Leadership by Triangulation

There’s no shortage of “experts” when it comes to leadership as is prevalent by a quick Google search which rendered me 3.85B results to casually peruse.  We have all read or at least heard of all familiar books on leadership like Simon Sinek’s Start with Why, Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effect People, John Maxwell’s The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, James Collins Good to Great, Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and one of my favorite Jocko Willink & Leif Babin’s Extreme Ownership.

On a recent call with best-selling author, Atlas Aultman, he and I discussed leadership which was brimming with golden nuggets for leaders at every level and would have made for a great podcast.  It was during this riveting conversation that we both subscribed to the common belief that “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”.  As we both leaned into this agreement our discussion gravitated to the power and influence of social media and how broad the scope of influence can be.  When I was a kid I was only influenced by people that I had direct contact with however, today I have the ability to be shaped by the best leaders on the planet.  It was during this conversation that the word, “Triangulation” popped into my mind.  Initially, I wasn’t sure what this meant but as our discussion evolved, it became clear what “Leadership by Triangulation” meant and is a powerful concept if applied appropriately. 

As a leader, you have to begin with where you are.  That’s right; exactly where you stand with all your attributes, both good and bad.  This includes your education, belief system, emotions, worldview, personality, etc.  From my military days, this would be referred to as your known point.  You should have a good idea of where you excel and where you need some work, albeit we all have blind spots which is where we need trusted advisors.  This establishes our first point of the triangle - Me Point.

Let’s place a stake in the ground for point two which is represented by the average of the five people you spend the most time with, as previously mentioned - Big 5 Point.  Another way to say this is that “you are a product of your environment” as articulated by W. Clement Stone.  Spend time with healthy, fit people and you’ll become healthy and fit.  Spend time with thieves and drug dealers and your environment will be replete with guards, guns, and concertina wire.  Choose this point wisely while utilizing the tools available to you, as free education is at the tip of your fingers.  Also, as you grow as a leader the five people that take up residence on this point may change from time to time and that’s ok.

Our final point is unwavering, unshakable, and immovable.  This constant is the point from which all others will be measured and MUST be transcendent - Transcendent Point.  Your transcendent point has to be your driving force and ultimately your ‘why’.  From my time in the military I was taught that for Duty, Honor, or Country, I’d give my life which was transcendent as these three things were much larger than me and worth the sacrifice.  This could also be spiritual in nature whereby the higher power that you submit to is your anchor and stabilizes the triangle which we’ve just formed.  

As you can see “Leadership by Triangulation” begins with where you are and then adjusts based on the other two points which you ultimately determine.  I implore you to choose wisely the critical points by which the rest of your career as a leader will be shaped.  

#LeadFromTheFront