Hands-on leadership means getting on the ground and working alongside your team. You see what is really happening, hear what never reaches the top, make faster decisions and earn trust. It works best in balance: spend time working in the business with your people, then step back to work on it, build systems and delegate.
- The 30,000-foot view can hide a lot. Spend time on the ground.
- Getting your hands dirty builds empathy, visibility, agility and trust.
- Lead by example, and step in when something needs to get across the finish line.
- Balance working in the business with working on it: do it, systemize it, then delegate it.
What is hands-on leadership?
Hands-on leadership is a willingness to work in the trenches with your team. My co-host Arturo Gomez has led teams for 25 years, and he says many leaders are discovering that the view from 30,000 feet is a fantasy.
You can fly over a war-torn country and it can look beautiful.
Arturo Gomez, Episode 34
To understand what is going on, you have to spend time on the ground. Arturo raised this topic in 2021, when the pandemic was forcing businesses to sink or swim and nobody had a playbook. His answer was to get to work.
Why is hands-on leadership important?
I see three reasons, and they hold in good times and bad.
- Empathy. I try to avoid asking anyone to do something I have never done. When you have done the work, you understand what it takes.
- Humility. It is easy to climb onto a perch, delegate everything, and decide you have outgrown the work. That throne is a mindset you cannot afford.
- Growth. Most competitors, even business owners, are unwilling to get their hands dirty. Doing what others won't is an edge.
Get off the perch and onto the ground.
What do you gain when you get on the ground?
Arturo names four payoffs.
- Visibility You see things differently and hear things that never come through reports.
- Impact Smart leaders evaluate the business daily and make quick decisions. You can only do that when you understand what is happening.
- Agility Being present lets you shift fast when the world shifts.
- Trust Your people read the same headlines you do. They need to believe their leader is steering them in the right direction, or retention suffers.
| The 30,000-foot view | Boots on the ground | |
|---|---|---|
| What you see | A business that looks fine | What is really happening |
| What you hear | Filtered reports | The problems people face every day |
| Decisions | Slow and based on old information | Quick daily adjustments |
| Your team's trust | Wonders if you know what's going on | Sees a leader in it with them |
Why do some leaders avoid getting their hands dirty?
The time is rarely the issue. Arturo believes many leaders are afraid of feeling human again, of doing a task they haven't touched in 20 years. Some see certain work as beneath them. Surviving hard seasons means doing things that make you uncomfortable, and that discomfort builds your grit.
Does hands-on leadership work for remote teams?
Yes. Arturo's examples come from brick and mortar businesses, but the principle travels. Ask yourself a few questions. Are you active enough? Are you asking the right questions and doing the research? Are you supporting your people like a teammate? Communication and listening at the ground level are how you win the small inches that improve a business.
How do you get your team to roll up their sleeves too?
Start by leading by example. Culture transforms when people see the boss active in the business, doing things the boss arguably shouldn't have to do.
Accept that some people won't conform right away. The business still has to deliver, so sometimes the leader steps in and gets the work across the finish line. Arturo has seen those moments become breakthroughs for people who were falling behind. They see empathy, care, humility and energy, and they gravitate toward it.
Be transparent from the first interview, too. Show candidates the good, the bad and the ugly. Arturo compares it to a marriage. When people feel safe, heard and part of a winning team, they start recruiting their friends.
Is hands-on leadership the same as micromanaging?
They are different. Arturo is a big fan of delegating, trust and developing the people under him. Being hands-on is about knowing the work well enough to build the system. Here is the sequence I use:
- Do it myself. Learn exactly what good looks like.
- Create the system and process. Capture how to duplicate the result.
- Delegate it. Hand it off, knowing exactly what it takes to duplicate the result.
When things still aren't getting done the right way, get back in there yourself. That kind of presence is one of the fastest ways of building trust with your team.
What happens to culture when leaders step back too far?
