In government institutions, maintaining momentum as a leader can feel impossible as election cycles, appointments, and rotations take place alongside natural turnover. In what can feel like a transient position, it’s not uncommon to be left feeling stretched thin as you seek to advance programs while supporting team growth and your own leadership development.
Question: How can you make an impact during a limited tenure while ensuring long-term stability for a role you will hand off in the not-too-distant future?
Answer: Think both like a renter and like an owner.
Patrick Blakenship, LtCol at United States Marine Corps, a Kotter partner, has used this concept with great success. As the Director of Recruiting Operations for the 8th Marine Corps District, Blankenship supports leaders as they navigate both long-term and rotational roles, where change is a constant. According to Blankenship, “Assuming a role with a renter’s mindset, especially leadership roles, with the foresight another renter or Marine will eventually implement or face the outcomes of your work necessitates a mindset focused on sustained, collective effort. Ensuring collective understanding, building trust and buy-in from everyone involved assists building a sustainable, action-oriented culture, and a team which can endure after any one individual departs, regardless of their influence. It’s also vital to balance ownership of more than just accomplishments, but the processes put into place used to make critical decisions whether they succeeded or not. Eventually, someone else will carry the water with the team you leave behind. Establishing a value proposition, which couples the renter and buyer mindset for each individual Marine ensures seamless transition and continued productivity regardless of changes made or changes to come.”
To maximize your time in a leadership role, we recommend adopting the following practices:
- Be a good “renter,” leaving the department or organization better than you found it.
- Be a great “neighbor,” building the blueprint for communities and networks that will sustain changes you have implemented.
- Be a better “owner,” serving as a caretaker for change that provides coherence and continuity amidst turnover.
What does all of this look like? Below are key examples.
1. Be a good “renter”
In roles that are never permanent, it’s important for leaders to be good “renters.” If you were renting a home, you would make the space your own without doing anything impulsive or damaging, and would clean and prepare it for the next tenants when the lease is up, right? Similarly, individuals should embrace the position they’re in regardless of how short term it may be. Leaders should make the most of the opportunity and ability to create change and leave it better than they found it. In this type of work, it’s about being a good steward of the role; respecting the leaders that held the position before you, building upon the work they did, leaving your own personal mark, and shaping it well to transition to the person who will follow.
2. Be a great “neighbor”
In government roles, there is strength in the network of support you build throughout your career. With cyclical positions, you can find yourself moving within a similar circle of leadership for years. A network of support allows for transfer of ownership from “renters,” who are in a term limited role, to “owners,” whose tenures tend to be longer. If you find yourself in a transitional role, consider the blueprints you are leaving behind for others to follow and the skillsets you are equipping this team with to be able to build from the blueprints. As Blankenship states, “I think this is the crux of it all; leaving things for those who are considered “owners” better than when you came in, more open and effective, more flexible, and focused, while not constraining ideas, innovation and ultimately remain focused on the end-state.” This networked approach, or “democratization of change,” allows leaders to inspire change and set a vision, while enabling the people who are closest to the work to shepherd it on a day-to-day basis.
3. Be a better “owner”
Some roles within government have more of a permanence than others. Those in these roles know the ebb and flow of administration to administration will alter some initiatives. Still, these “owners” know that they need to maintain their property as the anchor tenant. As “owners” and “renters” work together, there needs to be focus on the collective purpose. Creating this bridge between teams that do have longer-term leaders or managers will alleviate some strain when transition time inevitably comes. Teams need to understand both how the network functions in terms of structure and connection, and who they can partner with on a consistent basis. They will feel more support and confidence if they know they have resources and people through which they can continue their work regardless of who is leading at the time.
In a world of constant change, navigating the revolving door of leadership can feel dizzying. By understanding which ‘tenant’ role you exhibit within the organization and by acknowledging the headwinds and successes of your team, you can facilitate change and foster sustained progress as you transition roles. Establish trust quickly by acting with a ‘renter’ mindset and networked approach, then exemplified wins will enhance your term as you make the role your own.
Leslie Zemnick, Kotter Principal, is based in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rachel Rosenfeldt, Kotter Executive Director, Commercial Strategy and Operations, is based in Boston.
Additional contributions by Patrick Blankenship, LtCol, United States Marine Corps.
