Introduction

Principle comes first; action thereafter.

—Todd Stocker, speaker and pastor

The best place to start is at the beginning. We don’t want you to search for or try to surmise the premise of this book.

Our premise:

Leading a team at a distance is first and foremost about leadership, and the principles of leadership haven’t changed—they are principles. What has changed is that people are working in different places and perhaps at different times. Given those changes, how we apply the timeless principles of leadership in this new world matters a great deal—for the team members working at a distance, for you as their leader, and for the organization that you all serve.

This book is about both the principles and the nuances that matter so much.

While there are adjustments we need to make to lead in a world with more distance between team members, there is far more that won’t change. We plan to show you the principles and nuances and help you recognize the difference.

This premise leaves us with a few things to clear up before we begin in earnest.

What Is Leadership?

More is being written about this topic than ever before, and still we need to set the context, since the words “leadership” and “leading” are both in the title of the book. Here is what we believe:

Leadership is present when people are choosing to follow someone toward a desired future outcome.

So . You are only leading if people are following.

There is a lot in those two short statements. Let us unpack it a bit more by sharing some truths and myths about leadership.

Leadership is complex

In visiting with leaders from NASA (a.k.a. rocket scientists), Kevin asked which was more complex—rocket science or leadership. The response was swift and simple—leadership was the clear and decisive winner. The group explained that in the world of building rockets, they can determine a right answer; they know the equations and formulas. They explained that if they put the right numbers into the right formulas at the right time (and check their math), they will get the right answer.

But as a leader, you are dealing with people—and people are inherently more complex. And the issues, while perhaps not as dramatic as sending a rocket into orbit, are far more dynamic and are seldom black and white. Leadership isn’t easy or simple. And, like rocket science, it is something that requires study and practice to become skilled. And when we add the complexity of leading people in different locations, it becomes even more complex.

Leadership is an action

Leadership is typically considered a role or a person, i.e., “They are the leader.” While the dictionary says “leadership” is a noun, “leading,” the actions that define leadership, is a verb. Leadership is not really something that we have or possess; it is something that we do. When you think about leadership, think about actions and behaviors. The point of this book is to answer the question: What are the actions and behaviors that will help you help your teams (specifically remotely) get better results?

And if leadership is an action, that means it isn’t a title or position. You are a leader when people follow you—if they aren’t following, you aren’t leading. The actions of others aren’t guaranteed by a job title, the color of your desk, or the size of your office. A title that proclaims you a leader doesn’t make you a leader any more than calling a lion a zebra creates black stripes.

Think of it this way: chances are you have observed or worked for a person with a leadership position who wasn’t really leading. Alternatively, you know people who don’t have or don’t want the position, but people choose to follow them anyway. It is action, not titles, that makes leaders.

Leadership is a responsibility

When you were placed in or accepted a formal or informal role of leadership, you received a significant amount of responsibility. This may seem obvious if your title is president, CEO, or business owner, but your responsibility is massive as a first-level leader too. Think about it this way: outside of people’s closest family and friends, you as their boss are about the most influential person in their life. You have an impact on their pay, their work environment (even if you aren’t sitting in the same location), the level of stress they experience, the amount of satisfaction they find in their work, and a hundred other things.

People are looking to you. If you are leading, people are following you. You have a responsibility, therefore, for more than yourself and your own results. You must make sure that the direction you are headed is a useful and valuable one too. You can try to ignore this responsibility, but it won’t change the significance of the role.

And while it is a responsibility, it isn’t a power grab. The behaviors that lead to others granting you “power” don’t come from you simply wanting it. They come from your relentless focus on serving others. If you try to grab power or claim authority, you aren’t leading. When you lead in the ways we will discuss throughout this book, much “power” will likely be granted to you.

Leadership is an opportunity

Nothing positive happens in the world without leadership. The opportunity to make a difference is huge and exciting. Whether you are thinking about the difference you can make for your team, your customers, your organization at large, or the communities where you work and live, or even if you’re thinking about changing the world, it all requires leadership.

When you exhibit the behaviors of leadership, you are actively trying to create new results that will make a difference in the world. Few things hold greater opportunity than this. Always remember that you have an opportunity to make a difference. Helping you make that difference with a far-flung team is a big reason why we wrote this book.

Leadership isn’t a gift from birth

Leadership skills aren’t doled out in the genetics of some while others are left wanting. All of us are given a unique bundle of DNA that can allow us to become highly effective, even remarkable leaders. Do some people have innate strengths that help them as leaders? Of course, but so do you—even if they are different strengths. None of that matters, though, if we don’t do the things to use those strengths and do the things to improve in areas that are harder for us. Few things are sadder than unfulfilled potential. Leadership success isn’t nearly as much about genetics as it is learning and improvement.

Leadership isn’t management

The skills of management are focused on things: processes, procedures, plans, budgets, and forecasts. The skills of leadership focus on people, vision, influence, direction, and development. Both are valuable skill sets, and it is likely you need all these skills to be successful in your role. While not downplaying the management skills, recognize you are reading a book titled The Long-Distance Leader, not The Long-Distance Manager, and our focus will be on leadership throughout this book. The differences are clear but not distinct: think of the skill sets as overlapping circles, as seen in figure 1. We need to exhibit both sets of skills, but great leaders aren’t necessarily great managers and vice versa.

Figure 1 Two Parts of Your Role

To further make the point on the difference between leaders and managers, consider these lists.

While neither list is comprehensive, notice that all the behaviors in both lists are important, and to be at your best, you will have capability at all of them. Hopefully, though, the two lists make our point that the skills are different. This book will dive into some of the skills on the leadership list but few on the management list.

Remember, this book is about leading at a distance, which means we will talk about some critical leadership principles to provide context for what changes are necessary when leading remotely. This book isn’t a complete treatise on leadership, so if you are looking for that, you are reading the wrong book. If you want or need more grounding on leadership principles, we recommend the books noted in the suggested reading list on page 195.

With this solid foundation, we are ready to get started. Let’s start with what we have learned, and are learning, about Long-Distance Leaders.