Natalie Spangenberg and Alissa Zarro
Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes.
Peter F. Drucker
Introduction
A leader as producer is a leader who executes on goals and objectives, drives tangible results, and utilizes feedback and experience to inform decisions about the process of reaching these objectives.
They are also responsible for the products and services they offer within their organization, including the quality. A producer is efficient and resourceful, knowing how to solve problems, which shows they are proactive in anticipating possible problems, managing conflicting priorities, and keeping a pulse on their team’s needs. A good producer is also good at listening to feedback and possible problems from all stakeholders. They delegate effectively to work out solutions that help meet or exceed end goals in a sustainable way.
Leaders today must be able to create a compelling vision and strategy, but they must also be able to deliver the expected outcomes. They have to seamlessly move between the strategic and the operational/tactical often on the same day. It is one thing to create the strategy; it is another to deliver (produce) it.
The following are key areas in order to be a good producer:
• Executing on goals, objectives, and driving tangible outcomes
• Being a responsible leader
• Driving efficiency, speed, and resourcefulness
• Knowing how to solve problems
• Managing and delegating effectively
• Analyzing critical data and information
• Being concerned about the process
Executing on Goals, Objectives, and Driving Tangible Outcomes
To be a producer, a leader not only visualizes the outcome, but sets it in motion through implementation and execution. It is important for a leader to be able to achieve results and deliver on the vision of the organization. Doing this will determine whether or not initiatives are successful, and what could be done differently in future endeavors. This will also help to understand the various variables of success and how to sustain them.
Being a Responsible Leader
Responsibility comes in many forms and variations when it comes to a leader. A producer is responsible for the products, service, and quality of their organization, as well as the day-to-day operations of the organization in which they lead. This includes being responsible for the work, but also the people of the organization—making sure operations are run effectively and problems are resolved efficiently and in a timely manner. Especially with how globalized the current workforce has become and continues to develop, leaders are responsible for being involved in what is happening within their organization, especially within the production processes that occur, regardless of location. A leader cannot be present in every location at once on a day-to-day basis, but they can still be present in the process in various ways that help to support and act upon the organization’s goals and initiatives.
As stated in Dool (2019),
A major transition among business leaders in the 21st century has been a widespread sense of acceptance that executives must answer not only to their own fiduciary interests, but to the long-term impact of the companies they run on the future of an increasingly globalized world.
Driving Efficiency, Speed, and Resourcefulness
A producer also needs to be efficient in the work they conduct, helping other members of their team be efficient in their work as well. This will help determine how fast a process is conducted and the resources needed to deliver on a goal or objective within an organization. Whether a leader as producer is the most senior executive, head of a department, or leader within a team, a producer is able to deliver in these areas to help drive success for their organization. This also includes being resourceful in who the leader selects to achieve various goals.
Being efficient in the work and having the proper resources in place will help speed up the time it takes to accomplish a goal, which will help to drive additional projects forward. Concurrently, with the pace of work, being able to handle multiple projects at once is another key area for a producer. They must be multifaceted and able to set priorities, but also dive into the details. Oftentimes, they will be handling more than one project that they are responsible for and must be able to see the whole picture, while also getting into the weeds at times on an individual project.
Knowing How to Solve Problems
In the midst of executing upon organizational goals and initiatives, a producer also knows how to address and mitigate problems as they occur. Not acknowledging these problems as they occur can affect not only processes, but how teams ultimately work, as well as the outcomes. A producer knows how to be proactive in managing conflict, and listening to teams about problems they may experience, as well as their needs in the midst of day-to-day operations. They know when to intervene and when to stand back. They understand when triaging is useful and when to rethink processes. They use data and instinct both to keep a pulse on the operations of the organization as well as an active monitoring process.
To be a good problem solver as a producer, it is important to listen to feedback from all parties involved and those a leader delegates to for input. They create active, bidirectional communication channels. A producer will work out solutions with their teams, which will drive to the end goal in a sustainable way. There will always be problems to solve and conflicting opinions or ideas, but these situations present an opportunity for the leader as producer to see what actions they can take to help drive operations forward in the best way possible. Founder, CEO, and president of Amazon, Jeffrey Bezos, has embodied success in a variety of ways, but has been active in being a problem solver in his leadership at Amazon. Dool (2019) mentions this by noting:
Be unmovable, but willing to give. This first strategy might seem a bit contradictory. How can you be stubborn and flexible at the same time? The answer is simple—stay focused on your business plans and goals, but be willing to make changes if necessary. A business leader that lacks the ability to be stubborn is likely to abandon plans instead of seeing them through, and a leader lacking flexibility may overlook finding solutions to problems. … An industry inevitably will grow and change in ways that are hard to anticipate. To find success, stay true to the company’s goals, but be willing to adapt plans as the industry evolves.