In 2021 I ran into a friend who had been investing in his company's culture a year earlier. He told me it had turned toxic. He was hiring many people at once, had no time for culture and no system to duplicate it, and people were leaving. Culture needs a leader close enough to see it slipping.
How do hands-on leaders approach AI?
The same way they approach everything else. Go first and learn the tools with your own hands. Twenty hours of hands-on practice gets you going, and it gives you the empathy to lead your team through it. Then build the system and delegate, keeping the judgment human. Start with AI for leaders.
Do this today
- Reprioritize your time. Look at where your hours go and move some of them to the ground level.
- Work in the business. Block time this week to work alongside your team at a level you rarely visit, like the CEOs on the TV show who go undercover on the factory floor.
Listen to the episode
Are Your Hands Dirty Enough
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Questions people ask
What is an example of hands-on leadership?
A leader who works a shift alongside the team, listens to their problems, and pitches in to get a project across the finish line. Smart leaders also evaluate the business daily and adjust fast.
Is hands-on leadership good or bad?
It is good in balance. Working in the business gives you visibility and trust. Working on it gives you strategy and systems.
What are the qualities of a hands-on leader?
Empathy, humility, grit, transparency and a willingness to do what others won't.
How do you balance hands-on leadership with delegation?
Do the work yourself first, turn it into a system and process, then delegate it. Step back in when results slip.
Full transcript
Episode 34: Are Your Hands Dirty Enough
Welcome to Leadership DNA, a podcast for those who aspire to be a better leader. Alongside Arturo Gomez, I'm Rob Cressy. Today's topic, Are Your Hands Dirty Enough? And Arturo, when you sent this over to me, it put a smile on my face because it resonated so much with me in my mindset, in my philosophy for the ways that I lead. Can you dive a little bit deeper into sort of why you wanted to talk about this?
Well, I think it's something super top of mind for me right now, and I think it's probably very top of mind for a lot of leaders right now. Just the circumstances and the world we're living in right now is causing a lot of people to, you're either going to sink or swim. And so, you know, part of that, part of that swim mentality is to, is to make sure that you're working, you know, probably harder than you ever have and working smarter than you ever have. And, and some of that requires some real visibility into the business and real visibility into your team.
And, and I think that a lot of people just don't understand that if they're not working in the trenches, if they're not at the ground level, that they're not going to really get the perception of the business that's required. I mean, so everybody, you know, there's a lot of leaders and a lot of people that are top, top, sorry, I got some action in the background, but a lot of leaders right now, I think, are starting to realize that this 30,000 foot view is, you know, potentially fantasy. You know, you can fly over a war torn country and it can look beautiful, you know, and so you need to be on the ground and you need to take moments to actually spend time on the ground so that you actually really understand what's going on.
And so I think that right now in this environment where the world is causing a lot of businesses to have to shift into evolve. I mean, again, we're staring down the barrel of this, of, you know, this pandemic that's coming back and it's already influencing a lot of things, certainly in the businesses that I have.
And I think really globally across the board, it's, it's a topic of conversation. And so right now there is no playbook for entrepreneurs and leaders. And so the, the fastest, quickest thing that I think provides solutions one to provide some comfort to the team and also to give you visibility into your businesses, to make sure that you are, your hands are dirty. You got to get to work.
And there's three things that I just wrote down as you were saying this, that highlights the importance of getting your hands dirty. Number one, and we've talked about this on previous episodes, empathy. One thing that I always like to do as a leader, I never ask someone to do something that I have never done before, because I understand what it's like to be in that position.
And of course that's not an absolute, but it's pretty close to it in terms of the things that you understand or that you're willing to do. And then number two is with the way that the world and entrepreneurship and business has changed. So many people want to rest on their laurels, the way that things have always been done. And sometimes we can get high up on our perch where we've got our team doing everything. We're delegating everything. And by design, you know what?
I've outgrown getting my hands dirty. I'm now to the point where I'm sitting in this royal throne where I feel like I've deserved to be in the position where I am. And that is a mindset you cannot have because the number three thing is growth. If we want to grow right now, you need to be willing to do everything you can in your power to grow, including getting your hands dirty and doing the things that others aren't willing to do.
