In episode 222 of the Bookworm podcast, the book Wild Courage by Jenny Wood was reviewed. While I have not read the book yet (although I have added it to my short list of books to read soon), the hosts conversation about the book has given me some things to think about. In particular was a comment about the author’s ideas on sharing information Up, Down, and Across: Up is sharing your accomplishments with those above you in leadership, Down is you are helping the team you’re working with understand the larger vision, and Across is you are ensuring the seamless integration across the different levels of the organization.
I have drawn my interpretation of this advice.
When in a leadership or managerial role, we often consider those whom we lead or manage as our team. After all, these are the people we invest our time and energies into to develop their skills, guide their careers, and seek out those key “wins” with. But how often do we seriously consider that our peers, rather than being the coaches of competing teams, are fellow members of the same team from our leadership’s perspective? Are we exerting as much effort and energy into collaboration with this team as we encourage those to do on the team we lead?
In addition to viewing up, down, and across, I would add the importance of looking diagonally up and down for mentorship opportunities. Peers of your supervisor should be considered as potential mentors to you. They often offer perspectives outside your career field that can give you a broader understanding of the organization. In the same way these individuals could serve as effective mentors to you, you have the opportunity (even duty) to mentor upcoming professionals from outside your direct report chain.
We have a long drive coming up. I already have The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom queued up, but Wild Courage may get some play as well on the trip.