Director Means Something

This is a great post on what a director actually does. It's not just the next promotion after senior manager. Directors are strategic - they don't set the strategy, but they make sure it's integrated in to everything that we do. The thing is, strategy is risky. If it's not, you're not taking enough bets. And that's an issue in today's (2024) job market:

Post-cuts, your remaining directors are nervous and running to safety. And this is the big danger for organizations this year. Directors running toward safety have a way that they behave. And it's not strategic. And it's not expansive. And it's a major problem cause strategic and expansive is where you actually need those folks.

The thing that makes directors different than managers, the reason you pay them, is strategic integration. They aren't the ones authoring the organization's strategy, but strong directors are the ones who make it go. They connect the dots. They translate overall direction into terms and priorities their teams can understand. They identify and mitigate risks early. And they light the senior team on fire with the insights and opportunities that they can't wait to jump on.

If I had to choose one line from this post (but seriously, go and read it all) it would be:

The mindset shift for every director is to stop looking at how to get your team's priorities done in the context of the org, and start looking at how to get the org's priorities done in the context of your team.