Building a team? It’s time to get real with yourself and others...
Dr Donna Elliott
Unf*ck Your Mindset to Create Your Dream Life & Business | Creator of The Imposter Syndrome Solution | Mindset & Manifestation Expert | Best-Selling Author | TEDx Speaker | Coach | 1:1, Group & Self-Study Programmes
Authentic Leadership has a crucial part to play when it comes to building teams that smash goals.
One thing I’ve always been clear on as a Leader (note the absence of the word ‘Manager) is that, at the end of every decision and action I take, there is a human being who needs to understand what I want, why I want it, and what it means to them.
Making sure that the people working for you understand how they fit into the wider organisational goals is one of the most important things you can do as a Leader. As Leaders, we all know that.
But here’s the thing:
You can make all of that clear to your team...
But if your team doesn’t trust you, you will fail.
Since Cheryl Lee and I founded our own Breakthrough Coaching business, I find myself talking about authenticity a lot. I believe we’re all better off when we can be wholly ourselves at work, whether we’re in our weekly team meeting or sitting at the boardroom table.
After all, we can’t achieve anything if we’re sitting quietly with our shoulders hunched, meekly hoping the conversation will pass us by so we don’t have to speak up, clock-watching until the meeting ends and we can run out of the danger zone.
And when we feel safe enough to be ourselves at work, wow! That’s when the magic happens.
We are better colleagues, better teammates, and better friends to those around us. We can bring our very best to the table every single day and help drive our teams to unimaginable heights, whether that’s launching a new product on time or hitting sales targets. Our self-confidence is higher, our well-being is improved, and we’re happier and more engaged.
That kind of achievement is only possible when everybody is working together towards the same vision and people feel safe enough to make meaningful contributions every day.
That sense of safety all comes down to the Leader at the top.
As the Leader, one element of your job is to foster that sense of safety and trust - trust in you and your abilities, as well as trust within the team.
Leadership is about more than modelling behaviours
Truly exceptional Leaders do a lot more than model the company values and the behaviours they expect to see in their team.
Exceptional Leaders inspire their team.
As a Leader, your primary responsibility is to make sure your team is strong enough, comfortable enough, and inspired by the vision you set.
Authenticity is how you do that.
We can sense when other people aren’t being real with us. Fair enough, we’re not right about it 100% of the time, but generally speaking, we can sniff out the people wearing a mask. It blocks relationships before they even get started, and the lack of trust builds and builds.
That lack of trust is catastrophic for Leaders.
If you’re in an executive role and your senior management team don’t trust you, I can almost guarantee that they go back to their desks after every meeting with you and communicate that mistrust to their reports one way or another.
It might not be verbal (although I’ve seen that happen). It might be reflected in their body language, their general demeanour, or perhaps even in the things they don’t say.
However that lack of trust manifests, your reports will radiate it to their direct reports, and so on down the hierarchy.
And it results in a team that:
- Doesn’t buy into your vision
- Questions your competence, and
- Mistrusts everything you say
This is when your team goes over your head, when they don’t follow your direction, when they don’t unite behind your vision.
This is when your projects and performance will fail.
Now, I don’t believe that Leaders should hold themselves responsible for the poor performance of individual team members if your are taking all the right steps in terms of clarity of role, coaching and performance management. If the rest of your team is achieving and one person is not, the failure lies with the individual.
But if your team is failing completely?
Yes. That probably is on you.
How to lead authentically
Authenticity looks different at different stages of your career, so it’s worth taking some time to work out exactly what’s appropriate for your position and the people around you.
For example, if you’re a senior executive it won’t be possible to keep your whole team in the loop on every single business development. Leading authentically means being open about your personal vulnerabilities and showing empathy for your team. It doesn’t mean spilling the beans about imminent redundancies or sensitive operational decisions.
If you’re struggling with transition into a Leadership role, you may want to keep some of your personal worries and fears to yourself around your direct reports whilst you build credibility and trust. But you might seek out your new peers and approach them for support, being open about the emotions you’re experiencing. It will feel risky, but once you start transitioning into Leadership you have several different teams: the team you manage, the peer-team you work with, and the executive team you’re part of. Building strong relationships with all of them will be instrumental to your success.
But no matter what authenticity looks like to you at this point in your career, it starts and ends with one thing:
Sharing with people what you really think and feel. Who you really are.
That doesn’t mean speaking without consideration for others’ feelings, but it does mean being honest and straightforward. A lot of people think Leaders need to be positive all the time and suppress all emotion other than positivity, because emotions are considered “unprofessional”.
That’s rubbish!
We all have emotions and trying to suppress them is a waste of time and energy. Your team will respond to your honesty and trust you more when they’re confident you aren’t trying to pull the wool over their eyes or putting on an act.
And that is the foundation of a goal-smashing team.
President- BSMC, LLC. Contract Sales & Marketing for mid-sized manufacturing
5 年I once read a quote from Emerson that said something like "every organization is but a lengthened shadow of a single man.? His character determines the character of the organization." This seems undoubtedly true when it comes to a company or even a team, surely you have observed it? Sometime when you're in an article-writing mood, it would be fascinating to read some of your crisp, clear thinking on the subject.
The unforeseen is beautiful and, given a chance, can be more fulfilling than we can imagine | Author | Consultant | Speaker | Kindness changes everything
5 年Really strong advice.. Be authentic.? Read once and going to read again. Donna, I love what you share. Thank you
?? You can have it all ?? Find relief from burnout ??Helping you fix a broken dreamer???? Leading you to your engaged purpose in life so that you can thrive financially and personally ?? You can be happy AND make money!
5 年Great advice!