself, leading your team and leading your organization. This podcast couples my 20 years of military experience as a senior Canadian army officer with world class guests to bring you the most complete podcast of leadership going. And for more, feel free to check out our website@movingforwardleadership.com and with that, let’s get to the show.

Scott McCarthy [00:02:05]:
Yes, welcome one welcome all to the Peak Performance Leadership Podcast. It is your chief Leadership Officer, Scott McCarthy and thanks for tuning into this post. Sickness episode. Yes, that’s right. We are talking about today what happens when you get sick. Because this is the reality. The reality is this, ladies and gentlemen. Life happens and sickness is part of life.

Scott McCarthy [00:02:38]:
But the thing is, is that we cannot enable, especially in this day and age when everything is moving so fast, the world is cranking out so fast. AI revolution just at the cusp of it, people are moving light years faster than when I hit the entered the market. So you know, people used to always say we couldn’t take sick time off and now I can definitely understand why you would think that way. So it’s not about the fact that you’re not there to push the ball forward. It’s about, you know, this very uncomfortable question that came to me when I was laying on my back hacking and coughing in my bed and somehow I was still able to think of these things and it got me asking, you know, and thinking about the uncomfortable thing. And that is what actually happens when we’re not there, right? That’s normally what we think about. But today I’m going to help you change that. We’re going to reframe that because what that question highlights is the misconception and misbelief that we got to be there in order for the place to run.

Scott McCarthy [00:04:14]:
And if you’ve listened to the show for any amount of time, you will know that I don’t believe that one bit. And let me tell you, you know, spoiler alert. My shop still ran, my unit still ran, despite the fact I have 185 people, $8.6 billion worth of military supplies that I’m responsible for, and the place still ran without me. Now, you could joke and say that’s because they don’t need you, but that’s a good thing. That’s a good thing. Now, before we dive into, you know, talking about how we can avoid being bottlenecks and how we can enable our teams during these times when we’re just not available, whether you’re sick or you’re on vacation, the principles are all the same. Let’s talk about something quick. And that is my book.

Scott McCarthy [00:05:19]:
You don’t know shit about leadership and neither do I. It is out there. It is changing lives. It is inspiring others. It is motivating teams. And you know what? It can help you, too. If you go to lead don’tboss book.com youm can go ahead and order your copy today. Right now, it’s there.

Scott McCarthy [00:05:46]:
It’s on Amazon, it’s on Kindle, Google Play Books, 50 million other book applications, ebook readers and the like. Or you can even get your own autograph copy from me to you with words from me, with my signature and autograph on there right away. All right, again, lead don’t bossbook.com and get your copy today. All right, so let’s set the stage, shall we? Here is Scott McCarthy a week ago, let me tell you, sounding very different than the Scott McCarthy you’re listening to here today. Hacking, coughing, sneezing, completely drained, no energy, laying on his spare bed because he got kicked out of his main bedroom from his wife. And they’re thinking, you know, what actually happens when we’re not there? And if I’m thinking that, no doubt you’re thinking about that. And if you’re thinking about that, I got to answer it now, you probably, if you’re thinking about that, you know what happens when we’re not there. You’re probably asking a few other reflection questions, such as, you know, does the momentum continue? Do decisions still happen or do they pile up? Does the team execute or simply mail it in? Finally, does everyone quietly wait for the leader to return or do they just not even care? You know, leadership eventually gets tested and it’s not in theory, it’s in reality.

Scott McCarthy [00:07:31]:
In times like this, when you’re sick, you’re away, you’re, you’re unavailable, this is it. But you know what? We need to reframe things. As I said, we need to reframe it because here is my core belief. And the main lesson for today’s podcast episode is if your team cannot function without you, you probably don’t have trust, you have dependency. Now hear me out first. I’m not attacking hard working leaders out there. I’m not attacking leaders who actively build trust or believe that they’re building trust. I’m not saying leaders shouldn’t be involved with the day to day workings and I’m not saying, you know, leaders aren’t needed.

Scott McCarthy [00:08:23]:
But what I’m talking about is that organizations can and are becoming too dependent on one person. And you know what the ironic part is? The ironic part is this, the people most likely to create this problem are usually the strongest leaders themselves. That’s right. Usually the strong ones create a problem where they actually become the bottlenecks. Now let’s dive into why. And it’s a bit of irony, honestly, it’s a bit ironic, okay? Because the better you are, the faster you move, the quicker you solve problems, the easier it is for you to step into different roles, different scenarios, situations, what have you. The more people trust your judgment. And those exact strengths that got you promoted, got you recognized, got you seen, can eventually become the thing limiting your organization.