Managing and Delegating Effectively
There are two important aspects to being an effective leader as a producer. It’s important to not only focus on the process from end-to-end, but also to properly manage teams in a way that guides them. Leaders set the goals, boundaries, and expectations and the rules of engagement as well as an effective monitoring process. They allow and encourage their teams to actively offer input on the work and their own ideas on the path to success. A producer has to have effective management skills that promote success for their teams. This includes ensuring team members are united under a common goal and communicating to keep teams informed and facilitating interdepartmental teamwork. It’s crucial for a leader to be present and be a source of guidance for their teams while executing on goals and objectives of the overarching organization. Leaders as producers have to lay the foundation for their team members, especially when they are first starting out within an organization. A producer is good at delegating and communicating desired outcomes in a clear, understandable way. They facilitate an organizational environment where their teams feel confident to do the work they are responsible for completing, but also provide support in cases where a team member may need guidance.
As leaders continue to navigate the fast pace of society, where technology is integral to how the majority of work is being conducted, it’s important to realize how teams will, in turn, form and operate available technology and systems. Leaders should be able to anticipate and incorporate new technology as seamlessly as possible into their employees’ work.
Analyzing Critical Data and Information
With every action taken by an organization, there are opportunities to analyze the results and outcomes of those initiatives to see what worked, what didn’t, and how every outcome can be used to grow and build for future initiatives. Even with initiatives that may appear to have “failed,” there are always opportunities for growth and an opportunity to try again in the future, but in a different way. Even during the process of execution, a producer may learn new information or ideas that can possibly change an outcome and shift the course of that initiative as it is happening to change the direction.
In every stage of innovation and production, producers should be able to justify their results to ensure they correspond to the company’s mission, purpose, and values. They have to put in place an active monitoring process that provides accurate and timely data on performance. This enables leaders to know when to intervene or stand back. They create meaningful metrics (e.g., key performance indicators (KPIs) or milestones) that can be used to track progress, serve as an early warning system, build momentum, serve as a reason to celebrate or offer proof to naysayers. This will have a direct impact on how employees help to produce in those key areas as well.
This is extremely important because the work being done within an organization should have a positive impact whenever possible. A producer keeps this in mind through focus and analysis, and executes on those fundamental areas that will drive success back to the organization and the work being done. This will also help to bring in more consumers who are buying in to what the organization stands for through their mission, purpose, and values, not to mention current and future team members who are passionate about what the organization stands for.
Being Concerned about the Process
In relation to the process of the work, a leader who is a successful producer also understands they have to lead in different stages of the production. When it comes to the process of the work, it’s important for a strategy to be clearly defined. The tactics to deliver that strategy can be implemented to drive tangible and sustainable outcomes. A leader who produces decides on the responsible parties involved and their role within projects. It’s also important for a leader to see a process from end-to-end, making sure their team members are driving results, and also that the processes are being executed in a sustainable manner. This will help to create a system of success by giving feedback where necessary and keep the team informed.
Zachary Langway, adjunct lecturer at Rutgers University and Towson University, (2020) notes,
Leader as Producer means striking a balance of doing and motivating. To be a leader, you have to produce, to roll up your sleeves and get in the trenches with your team. But you also need to know where to step back and let your team get the work done—with your support and motivation, but trusting them to get the job done. So, it is about finding balance and looking for the ways you can contribute meaningfully and uniquely while at the same time, distributing tasks and empowering your team to be their best in achieving your shared objective.
