The Balance of Leadership
I ran across an Inc. article by Scott Mautz called If Employees Describe You in any of these 5 Ways it’s Time to Rethink How You Lead. This really got me thinking about just how hard it is to be a leader as you are not only accountable for the measurable deliverables of your team/business, but you also must take responsibility for how your team feels about you. I know you cannot please everyone and listening to all the noise can be overwhelming, but I have to agree with Mautz that statements like these are clear signs that something is really wrong. The biggest challenge is that these descriptions are not necessarily fact-based and represent the perception your team has of you; yet they are critical to your success and the growth of your team. A strong cohesive energized team can do great things and elevate your leadership skills, but a disgruntled team can stunt your leadership development and short circuit your career. The bottom line is that you don’t want to leave your team’s assessment of you to chance and need to always be looking for ways keep the team on your side. So, give this some thought.
Keep a Pulse on the Team- Business will always go through cycles. They will have their ups and their downs. The same can be said for the team you are leading. Some days you will face teams that are energized and ready to go and other days that same team may feel deflated and overwhelmed. All of those ups and downs require a different emphasis from you as a leader. Compassionate to calm a nervous team, fearless guidance when facing a challenge or overly supportive to support an overwhelmed team. As a leader, you need to be able to read the room and be the leader that the situation dictates
Look in the Mirror- Like the article said, being a leader isn’t “all about you”. That is 100% true, but “you” are the leader; so, you definitely have to take some time for self-examination. It is critical that you take the time to reflect on your actions (or inactions) on a regular basis. Are you being too critical? Are you being too removed? Are you micromanaging? Are you making educated decisions? Are you making those decisions timely? Are you not holding the team accountable? Are you pressing too hard?
Challenge Yourself- If you are true in your assessment of yourself, what steps are you taking to address your shortcomings? (It is OK to have them, none of us are perfect.) If you are not holding the team accountable because you don’t want to the rock the boat, consider the impact to the team. How can you take baby steps to push the team down your desired path? What skills do you need to develop in order to make that happen? If you find yourself at constant odds with your team, maybe you are entering those interactions with the wrong strategy?
Your relationship with your team will define you as a leader. We talk a lot about this not being a “popularity contest” and it isn’t, you are ultimately responsible for delivering the revenue/work product/services that your company sells; but we can never forget that we need the team to make that happen. Being adaptive to the situation to keep the team happy, focused and energized is a true balancing act; but it is one that a great leader does effectively.
Onward and Upward