Scott McCarthy [00:09:30]:
Speed becomes addictive the faster. It’s faster. If I do it, I already know the answer, I’ll just jump in quickly. But the problem is, over time, you’re unknowingly trained your people to defer upward. You remove the ability for them to think through the problem set themselves. You remove the opportunity for people to make mistakes and grow. You remove the whole concept of enabling the team to come up with the solution. Instead, you become the default and suddenly you’re the reason or you’re the person, I should say.

Scott McCarthy [00:10:19]:
Everything gets approved. You’re the approval authority for everything. Things which seem trivial unnecessarily get escalated up to you for decisions, direction, guidance, what have you. You can feel your team hesitating, wondering what is it that you’re going to tell them to do or what you want them to do. And ultimately that turns into waiting for permission. And here’s the key thing, eventually in this type of context, initiative gets replaced with permission seeking. And that’s not high performing teams whatsoever. So I want you to think back and, you know, think about, as I say this, and feel free to hit pause in the podcast, but think about times when you may have moved too fast where you simply said, all right, folks, this is what we can do.

Scott McCarthy [00:11:21]:
This is what we’re going to do. When the opportunity or the timing didn’t cause for that immediate, you know, immediate action. When were there times where you solved the problem, Vice coach? The problem where you said, we’re doing this, Vice going, hey, folks, what options do you have? What do you think is the best way forward? And then finally, when do you believe you accidentally became the bottleneck? And how do you know you making a decision where you say to yourself before you make the decision, why am I even making this decision? Why don’t they just go ahead and do what they think is right and then you make the decision anyway, congratulations, you just became a bottleneck. So I want you to think about those and think about how that played out for you, because I will tell you, it’s not helping you at all, not one bit. So let’s break down why we as leaders kind of default to the that type of mindset. I’ll say, and I’ll tell you, you know, the uncomfortable truth. And this being needed feels good. You know, it feels good.

Scott McCarthy [00:12:55]:
Let’s be honest. When people come to you looking for direction, looking for advice, looking for you to make a decision for us leaders, it feels good, fills our tank. You know, it’s like, yeah, this is why I signed up to do this. And that’s because often you’re high performer, you’re achievement driven, you’re a problem solver. You, you identify, tie your identity, sorry is tied to your competence. And with that, over time, you become the fixer. You know, the one that goes in and fixes the problem. I was often known as, for a longest time, the firefighter.

Scott McCarthy [00:13:34]:
Because when things started burning, you send in Scott and he will put the fire out and patch things up and get things moving again. You become the steady hand to when it calms everyone down in that moment of crisis, simply the person to get things done. And the thing is, is that at some point we start confusing being needed with leading. Well, because those are two totally different concepts. So again, couple questions for you to reflect about as we go through, you know, why do we struggle to let go? Why do you struggle to let go? For me, for the longest time, it was that whole ideology of let’s get it done, let’s get it done now. And I believe this is the Best way forward. So let’s simply do that, you know, because that fixer mentality, you know, why do us leaders, executives, why do we secretly struggle to unplug? Why is it that we can’t take or put that phone away, turn down off the laptop when going on vacation, checking in, wondering how are things going back at work? And with that, why do vacations simply feel impossible? You know, I am as guilty as the next person by checking my email on vacation. Now what I’ve learned to do is because I hate it, going back to the office, to the 2, 3, 4, 500 emails in my inbox and feeling like I’m completely out of touch.

Scott McCarthy [00:15:23]:
What I’ve learned to do is go, okay, I’m going to allow myself to check my email, but not until near the end of the vacation. So I’m just gonn, you know, in my time where I don’t have plans, I’m just gonna casually with a drink or coffee or on my deck, what have you, you know, log in and go through the email so that one I can filter out the junk, get rid of the junk ones, the ones I’m simply being cc’d on and then, you know, highlight the ones that I know I need to take action on. And that just enables me to kind of get away from that mindset, enable me to actually enjoy my vacation. On top of that, what I’ve learned to do is delegate those decision making, enable my team to make decisions when I’m away because that enables me to mentally disconnect, enables my team to take the lead and moving forward. So if you find yourself, whether you’re on vacation or you’re sick or you’re away, unable to either unplug, not make decisions, have no one challenge you, and so on. Now here are some warning signs that you’ve actually built the dependency. So ask yourself, you know the following questions and the first sign of the first sign, and the first sign is you can’t unplug. If you can’t unplug.

