Step Back to Move Forward: Jason Barger on Leading With Purpose

Nov 7, 2013

5 min read

Updated: Oct 29

Many owners run all day and still wonder whether they are doing the right work. Jason Barger, an author, speaker and founder of Step Back Leadership Consulting, put one word on his napkin. Remember. He means it two ways. First, remember what matters, because in a world of constant messages, where we look is where we go. Second, re-member. Every team, partnership, marriage and friendship is a membership, and the strongest leaders renew and recommit to theirs every day. His company's tagline carries the practical point. Step back to move forward. Crossing things off a list doesn't mean you are crossing off the right things. Leaders who carve out regular time to reconnect with purpose, let go of what weighs them down and recast the vision end up busy with what matters. The rest stay busy, and not very effective.

Inspired by Paper Napkin Wisdom Episode 9 with Jason Barger.

Why are busy leaders so often not effective?

Jason works with leaders, entrepreneurs and senior executives who are head-down, tactical and driven by the task list. What he sees missing is the higher-level view. Are we even doing the right things? He is amazed at how little time many of them carve out to ask.

The myth, as he describes it, is that the faster you run, the further you get. The reality is that people run around chasing many things and don't execute the most important ones. They are busy. They aren't effective.

The world doesn't help. Jason cites the estimate of 3,000 messages a day coming at each of us, and describes how scattered attention has become at work. That is why his napkin starts with the line he returns to again and again. "Where we look is where we go." Where you put your eyes, your focus and your heart is where your life and your business end up.

What does it mean to re-member your team?

Jason asks people to read the word remember a second way. Re-member. Every group you belong to is a membership. Your team, your company, your peer group, your spouse, your friends, your community.

His question is whether you simply belong to those memberships or are engaged in them. The best leaders, teams and organizations actively renew and recommit to theirs every day. And if you aren't willing to renew one, Jason suggests it probably isn't one of your highest priorities anyway.

Remembering usually means looking back. He frames it as a proactive, forward-leaning choice. This might be where we were yesterday. Where do we want to go tomorrow, and are we truly committed to getting there?

He lays out the process as a set of re-words. Release the baggage that keeps you stuck in the same place. Recast the vision for where you are going. Then respond with compelling action. None of this is solo work. Jason's view of leadership today is that you can't lead well unless you collaborate, at home and at work.

Why motivation fades and what to do about it

Jason tells a story about Zig Ziglar. After a speech, a man stood up and said the motivation felt great, but a few weeks later it always faded. Ziglar asked whether he bathed every day. Of course, because he got dirty every day. Did he eat every day? Yes, because his body needed food every day. Motivation, Ziglar said, is no different.

The same goes for executing a strategy. In Jason's words, "leadership development and culture work is not a drive-through experience." One book or one great speech plants seeds. Staying on course takes a practice, repeated over time.

He also shares a line he lives by. "When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change." A friend learning to surf heard the first lesson on the sand. Pop up and stare at the water, and you go into the water. Keep your eyes on the shoreline, and you reach the shore. The practice is deciding, again and again, where to put your eyes.

How a short daily huddle keeps a team moving forward

Owners often object that stepping back is one more thing on an already full plate. Jason disagrees. Done well, it is energizing. Every time you step back with the people you count on, get purposeful and realign, you are moving forward.

His favorite example is a national construction company in the US. An outside consultant studied its operations and came back with a simple recommendation. Each crew leader should take 20 minutes at the end of every day to gather the crew. What's the plan for tomorrow? What are we trying to accomplish? What tools do we need? Is everyone on the same page? The consultant's finding was that doing this could raise profitability across the company by 10%. Crews had been showing up scattered. Someone forgot the tools, and someone else wasn't sure who was doing what. Some foremen pushed back that it was a waste of time. The study showed the purposeful break made crews more energized, effective and efficient.

We run a daily huddle in my company, and it does the same work. In about seven minutes we align around purpose and core values, share stories of wins, and work briefly on roadblocks. It is our chance to remember and to course correct. Jason adds the longer rhythm too. Teams need extended huddles, the retreats and planning sessions, throughout the year.

How to bring your team into the habit

Jason's answer starts with you. You show the value by modeling it, by coaching it and by the huddles you run. Then you ask your team simple questions. His new book closes with conversation starters for exactly this. They are simple and accessible, and most teams never ask them because everyone is too busy.

He names the cost of skipping them. Leaders are amazed when the team doesn't know what they wanted them to know, when they never took the time to tell them.

For his own daily practice, he walks himself through a short set of questions. What is the purpose? Is there something I need to let go of? Then, what is the new vision, and what action goes with it? Am I the person to carry it out, or am I empowering someone else to do it? And how will I communicate the message to them?

How to step back to move forward this week

Pick one rhythm and protect it.

Block a short, quiet window each day and walk through Jason's questions on purpose, release, vision and action.
Look at today's task list and mark the items that serve your highest priority. Question the rest.
Start or tighten a short daily huddle with the same time, the same place and a few minutes on plans, wins and roadblocks.
Name one membership in your life you belong to but aren't engaged in, and do one thing to renew it.
Put the next extended team session on the calendar now.

Where you look is where you go. Choose where to look before the day chooses for you.