Because the thing that I love about this, if we think about competition, is the person who's competing with you willing to do the things that gets their hands dirty? And I would like to say the majority of people are not willing to do that, even business owners. So this time right now is going to weed out of a lot of entrepreneurs and a lot of businesses who say, you know what?
I'm going to make an excuse for why things are not moving forward in my business, as opposed to saying, as a leader, I'm willing to get my hands dirty. And if I got to go to the ground level, that's exactly what I'm going to do. Yeah, I mean, it kind of draws on the grit piece. You know, I think the biggest thing is that it's not people that are not willing to, they're not afraid of the time commitment.
I think they're just afraid of what it feels like to be, you know, quote unquote, human again, and what it feels like to do things that, hey, I haven't done that in 20 years. Well, you know, it's if you really want to survive, you're going to do things that that make you uncomfortable. And we talked about that in previous episodes and kind of forcing yourself to do things that that make you uncomfortable to kind of strengthen yourself a little bit.
But, you know, I think you're going to get some real visibility. You see things differently when you're on the ground and you hear things that you may not hear from other methods, you know, in terms of, you know, distancing yourself from the business. I think you also make a real impact. I mean, smart leaders and smart entrepreneurs are evaluating the business on a daily basis and making, you know, quick decisions.
I mean, in the world that I that I live in and, you know, hospitality, aviation and some some marketing aspects. If if you're not making moves on a daily basis, then you're you're kind of you potentially putting yourself at real risk. And so it's a constant tweak. And so if you're if you're able to really understand what's going on and you have a greater capacity to make make an impact.
The other thing is that the shift you're able to again, you know, you can shift and you increase agility by by being present. And then last, I mean, you're going to build some real trust. Trust is a real important factor in in any business. And I think that, you know, the the the people that we're leading and the people that we're employing, they're not necessarily seeing the world differently. They're reading the headlines. They're seeing the concern. They're seeing issues within the business.
And if they don't think that their leader or the person that's driving the business is going to be driving them in the right direction, you're going to have some real challenges with retention and some other issues. And I think this is something that is so important for culture. And we're talking about this now, given everything going on in the world.
But I believe this is almost an absolute in general in good times and bad times, because if your team can see you as a leader being willing to get your hands dirty or to be there. I love what you said about having your boots on the ground, because the things you can hear and see in the communication, because so often it's these we're fighting for these little inches as business owners of things that we can improve.
And communication and listening are two of the things that we can do on the ground level to say, hey, what can be done to fix a problem that you're having? Or you may not realize something if you're not down on that level because you're sitting so high up on the perch. Yeah. And I think, you know, listen, I think this is applicable to people that are that are living in the digital world right now. There's some some businesses that are completely remote.
And, you know, you know, I think my experiences and my some of these analogies are drawn into from, you know, having brick and mortar and having kind of physical presence and interaction with with my employees. But I think that there's there's certainly to me, it's about being active. Are you active enough? Are you asking the right questions? Are you doing the right research? Are you supporting in a way that would be more of a of a teammate role rather than a boss role?
And so these are these are things that I think are are really transferable really across all platforms and across all businesses. You just have to be an active leader and supportive in a way that's going to move the business forward, culture forward and and allow you to actually make decisions on behalf of the business that are swift.
I'm curious your thoughts on how you can help lead your team to have them get their hands dirty as well, because certainly you can lead by example and do it. But let's talk about not everybody may necessarily be willing or interested in doing it where how can we build this culture to say, listen, everyone now wants to get their hair should want to get their hands dirty on this.
So as leaders, we take ownership of absolutely everything, but not everybody's willing to get comfortable. So what suggestions do you have for leading your team to help them get comfortable with getting their hands dirty? Yeah, I mean, I think it starts first with with, you know, obviously the lead by example component. I mean, that that really is going to have a strong impact on culture.
