Double Vision
Just read a fascinating article on Bob Nardelli, CEO of Home Depot. During his tenure, Home Depot has become an $80 billion megacompany. The article cited one key to his success: the ability to "grasp the big picture" and "zero in on the tinest detail."
I think leaders are a conundrum. The article on Nardelli said, "To succeed in the CEO's job now takes a variety of complex, often contradictory, skills." Leaders need to have "contradictory" or "oppositional" skills that complement each other.
What I'd call "double vision" is a great example. Great leaders are big picture people. They scan the horizon and see the future. But great leaders are also detail people. Nothing escapes their attention.
There is an old aphorism: the devil is in the details. I'm not sure exactly what that means :) But I do know this: God is a God of detail. No detail escapes his attention including how many hairs are on your head and every sparrow that falls (Matthew 10:29-30). God is the all-seeing eye!
Bob Nardelli only has two eyes, but he may be watching you if you walk into a Home Depot store. He's got a computer terminal on his desk that allows him to look at the parking lot, checkout line, and shopping carts of consumers in any one of Home Depot's 1,962 stores. All he does is click a mouse.
Nadelli spends at least one week per quarter as a "mystery shopper." It helps him stay incarnational. He's able to see Home Depot through the eyes of his customers. It makes him a firsthand leader instead of a secondhand manager.
Leaders need to find ways to stay grassroots.
By the way, I love Home Depot's motto: to improve everything we touch.
Can I take this opportunity to share something about myself?
I'm definitely a 30,000 foot person. I love God-sized dreams and long-term visions. But I'm also a detail fanatic. One thing that just drives me crazy is if one of our bulletins is folded unevenly :) It's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me :) There you have it.
I think leaders are a conundrum. The article on Nardelli said, "To succeed in the CEO's job now takes a variety of complex, often contradictory, skills." Leaders need to have "contradictory" or "oppositional" skills that complement each other.
What I'd call "double vision" is a great example. Great leaders are big picture people. They scan the horizon and see the future. But great leaders are also detail people. Nothing escapes their attention.
There is an old aphorism: the devil is in the details. I'm not sure exactly what that means :) But I do know this: God is a God of detail. No detail escapes his attention including how many hairs are on your head and every sparrow that falls (Matthew 10:29-30). God is the all-seeing eye!
Bob Nardelli only has two eyes, but he may be watching you if you walk into a Home Depot store. He's got a computer terminal on his desk that allows him to look at the parking lot, checkout line, and shopping carts of consumers in any one of Home Depot's 1,962 stores. All he does is click a mouse.
Nadelli spends at least one week per quarter as a "mystery shopper." It helps him stay incarnational. He's able to see Home Depot through the eyes of his customers. It makes him a firsthand leader instead of a secondhand manager.
Leaders need to find ways to stay grassroots.
By the way, I love Home Depot's motto: to improve everything we touch.
Can I take this opportunity to share something about myself?
I'm definitely a 30,000 foot person. I love God-sized dreams and long-term visions. But I'm also a detail fanatic. One thing that just drives me crazy is if one of our bulletins is folded unevenly :) It's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me :) There you have it.
2 Comments:
I agree w/ you about God is into details!! He always is on my side and look at every flaws and strengths I have to use.
Would you agree that there is a fine line for leaders to be about the details and being OCD?
Think about it - one bulletin folded unevenly???
I can relate, that's why I ask
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