How a Leader Develops This Competency
How to Execute on Goals, Objectives, and Drive Tangible Outcomes
A key element in how a leader develops and enhances the producer mindset is simply through continuous action. This will help to put production into perspective and lead to future actions being taken. A leader who is good at executing on their goals is also good at organizing and keeping track of many moving parts. This can be accomplished with good time management and organizational skills. Other ways this can be developed and enhanced is through meeting with teams and keeping track of the status of processes being executed. It’s important, especially in the initial stages to be aware and present, but it’s also important to be involved throughout the stages of production as they are happening to gain a sense of how things are going, how teams are doing, address any concerns or problems, and see the final outcome in sight even if it’s not completely done yet. Again, it’s important for a producer to be involved and play an active role, but to also provide the freedom for teams to grow and have their own opportunities to take an active role on what is being done.
Dool (2019) noted,
Having a big picture perspective is great, but leaders cannot ignore the importance of the details. This balancing act is one of the biggest challenges professionals face as they advance in their careers. In the end, strategy is vital but worthless without execution.
How to be a Responsible Leader
Prior (2020) says that the lines are blurred between the roles and activities of being a producer, manager, and leader. She notes,
The way to succeed is to let go of the idea that you play just one role, and that you’d be more effective if only you could delegate more effectively. Your lifeline is your ability to shift mindset and hold onto the idea that your job is now to simultaneously produce, manage and lead.
Oftentimes leaders fail when they take an approach of less day-to-day involvement. This can be detrimental to the work being done and the chemistry of a team. Leaders are responsible for not only being active in the production of the work, but also for being present for their teams. Being a leader, manager, and producer demands becoming more immersed at times with their teams, especially to communicate the team’s purpose before execution, to drive success within organizations. The best leaders have an active monitoring process in place as noted earlier and use it to know when to intervene and when to stand back. They also know through intuition, honed by experience, that intervening both too early or too late can both have unintended consequences.
Leaders are responsible for each aspect of their business, and this includes not only team output, but product or services output. It is easy for leaders to become removed from things such as product quality and operations.
Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo, has been an influential leader and embodies a true producer. She recognized the responsibility she had when running the company, and it has shown through the success of the PepsiCo business, which gives perspective to other leaders who are trying to be producers by recognizing the responsibility they have in their own organizations. Dool (2019) notes:
She runs the company not only by looking at the big picture but she is also into details. Nooyi goes to stores and checks how their products are doing, from how they are displayed on shelves to the print quality of the logos. If she sees not enough products are catered to a particular market in a location or demographic, she takes note of this and does something about it.
How to Manage and Delegate Effectively
Kanaga and Prestridge (2002) noted:
One of the first steps to take toward increasing team effectiveness is to pay attention to how the team is formed. You can head off most of the problems that beset teams during the formation stage by setting a clear direction, securing organizational support, selecting the right team members, building an enabling team design, developing key relations, and monitoring external factors.
Dool (2019) also goes into depth about how leaders can encompass key managerial skills:
A leader needs to identify the key players who can make a project succeed and then offer them the resources to push the project forward. Empowering a small group of talented individuals to work together increases the chances of identifying ideas that help the business innovate.
Good managerial skills include knowing how and when to delegate. This involves recognizing your employees’ strengths and giving them roles that allow them to act on them, giving good directions, and resolving any confusion regarding an individual’s roles and responsibilities in order to have a clear understanding of what is expected. It is paramount to highlight and document the most important points and aspects decided on so that everyone can refer back to them and be on the same page.
To develop this competency of being a producer, it’s a unique blend in taking the active steps in executing on the process, but still giving freedom to the teams to actively work as well. It’s also taking an active role in what strategies are being implemented. As a leader, it’s important to be involved, but also be aware of your role within teams and projects that are being implemented and adapted where necessary. Therefore, practicing a balance between micro- and macro-managing can help give freedom to organizational teams, and also allow a leader to be there if needed and provide support and guidance throughout. Dool (2019) also adds:
Successful leaders know how to define their mission, convey it to their subordinates, and ensure they have the right tools and training needed to get the job done.
An important way to be a good manager is keeping an open dialogue with subordinate members of the team. These lines of communication may be formal, in the form of meetings, or they may be informal conversations. The best leaders create both formal and informal, active bidirectional communication mechanisms that provide critical information, but also what they need to hear versus want to hear. This includes encouraging constructive debates or alternate ideas to solutions.
