Good leaders are everywhere. They know that the team wants to see them, hear from them, and question them.
To instill the confidence and commitment they desire from others, they make themselves highly visible, often going to great lengths to show up physically whenever they can. When on virtual calls, they tend to linger, allowing anyone who wants an extra word with them to find a moment.
Because leaders are often drowning in tasks and spend much of their time putting out fires, it is easy for them to remain hidden from the team. Sequestered leaders often attempt to make up for their seclusion by announcing their accessibility if and when others need them.
Of course, everyone presumes they are too busy to disturb and rarely take them up on the offer. This isolates them from the team and gets in the way of creating the strong bonds needed to motivate others and propel them forward.
Visible leaders hold themselves to a different standard.
They go beyond accessibility and show up to interact at different times, places, and mediums with team members. Their visibility and presence put team members at ease and encourage them to engage openly and candidly about any concerns or issues they have.
Visible leaders also have the advantage of leading by example. They get to show others what matters to them and how to encourage, challenge, comfort, and inspire in real-time. By modeling the behaviors they want to see from others, they set a positive tone that can be replicated throughout the team.
For teams that work and engage remotely, a leader’s visibility is even more important. Aligning the team with expectations, goals, and strategy is never easy, but it becomes much more difficult when team members don’t get the opportunity to validate their views and experience face-to-face interaction. Creating more visibility helps to create more transparency and allows leaders to reiterate the common goals and vision everyone is moving toward.
Leaders who understand the value of visibility don’t alter this approach with clients, customers, and industry peers. They commit to seeing important stakeholders face-to-face and often speak at events and attend conferences to support the team.
In a world where attention is a critical currency, the best leaders work hard to be as visible as they can. How visible to your team are you?
