Pictures…1000 words?

What's the Trickiest Part of Being a Leader? 

When it comes to leadership, I like to think of it as a set of superpowers—or competencies, if you will. The more I dive into this topic, the more convinced I am that mastering these powers is key: Knowing Yourself, Understanding Others, Managing Yourself, Managing Relationships, Developing People, Building Teams, and Solving Problems. Any leader would do well to level up in these areas, especially in their specific field. 

Lately, I've been pondering problem-solving. As teams grow and strategies expand, problems can become as twisted as a pretzel at a carnival. That's where my love for whiteboards comes in—perhaps a little quirky but true. I dream of an office where every wall is a whiteboard. After reading "The Back of the Napkin" by Dan Roam, I understand my obsession more. I once had "Clarity is Kindness" scrawled across my whiteboard to remind me that, as leaders, we often expect others to catch up to our whirlwind of ideas faster than is fair. 

Dan Roam hits the nail on the head when he says, "The single greatest challenge to leaders today... is this: We have to make more increasingly complex ideas more clear, more quickly, and more persuasively than ever." He believes that any problem can be clarified with pictures, which is music to my ears or at least art to my eyes. 

Amy Herman, in her book "Fixed," points out that solving problems is crucial for productivity, profit, and peace. Yet, our problem-solving skills are often short-circuited by our tech-heavy world. Roam's approach shines because it offers a structured way to direct our thinking. He introduces frameworks like "Look, See, Imagine, Show" to help pinpoint problems, chart a course, and navigate through challenges using visual thinking. 

So, fellow leaders, how do you tackle complex problems? Do you have a secret weapon or a favorite technique?