Marbles on the Table

The other day, while in the breakroom, one of my executive team members approached me and asked how I was doing. He noted that I always checked in with him and the rest of the team and wondered who was checking in on me. I replied that I was doing fine and thanked him. Regardless of my situation, that will always be my response for those I am responsible for at the office. I believe it’s one of the burdens of being a CEO.

In the past, I had the pleasure of working with someone who approached life from a completely different angle than I did. She possessed a chaotic artist’s soul, which reflected in her interactions with people. It was something our leadership team, of which I was a part at the time, desperately needed. She puzzled many people. Before her arrival, we had nobody who looked at situations differently. Although our paths have diverged since then, I suspect she still embraces life fiercely. One day, as we discussed some of the challenges we were facing, she looked at me and remarked that I had too many marbles on my table, and many of those marbles were not mine; yet, she understood why I had them.

Both she and the executive team member I mentioned earlier were highlighting that my leadership style tends to involve picking up the loose marbles of the people around me. She wondered how much room on my table I had for all those marbles, including my own.

This is why I believe it’s crucial for leaders at the top of an organization to have an external network of people to help with loose marbles. I have two really good friends who serve as marble carriers. One resides in the land of Oz, and the other is from where I originated. Both approach leadership differently than I do, which is incredibly valuable for me. I bounce ideas and thoughts off them, and they do the same with me.

I appreciate my team members who check in with me to see how I am managing my own loose marbles. I prefer not to burden them with my marbles on their tables.