Walk Forward and Look Back
How Leaders Build Organizational Resilience: Walk Forward and Look Back
Why organizational resilience requires leaders to step outside what they’ve built and see what they may be missing.
We often think about business strategy in terms of the offense.
How do you build a nimble organization? How do you identify potential customers? What is your sales strategy? How do you optimize your product or service to be more effective?
But another side of strategy deserves just as much attention: defense.
And I don't mean defense simply as risk mitigation, insurance, cybersecurity, compliance, or protecting the business from threats. I mean defense from a structural perspective: How have you built your organization to withstand pressure, respond to disruption, and create the conditions for what comes next?
The military has long understood this.
In a military defense, units do the obvious things: prepare fighting positions, establish communications, emplace obstacles, position weapons, and develop plans. But the purpose of the defense isn't simply to sit there and absorb an attack. A good defense creates the time and space to preserve combat power, prepare for what comes next, and ultimately regain the initiative.
In other words, the defense is preparation for the next offensive move.
But an important part of preparing a defense isn't always obvious.
When I was a Major at Fort Lewis, Washington, our Brigade Commander conducted a series of professional development sessions that were essentially a “back to basics” course for his leaders.
I remember one lesson particularly well.
He was talking about preparing a defensive position, and after explaining the work involved in establishing the position, he said something I'll never forget:
“Now that you have your defensive position set up, you must walk forward of your defensive line and look back at yourself.”
That sounds simple. It isn't.
I spent 23 years in the Army as an Artilleryman, so my natural orientation was toward the target: Describe the target to me, and I'll hit it with my cannons.
But his point was that you can work incredibly hard building a position and still fail to see its vulnerabilities because you are looking at it from the inside.
You have to step outside of it.
Only then might you see that the camouflage you carefully placed doesn't actually conceal the position as well as you thought.
You might discover dead space, a location where an enemy can move or position themselves without being observed or effectively engaged.
You might find a gap between weapons systems that you assumed was covered.
The position may look great from where you are standing.
It looks different from the other side.
Your business is no different.
Leaders spend enormous amounts of time building organizations: establishing structures, assigning responsibilities, developing processes, communicating expectations, and trying to create a strong culture.
But eventually, leaders have to step forward from their own “defensive line” and look back.
What does the organization look like to someone who isn't inside it?
Where are the gaps between departments or team members?
Where does responsibility become unclear and where does blame begin to take hold?
What capabilities or skills are missing?
Where does leadership's intent differ from the experience of the people actually doing the work?
Where are we assuming something is covered when, in reality, there is dead space?
These aren't necessarily failures. They are opportunities to improve the position.
And you don't always have to walk forward alone.
In fact, you probably shouldn't.
Invite a few trusted voices to walk with you. People who will tell you what they actually see, not what they think you want to hear.
I've often told leaders, “I don't need you to always agree with me. I don't need to always hear 'Yes, Sir.' I don’t need more of me; I already have me. I need to know what you see from your position; I need to hear what you think, so I have more information with which to think clearly and make a good decision.”
That's leadership.
Sometimes those voices will come from inside your organization. They may come from a peer, mentor, or someone outside the organization who can see things without the assumptions and history that come with being inside it.
You don’t want to find someone who will tell you that your position is wrong.
The goal is to see what you can't see from where you normally stand.
Then make the adjustments.
A leader who has worked hard to build an organization around an inspiring vision still has to make sure the organization is actually positioned to accomplish it.
As an Artilleryman, I learned to look for the target and be ready to act. That ability to assess, decide, and execute matters.
But leadership requires more than having the answers and being ready to fire on the problem.
Sometimes the problem isn't where you think it is; there is a gap you can't see, and the best thing you can do is leave the position you've worked so hard to build, walk forward, and look back.
And don't be afraid to bring someone with you.
When Was the Last Time Your Leadership Team Stepped Back?
Sometimes leaders need to get outside the day-to-day to see their organization from a different perspective.
Arrowhead Leadership Retreats create space for leadership teams to have real conversations, identify gaps, strengthen relationships, and work together on what comes next.