Scott McCarthy [00:17:11]:
So you can’t stop checking emails, you’re still answering texts. Instant messaging slacks teams, what have you emailed? If you’re still approving things and the only approving things, you know, ask yourself what does that actually tell you? Second sign is every decision comes to you. You know, if you fakely empower your team to make decisions but give them such tight constraints that reality is they’re not making decisions at all or they’re making meaningless decisions, you might become a dependency. If you’re the approval bottleneck if you’re the only one that can make a decision, again, you might have become dependency. So think about, you know, empowerment without decision authority. It’s just theater. People are just acting the part. They’re not living the part.

Scott McCarthy [00:18:19]:
Sign three that you have warning signs that you have built the dependency. No one challenges you. And this is huge in leadership for reasons of psychological safety. Right? Remember stage four, challenger safety, where people challenge you. This comes out. So think about it. If no one’s pushing back, is it because of fear, disengagement, or dependency, or is it because simply you got the right answer every single time? You know, think about that psychological safety. Think about trust.

Scott McCarthy [00:19:00]:
Are you showing your team that you trust them to come forward with viable points, you know, good points, to challenge you and to try to make things better, the plan better? Are you humble enough to listen when people challenge you? This is a huge one. So many leaders out there simply say, oh, yes, I’m here to listen to my team. But the reality is they actually just want their team to tell them what they want to hear. So four signs that you might be a dependency or a bottleneck is again, you can’t unplug. Every decision comes to you, Nobody challenges you. And then the fourth one is you’re exhausted. You talk candidly, but the reality is you’re snapping at people. You have shorter patience, you’re frustrated, and everything’s simply moving too fast.

Scott McCarthy [00:19:58]:
And here is, and I wrote this in my book, this is you leaking your on your team. You’re leaking out onto them because you’re exhausted. So we talked about, you know, all the bad stuff when it comes to being dependent, being bottleneck. What’s the good side was actual trust look like? Because that’s what this boils down to. Trust your team to do the job when you’re not there. So what does that look like? And let me clarify one thing. Out of the gate, trust isn’t motivational. This isn’t a big motivational speech about trust and trust your team and have them trust you.

Scott McCarthy [00:20:46]:
This is operational. This is about clear intent, decision thresholds, debriefs, and trusting first. Okay, so let’s talk about clear intent. People need. They crave clear intent. They want priorities. What’s more important? They want to understand what the desired end state is. Where are we going? And then finally they want to understand what the definition of success is.

Scott McCarthy [00:21:24]:
What does it look like once we’ve got there and we’ve achieved what it is we’re going after? And you as the leader to bring it back to my military background. This is all about commander’s intent, all about your intent. What do you intend to, to achieve with the organization, with the company? And let me tell you, you know, if you’re wondering if your team can still act if you’re unavailable, when you give them crystal clear intent through priorities desired, end state definition of success, the answer to that question is absolutely yes, yes, yes, yes. But you can’t let them run rogue, right? And that’s why you give decision thresholds. You give them decision thresholds. What they owned, when do they escalate, and what are some reversible or irreversible decisions. You know, what they own. I tell my team all the time, if you have the resources and the authorities to make the call, the change, what have you rest within you, then it’s yours, it’s not mine.

Scott McCarthy [00:22:52]:
If it impacts multiple teams, that’s where I get involved. If you want the authority to make the call, that’s where I get involved. Everything else, it’s over to you. So that’s what they own, when to escalate. We do this very well in the military. We call them Commanders Critical information requirements, or CCIRs. And that’s simply what we call 3am wake up criteria. Like, hey, if these things happens, and they’re very specific, someone gets hurt, equipment gets destroyed, public affairs issue, etc.

Scott McCarthy [00:23:32]:
Etc. It tells people what I want to know right away. And it takes away the ambiguity. So when you see that, when the team looks at that and they look at the situation in front of them, they know whether or not they need to bother me, okay? And then when you boil all this together and you wrap it all up, you understand what’s reversible and what’s irreversible. And your team will too, and they’ll know, okay, if I make this decision, if it goes wrong, we can always go back, go ahead, try it then. But if we can’t, that’s where I need to be involved. Okay, the next thing is debriefs. You know, we talked about intent, clear intent.

