Staying Ahead
As you grow into leadership roles through your career, there is an important mindset switch to make - going from tracking "what is going well" to "what isn't going well or might not go well in the future".
Along your journey, you will find yourself accountable for a larger portion of the business, and your decisions will impact a larger set of people (including your org). When this happens, it is vital to delegate tracking "what is going well" to other leaders in your org. YOU should be looking ahead at all times:
- What are the current & potential risk factors that can affect your business, projects & people?
- How likely are these risk factors?
- Do any of these risk factors fall into the category of "low risk, high impact"? This is a special category that should almost always be followed up on.
- Are any decision being made now (or soon) that would lock you into these risk factors?
Here are some example risks I feel are often underestimated:
- Do you have a projection of what features are likely to be released in the future? Will these features comply with legal & privacy regulations?
- Do you have a growth plan for everyone in your org? Who are the outliers, where is there lack of clarity - and why?
- Will your project require collaboration with another team in the future? Have you built trust & transparency with this team? Are your roadmaps aligned thematically?
What risks do you track that you feel are often underestimated by others?