How to Analyze Critical Data and Information
For every initiative, there is an outcome. That is where analysis comes into play. For a producing leader, it’s important to understand the initiatives that are being implemented and then study the outcomes of those strategies and initiatives. To hone in on these results, it’s important to not only utilize measurement tools that can put an outcome into perspective for you and your teams, but to also analyze and read into those results to see the meaning behind the analytics. What worked, what didn’t, and how something can grow more in future endeavors. Even when it comes to products or services, how did those elements do in the production process or market? How many products were sold? Did a consumer have a good experience with your service? These are questions to be considered regardless of industry because these answers will help to move your organization forward in the future with the next goal.
It’s important to not only analyze the success or failure of the initiative, but also to analyze how it correlates back to your overall mission and purpose as an organization. Did it serve the organization to the best of its abilities and if not, could it be done differently to serve the overarching goals of the organization? As a producer, these elements will help create success even if an initiative did not do as well as originally planned.
Marissa Anema (2020), assistant director of marketing and communications at the Rutgers University School of Communication and Information, says,
Any type of measurement tool [Hootsuite, Google Analytics, Google Ads, etc.] is extremely helpful to building your competency as a producer because it’s the only way that’s going to measure the work that you’re doing towards a goal. For us, it’s the number of students that are enrolling. That’s the big number that you want to get to, but before you can look at that as what I’m producing, there’s everything else that happens. Having analytical tools to measure the efforts that you’re putting in is going to inform the way that you get the bigger results, the end result. It’s also keeping your finger on the pulse of the market, so if we see trends changing, then we can start to change our trajectory and change our processes, so that we drive more results and we hopefully reach that goal even more, or maybe even set a new goal because everything that happens leading up to the major goal of production is just as important.
Competency in Action
As it pertains to being a responsible leader, being responsible in the production involves a leader’s accountability for the business, teams, and sustainability of the company’s operations. Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo, embodies many elements of being a successful leader, but puts into perspective how to be a responsible one as well. According to Dool (2019):
In 12 years as CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi grew the company’s revenues by more than 80 percent, significantly expanded its international footprint, and executed key acquisitions to ensure its future, from Gatorade and Quaker Oats, to Pepsi Bottling and SodaStream. At the same time, she foresaw early key market trends, redirecting the company’s focus toward healthier alternatives, including in its soda and snack food offerings, and working to lessen the company’s impact on environmentally distressed areas of the world.
Maintaining efficiency, speed, and resourcefulness on a day-to-day basis can be challenging. Some leaders carry out the work as head of a department, but also keep a role in other areas of the department as well. This can help keep them in knowing about the process; however, it can be a juggling act to accomplish. This is where time and project management plays an important role.
According to Kim Guinta, editorial director at Rutgers University Press, in an interview (March 2020),
Keeping up with everybody else is a challenge, especially when you’re trying to do all the other paperwork [of a manager]. I feel like it would be easy to get behind. So time management is important for a producer.
A producer who manages effectively can hold any title within any structure, whether they are the head of an organization or member of a team project. If they are encompassing the following elements, they are producing success in their leadership with their teams. According to Kanaga and Prestridge (2002):
The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) has a long history of work with teams. In the course of that work it has become clear that four sets of activities spell the difference between a successful team launch and an unsuccessful one:
1) Setting purpose and direction
2) Defining roles and responsibilities
3) Designing procedures and practices
4) Building cooperation and relationships.
When you take on the responsibility of leading a team, you can launch your team toward success by addressing all of these elements.
Being a good manager is also about staying positive and encouraging team members. According to Kim Guinta (2020):
At my other job we had really high targets, and the company didn’t run if the people didn’t meet their targets. … The thing I learned is you can only push somebody so far. And if there are no incentives in place, then there is no reason for someone to try extra hard to do something. Fear only motivates you so far.
Another facet of management includes good communication with team members. The most important thing to remember when communicating about work is to be as unambiguous as possible with expectations. This way, not only is everyone on the same page, but a leader is more likely to get the outcome they are expecting.
Martha and Boehm (2008) noted,
It’s very actionable – the difference, for example, between telling the sales force they need to increase revenues by 10 percent (an outcome) and telling them they each need to make two hundred additional sales calls (an action). Good direction also makes the tough decisions between priorities, as opposed to putting them all on an equal footing and making employees decide, when they come to an unavoidable conflict, which is more important. … so they make the right decisions when they have to.
