286. The Gutter Guard Guide To Setting Boundaries
286. The Gutter Guard Guide To Setting Boundaries
Leadership is all about setting boundaries and expectations. As it turns out, there are some mighty important lessons you can learn from the bowling alley.
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When I was a young kid, it seemed like the bowling ball had a magnetic attraction to the gutter.
I’m not saying bowling wasn’t fun, I’m just saying that a kid can feel defeated when his highest score is only 17.
Then one day the gutter guards were put in for me. My little mind was blown.
Oddly, the placement of the gutter guards changed my behavior. It wasn’t just that my bowling balls stopped going into the gutter - it’s that they stopped going anywhere near it.
The placement of the gutter guards was the one thing that made me not need gutter guards.
Shortly after they appeared, I magically started rolling the ball right down the center of the lane, where it should’ve been going all along.
Coincidence?
Not at all.
When The Conductor Stays Home
The business management guru, Peter Drucker, once said:
"Only three things happen naturally in organizations: friction, confusion, and underperformance. Everything else requires leadership."
In other words, left to its own devices, an organization will flail. And eventually, fail.
Think of it like an orchestra without a conductor.
The musicians wouldn’t know when to show up, what song to play, at what moment to play it, and at which tempo to begin. It would be a chaotic mess that would frustrate both the musicians and anybody unfortunate enough to have bought tickets to that musical maelstrom.
Your job as a leader is to be the conductor. Your job is to ensure your musicians don’t get mired in mayhem.
Your job as a leader is all about setting boundaries.
What Happens When Leadership Isn’t Setting Boundaries
Similar to the conductor-less orchestra, in a company where leadership is setting no boundaries, people will do whatever they want, whenever they want and however they want. There will be no consistency and no common vision.
❌ Productivity would tank.
❌ Growth would stagnate.
❌ The culture would be as messy as shoving 10 pounds of cow patties in a 5-pound fanny pack.
Does this lack of boundaries make you think of any companies and their poor leadership?
It should. Because failure in setting boundaries happens all the time.
The Importance Of The Gutter Guard In Setting Boundaries
As an executive coach, I get to talk with a lot of leaders at a lot of different companies. I love it. It’s fun.
I get to learn how companies run and how leaders lead. I get to work with executives to help them through their fears of conflict, their struggles with decision-making, and their challenges with Imposter Syndrome.
One way I help them navigate these treacherous rapids is to help them understand the importance of being the gutter guard.
You see, to continue rolling with this bowling metaphor, your job as a leader is not to be the ball, pins or alley.
Leadership’s most important role is to just be the gutter guard. That’s it.
The gutter guard doesn’t do the work as much as setting the boundaries to let others understand the direction to throw the ball and the boundaries in which it can roll.
The gutter guard doesn’t push the ball forward as much as defines the direction it needs to go by setting a vision and purpose.
The gutter guard doesn’t take credit for success as much as it sets up the team to have a better chance of winning.
Being a gutter guard leader means setting the parameters in which people can work - and then enforcing those parameters. This includes:
Defining the decisions they can and cannot make alone
Setting the priorities they must focus on
Confirming the timelines they must adhere to
Creating the vision and strategy to get there
All of these establish gutter guard boundaries that help people be more productive and effective in their work.
A funny thing happens when you are firmly setting boundaries - just like the little bowling version of me, by setting boundaries the team will soon not need those boundaries anymore.
Letting people know the boundaries of their job gives them comfort. And when there’s comfort, there’s confidence.
With confidence comes greater productivity, greater creativity, and a bountiful sense of pride in what one is doing.
Are you empowering your team?
Are you holding people accountable?
Are you giving honest, transparent and frequent feedback?
Are you being an effective gutter guard?
I think it’s time you grab those two-toned bowling shoes that I know you love, make sure you’re setting boundaries and embracing your role as a gutter guard leader.
Your team’s bowling average will thank you for it.
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