I mean, you're going to really see things transform in a very nice kind of progressive way when people are seeing, you know, the boss, the leader, the guy that they, you know, look up to or don't. But seeing this individual active in the business and doing things that, you know, maybe this person shouldn't be doing. But I think I think that's that's a real critical piece. The other thing I think that leaders should understand is that not everybody is going to conform.
And that's another reason why you have to have your hands dirty. It's the life, the life or the success of the business is is going to be dependent on the output. And so if there are people, you know, kind of the assessment of that individual and that individual's work output aside, you got to do whatever it takes to make sure that the business is successful. So if that person is not pulling their weight in this immediate instance, sometimes it takes an individual to get themselves involved and make sure that it goes across the finish line.
And so and a lot of those times end up being breakthrough moments for those potential individuals that just are, you know, that are falling behind. They see somebody that, you know, they find it that there's empathy involved there, that there's care involved, that there's humility involved. And certainly that there's, I think, energy and zeal towards towards getting getting something done. I mean, that's you know, people can gravitate towards towards those things. Thanks.
Arturo, I'm curious from your perspective, being in the hospitality side of things. So often now when we look around, we're seeing a lot of help wanted signs where it's actually hard to get people to want to go back to work. Nonetheless, saying, all right, now that you're back at work, we're also going to be looking to have you do more or get your hands dirty. And I'm curious if you can share any insight from your perspective that might be able to help others around this. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a critical thing.
I mean, it's it's happening nationally and it's not even just happening in hospitality. I think we're seeing a labor shortage really across multiple industries. But I think I think transparency, you know, on the front end, you know, certainly the conversation that I'm having with people as we're as we're trying to onboard them or even interview them is really just painting the picture of this is what this is what this is who we are.
This is what it's like and and making sure that we can provide them with as much information on the front end so they can make their decisions, because I think it's important. I think it's important to buy bring people on the team immediately, especially in some of these critical periods that that have somewhat bought in, you know, that if someone bought into at least what you're and you have to be honest.
You can't be painting a picture that doesn't exist. I mean, you have to you know, you have to show them the good, the bad and the ugly and say, here's here's here's who we are. And here's here's what we do. It's almost like a marriage. Right. You got to be really transparent with with each other in order for it to work. But I think I think the other thing, again, you know, retention people.
What I've what I've started to see is that we've had some real contributors, some team contributors that are bringing others to the fold. And so that happens when people feel safe, that that happens when people feel like their voices are being heard. That happens when when people are seeing success. It's rare that people are recruiting other people to a sinking ship. You know, you don't want to do you don't want to do that.
And so, you know, a lot of these factors of getting to work, getting your hands dirty and, you know, joining in with the team is something that I would recommend that everybody obviously do. One, for the for the success of their business, but two, for the culture that it brings. But at the core of it, I think it's transparency is what people are asking for and what they really want. The other thing is, I mean, you've got to be competitive.
You know, there's a whole conversation of, you know, where we where we land with with wages and how we create environments that are, I think, exciting and attractive for people. And so but but culture is a big thing. One thing I'm seeing in my coaching business that seems to be prevalent across the board is actually a lack of culture right now.
So as it relates to hiring, you're bringing people on there is because there can be a shortage of help or so many things going on where revenue goes down. So now the people who are in leadership are focusing on other thing. Other things in culture is the thing that is starting to really fall down for a lot of companies. And it's a super slippery slope because I was talking to a friend of mine.
I ran in on the street and at one point a year ago, he was really focusing on culture and building up in his company. So I was excited to talk to him about it. And I was like, dude, how's the stuff with the culture going? And he's like, honestly, our culture is toxic right now. And I was like, whoa, what happened? And he's like, I just don't have the time right now to invest in the building of the culture because we're also bringing on so many people at once.
And I heard this and it crushed my heart because he didn't have a system and process for how to duplicate the culture to allow them to onboard the right amount of people. And I'm seeing this a lot because whether you're working remotely or sort of a little in office, a little out of office, if you're not investing or doubling down on culture right now, you're seeing a lot of turnover.