Scott McCarthy [00:24:26]:
We talked about decision thresholds, debriefs. Because every situation is an opportunity for us to learn. Not just our teams, but us as leaders as well. So you want to enable that learning culture and you want to, one, you want to be able to answer this. Are mistakes being punished or learned from? And you want to answer it with, they’re being learned from. And that’s why we use AARs or after action reviews. And it’s very simple. You ask everyone, hey, what did you see, tell me the situation in your words.

Scott McCarthy [00:25:05]:
Because everyone has a different vantage point. And what I saw might be different what Jane saw, what might be different than Joe saw. It might be different what Sally saw, and. And it’s different than what you saw. So let’s hear about everyone’s vantage point, about what went down. What did we do right and now what did we do wrong so we can learn from it. And that’s it. Three simple questions.

Scott McCarthy [00:25:40]:
What you’re doing is you’re enabling a learning culture that. So people learn from their mistakes and simply not default to you later down the line. And then finally, the thing is trust first. As leaders, we have to trust our teams. Because if you don’t trust your team, why do you have them? I stopped this whole adage a long time ago, making people earn their trust first. Okay? And nothing wrong. This isn’t blind. It’s calibrated blind.

Scott McCarthy [00:26:17]:
Trust is simply giving Joe off the street, who you’ve never talked to, the keys to the farm, and telling them where to go. How about it? You know, trust people in terms of what you believe their capabilities to be, what their competence are, and let them have at it. And if they prove they can handle one situation, trust them later with another one. A bit more complex, bit more risk. This is being calibrated. This is being intentional. This is truly trusting your team. And when you trust your team, you enable your team, you get better results.

Scott McCarthy [00:27:04]:
So, ladies and gentlemen, it’s a shift. And this shift is powerful. In your early career, you’re all about solving problems. As you move into a more senior role, you build people who solve problems. But at some point, leadership stops about carrying the capability and starts becoming about building the capability. And that’s what you want to do, build the capability. You have to let it go. I understand that feels risky, especially for you entrepreneurs out there, because it’s your baby, your company.

Scott McCarthy [00:27:41]:
You built it up, you grew it, you birthed it. It’s growing. But the reality is, you can’t do it all. And it can be discomforting sometimes to watch others struggle, but struggling is a way of growth. And sometimes people need to struggle to come out better on the other end. And I guarantee you, you did that once. And then the final thing that we need to shift in our mindset as leaders is going after a problem differently than how we would do it is not wrong. It’s simply different.

Scott McCarthy [00:28:24]:
Because senior leadership is often learning to become less operationally important. Yeah, we sometimes need to become less operationally important, enable our teams, take on the risk, the struggle, and to do things differently than what we would have done. But if you give that clear intent, you enable them. Give them the feedback, allow them to learn. They will succeed. So, ladies and gentlemen, ask yourself this. You disappeared for seven days. Tomorrow.

Scott McCarthy [00:29:02]:
What happens if you follow this framework? You enable your team, you build that trust. Momentum continues. Decisions still get made, priorities remain clear. And the place doesn’t go quiet. It hums, it buzzes. Because leadership isn’t measured about how much it depends on you. It’s measured by what still works when you’re gone. And that’s it for today, ladies and gentlemen.

Scott McCarthy [00:29:38]:
Again, if this resonates with you, do subscribe, do share this episode with a friend. And of course, go grab your copy of you don’t know shit about leadership. Neither do I. Until next time, take care and lead. Don’t boss. Take care now. And that’s a wrap for this episode, Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for listening.

Scott McCarthy [00:30:07]:
Thank you for supporting the Peak Performance Leadership podcast. But you know what you could do to truly support the podcast. And no, that’s not leaving a rating and review. It’s simply helping a friend. And that is helping a friend by sharing this episode with them. If you think this would resonate with them and help them elevate their performance level, whether that’s within themselves, their teams, or their organization. So do that. Help me.

Scott McCarthy [00:30:35]:
Help a friend win. Win all around. And hey, you look like a great friend at the same time. So just hit that little share button on your app and then feel free to fire this episode to anyone that you feel would benefit from it. Finally, there’s always more. There’s always more lessons around being the highest performing leader that you can possibly be, whether that’s for yourself, your team, or your organization. So why don’t you subscribe? Subscribe to the show via moving forward leadership.com subscribe until next time. Lead, don’t boss, and thanks for coming out.

Scott McCarthy [00:31:18]:
Take care now.