Effortful Leadership

I was coaching my supervisee this week, as they have leadership goals that I want to help support, wherever those endeavors might take them. We were talking about how difficult filling a leadership role well can be. Leadership isn’t who has longevity. It’s who can champion and support their team while ensuring the Company’s goals are met. This can be a really difficult balance, especially when you personally really like your teammates. She ended the conversation with, “I know I say it often, but thank you for being YOU. It’s been really great seeing you shift into your role so effortlessly.” Honestly, I LOL’d. This has not been without effort.

This last year has been a whirlwind. I feel like nothing could have ever prepared me for what I’ve experienced. I’ve got to experience great things and been tasked with really, really hard things. I have learned so much about who I am and the growth I still want to accomplish. I have trialed leadership styles of my heroes and uncovered what feels most authentic for me. One of my leadership heroes is of course, Alison Mott.

The reason why I’ve always loved working under Alison is because she is authentic and transparent. She is exactly who she is—goofy, a lover of terrible music (sorry), cooking, and is a bad ass in her field. She’s also transparent—the good, the bad, the ugly. She’s transparent with her data, which means she will pinpoint exactly what is happening and does not let me or the rest of her reports guesstimate trends or hide behind inflated words. It helps push everyone toward excellence. If you don’t want to be exceptional at what you do, you don’t want to work under her. There are no excuses for failing because she will support the heck out of you.

These things I try to emulate as I try to explore who I am as an individual.

When I was in undergrad/graduate school, we often explored leadership, because of my field. We talked about how a transformational leader would tailor their approach for each individual’s needs. Sure, sure, sure. It’s only now that it’s finally clicking.

This has been true in every role I’ve ever held, and I’m a job hopper with 15 years of experience, so I’ve held a lot of roles: Passionate people produce the best results. It’s correct from my 15 years of observation and that perspective is backed by research my degrees are based on. If people do not want to give you the best results, they won’t. You must make them want to. And, that is hard.

I tried just being myself and being the type of leader I would want to work under. That didn’t work, because my reports are all unique people with unique needs and motivations. I have one report who is like a hummingbird. Full of life and flittering from project to project with enthusiasm, love and creativity. It’s my job to keep her inspired and on track. And, when I do that? Holy cow, you should see the things she can do. I have another report who is like a bulldog. Competitive, driven and direct. I celebrate her wins like we are under Friday night lights. When she’s under pressure, you cannot stop this woman. So, we keep the pressure on. And so on and so on.

I thought transformational leadership would be a little easier, to be honest. I knew it’d be hard, but I didn’t know it’d be this hard. It truly is an every interaction, every second on the day kind of thing. I must be cognizant of my every move, so I can ensure my team is supported how they need support.

I think the thing that has been most rewarding about this role is watching my team succeed, beyond where I thought we’d ever go. My team is dedicated to our needs, rumbling together, and coming out on top, as they always do. It is so fulfilling to report out where they are. For every hire, they meet with hundreds of people. Building relationships now for needs later or inspiring people to make the switch. That takes so much emotional energy and time, but they do it with such huge smiles on their faces. It’s inspiring.

So, no. This transition has not been effortless. It’s interpersonal and internal work each and every day, because I’m dedicated to reaching my goals. This is a team that only accepts excellence from each other and ourselves, and it’s really, really hard to be excellent all the time.

If all of the above sounds like a foreign concept to you, I highly recommend you explore your own approach to leadership. The workforce is and has been changing. With every new generation, staff demand more and more from their workplace—rightfully so. Respect, work-life balance, and guidance to reach their goals. I predict Gen Alpha will continue this trend, and they’ll be heading for those work permits in a few years. If you’re used to a team that just shuts up and does their job, you’re really missing out on the transformational power of an inspired team. You must give in order to get. It’s effortful. But, its so beyond worth it. If you don’t know where to start, ask the individuals on your team about themselves. Their work styles, the way they like to receive support, and their goals. If you already know this information and aren’t doing anything about it, try doing something about it.

To my team, thank you for making this transition as easy as it could be. To Alison, thank you for the never-ending guidance and grace. Thank you to my peers for pushing me back out there when I’m ready to tap out. We might come out black and blue, but we’ll come out together, and we’ll come out on top. If you need me, you know where to find me.