Leadership is Maintenance

When the snow started to melt in the spring I discovered a leak in my camper. To make matters worse, I couldn’t find the source of the leak. I examined the roof and other surface penetrations and applied copious amounts of sealant even though none of the seals seemed compromised. The leak persisted. I was exasperated. And then it dried up.  An entire summer of sun and rain transpired and not a drop of water found its way inside. Months wandered by and the camper was dry. And then, on our last camper trip of the year, we were greeted with the same leak in the same location.  Half a roll of duct tape later and I \*think* I’ve identified the problem, but this is where my camper and your team share a major similarity: the maintenance is never really done. You can (and should!) relish the moments when everything is going well, but entropy (and all of recorded human history) indicate it won’t last unless you keep up the maintenance. In the same way that a thermostat doesn’t get your room to the proper temperature and then self-destruct because its job is done, you can’t expect your team to enjoy productivity, happiness, and collaboration without maintaining those things. Your thermostat is working against internal and external forces that are changing the temperature of the room and it has to always be at the ready to activate the necessary systems to get the room back to the desired state. Whether it’s the temperature of a room, the integrity of a camper roof, or the effectiveness of your team, the maintenance never ends. When you buy a camper, you had best enjoy tinkering with the camper as much as you enjoy taking it out into the woods. And when you’re a leader, you had best enjoy nurturing your people and the culture as much as you enjoy seeing the team win. The maintenance is only a problem when you don’t realize it’s a fundamental part of the gig. **TRY THIS:** What’s working right now? What needs to be true for that to keep working? What isn’t working right now? What needs to be true for it to start working again. Pick ONE thing and do a little maintenance.  And remember: You don’t need to change the oil in your car every day. Maintaining your team isn’t about fixing what isn’t broken. It’s about keeping a watchful eye and paying attention to patterns to ensure some things never break…and other things don’t stay broken. ***My free PDF, “****The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams****,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results, without burning out. Grab your copy now at*** *geoffwelch.com/secrets*