And that's what's happening in his company and a lot of others that people are leaving jobs that they liked because they realized the culture of where they were is not what they dream of having. And if a company isn't quick to address or one, identify it, but then to address it, they're going to keep having this turnover and no company wants to have this churn of employees because their culture is toxic when they don't read what they realize, but they're not doing anything about fixing the culture. Yeah. I mean, you know, there are people are talking about the great resignation. You know, so many people are just putting in their their notice and they're, you know, whatever they're going to do.
You know, I think people are understanding different levels of freedoms right now. But, you know, to me, cultures is what what is it at the end of the day? Is it is it a person? Is it a set of values? Is it you know, I think that the idea of culture, I think, is coming into question right now in a big capacity because. Excuse me. You know, people are questioning, hey, we're not in the office, so we're lacking culture.
I think it's I think it's a it's a really it's a really interesting subject because, again, it's if you're if you're hiring the wrong people right out of the gate. I think that you're never going to have the environment or the workforce that you really want. So I think that there needs to be emphasis really on the on the on the front end. And but then, you know, as much time as I've spent over the years really trying to emphasize hiring in the way that we hire.
We've also made some some some bad hires and it just it just it just happens. And so that's just the nature of the beast. I think it's I think anybody that feels helpless right now needs to really kind of reprioritize where they're spending their time. And and again, sometimes it requires. You know, you moving off this, you know, taking a step out of the the white ivory tower and getting down on the ground and getting your hands dirty.
And it's unfortunately, again, it's some people are very uncomfortable with doing things that are perceived beneath them. And and, you know, when you're when you're when you're if you're a CEO of a huge publicly traded company, you've got people to answer to. And so you've got to you've got you've got to make some some changes and you've got to create results. If not, you're going to be replaced. I think it's the same for small business, though, too.
I think you have whether it's, you know, you've got to answer to your mortgage payment, your car payment or, you know, some other form of pressure that that's sitting on top of you. I think people just need to give it give it a shot. If you're feeling some real interesting pressures in your business, I think you need to ask yourself, are you are you involved enough where you're because I also I also still subscribe to if you want something done right. You got to do it yourself.
Well, unfortunately, you know, I'm you know, I'm a big fan of delegating and I'm a big fan of of trust and, you know, how you develop other people underneath you. But if you're feeling that things aren't getting done the right way, then, you know, excuse my French, but you better get your ass in there and get it done. Well, yeah. And I love what you said, because I would think, number one, I'm going to do it myself. Number two, I'm going to create the system and process.
And then number three, I'm going to delegate it because now I've got the perspective of what can be done to duplicate that result. So let's get to the action item or the takeaway in our tour. The favorite my favorite thing you said happened at the end of this episode. You said reprioritize where you are spending your time. And I feel like this is so important, both in culture as well as getting your hands dirty, because so many people may be used to spending their time at something higher level when right now what is necessary is getting your hands dirty. What about you? What's your action item or takeaway from today? I mean, I think, you know, people need to understand that there needs to be a balance of working on the business and working in the business. You know, and so what I mean by that is that I think it's critical.
I think it's important that people actually spend time really, you know, strategizing, forecasting, looking at the future and, you know, evaluating the business even in its real time. How did we perform yesterday? How did we perform last month? But the other thing is that's important is for people to work in the business. And that means to work with your team, you know, at all, you know, different levels.
And, you know, I forgot the name of the show, but you have this show where CEOs come in and they disguise themselves and they come and they work the forklift for a couple of days in this huge factory or whatever. And they see things that they've never, ever seen before. And so I think it's critical to take kind of the lead of the premise of that show and everything that we've discussed in this episode that people need to spend time working on their business, but they also need to spend time working in their business. Absolutely love it. Absolutely love it.
And we want to hear from you. How does this concept of are your hands dirty enough resonating with you? Is this something that you're applying to your business on a day-to-day basis?
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