By being analytical of critical data and information, Jeffrey Bezos has also shown the results of his impactful leadership. Dool (2019) notes:
For any company, experimentation breeds innovation, and it sets a stale business apart from an obvious leader in the industry. Bezos encourages Amazon employees to experiment constantly, and tests promising ideas with the knowledge that they might fail.
As a leader, to be involved in the process is to provide freedom to your teams, instilling check-in meetings throughout. This can not only help to stay active in your producing role, but also ensure that work is being implemented in the best ways and if a team or member of a team is struggling, to provide more guidance to help the process continue to move. Having that overarching goal, whether a strategy or initiative, helps to keep the focus on the outcome, which is what everyone on the team is working toward. Anema (2020) adds:
It’s definitely a balance between not assuming that the work is getting done and just turning your blind eye to it and then realizing that there’s some sort of piece missing, and balancing that with not constantly checking in with your team and making them feel like the only thing that they’re doing is reporting.
Summary
To bring everything together, a leader as producer is a leader who executes on goals and objectives, drives tangible results, and utilizes feedback and experience to inform decisions about the process of reaching these objectives.
It’s also important to remember that this guidance is not only meant for those at the top of an organization’s structure. Anyone can take this advice into consideration and implement it into their own leadership styles, whether you are an executive, team leader, or team member. Behn (2014) describes how anyone can embody a leader by taking this initiative to drive and produce results within your organization:
These people are real leaders. They might be the people at the top of the organization’s formal hierarchy—those traditionally charged with these responsibilities. But their formal status does not make them leaders. It only gives them the opportunity to exercise leadership. They are not, however, the only ones. If a governor does not want to take on these leadership responsibilities, a department head can. If a cabinet secretary avoids them, an agency director can take them up. Others—people with a purpose—can simply take up the responsibility for producing results. In the process, they exercise leadership.
Being a producer is crucial as producing sustainable results defines the success of the organization. Leaders not only create a compelling vision for the organization, but also drive the implementation and execution to the expected outcomes. They are present for their teams and create the supportive atmosphere that team members feel passionate about the work they do. Similarly, to being a “leader as exemplar,” a leader will set the tone in which their teams will work. If a leader does not motivate their teams to produce, the initiatives will not be successfully implemented. If a leader effectively communicates the overall vision and goals of the organization, they will engage employees and will help them feel valued in their roles. They will come to work every day feeling passionate about what they do, which will lead to successful implementation and execution. Furthermore, as a leader as producer, it’s important to know how to balance micro- and macro-managing your teams to ensure you are giving them the freedom to get the work done, but also providing the support they may need throughout short- and long-term processes.
Key Takeaways
• Ideas are key, but actions are fundamental: Ideas are ineffective without execution. As leaders, it’s crucial to work with your organization, build teams, and bring ideas to fruition that tie back to the organization’s vision, purpose, and values.
• It’s all about balance: Being involved with your team and taking active measures in the process, but also giving your team the freedom to produce as well without constant interference.
• You’re only as strong as your teams: Be there for your teams and utilize their feedback and ideas, not just on the work, but also on your own leadership and ideas. A leader not only produces results on goals and initiatives, but produces opportunities for others to lead and be their own producers.
• There is room for growth in every initiative: Regardless of the work being done, there are always opportunities to grow and see what worked, what didn’t, and what could be done differently in the future to achieve better results.
References
Anema, M. March 2020. Personal Communication.
Behn, R. 2014. The PerformanceStat Potential—A Leadership Strategy for Producing Results. Brookings Institution Press.
Dool, R. 2019. 12 Months of Leadership Insights: A Compendium of Leadership Lessons from 40 Leaders. Seattle, WA: Kindle Direct Publishing.
Guinta, K. March 5, 2020. Personal Communication.
Kanaga, K., and S. Prestridge. 2002. How to Launch a Team Start Right for Success. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership.
Langway, Z. March 2020. Personal Communication.
Martha, B., and M. Boehm. 2008. Beyond the Babble: Leadership Communication that Drives Results. 1st ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Prior, L. 2020. “Producer/Manager/Leader: The New Leadership Paradigm,” Prior Consulting. https://www.priorconsulting.com/resources/articles/producer-manager-leader/, (accessed April 24, 2020).