JOY comes not by achieving success alone, but by bringing others along!

#FridayLearnings with Kok Ping - Learning #47

As I count my blessings in 2018, I hope this sharing of 3 key learnings from a People Manager's perspective on bringing others along will be help us ride together with our Teams on the journeys we are in.

1. DO NOT attempt to transform others. Instead be transformed ourselves first; lead by example, and the right transformed behaviors will multiply eventually.

Most of us do not simply listen & follow what others tell us. Instead, we usually observe and multiply what we see. I would like to suggest that there are 2 primary transformation areas we need to practice first with ourselves instead of trying to 'transform' others.

• Growth mindset, be bold in creating new values for the Team
• Step out of our comfort zone and learn a new skill in this digitally transformed age

When I joined this team 2 years ago, there was no assessment of stakeholders’ satisfaction. An opportunity came to be customer-obsessed and put our satisfaction first. It felt strange, as we went after what was not there before, and put a survey together. Results were not great at 77% satisfaction, but good for a start. We dug in and came out 18mths later with a satisfaction above 90%! And just 3 months ago, a staff on our Team followed suit and initiated a Query Management Optimization project with the team when we identified a gap, never done before but the problem was always there, wow that was truly delightful!

Writing on public social platforms demands courage and risks criticism. I remembered how daunting my first posting on Linkedin was. What is a suitable content, how to write without being misinterpreted as claiming glory, will there be any likes ('approvals') at all, how will people form their opinion on me, etc. I decided that I will need to take the challenge personally first, before encouraging my team to do so. I hesitatingly posted my first article in Feb 2018, and they say the rest was history. I'm so happy that I'm posting my 47th sharing. Earlier this month, a fellow team member posted her first beautifully written article, oh what a joy to see!

 2. DO NOT cascade confusing goals or be distracted by too many activities due to changing business landscapes. Instead be clear & simple in communicating what the Team's Success is, and ensure all members know their parts and accountably deliver it.

When every Team member is able to "story-tell" the purpose and success of the Team succinctly, you are more than half way there. I suggest 2 key ingredients to be considered:

• Simplicity - Clarity on Activities, which drives Impacts, and are Measurable.
• Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.

The key challenge of multi-tasking in today's world is that we end up forgetting what is urgent versus what is important. To bring the Team on the same journey, we mapped the activities to the corresponding impacts aligned to the Team Success. These impacts (not activities) must be measurable and tracked regularly so that each one is accountable to the overall Team Success. Even when the impacts are difficult to measure, do not give in, only impacts that can be measured, can be improved.

The more we talk about our Team Success, the clearer we get. On the contrary, I realized that often times our Teams are unfamiliar with what we are out to solve for, and hence the lack of communications. Nothing beats having ourselves pitch this to others in front of (and where possible, together with) the Team, the dots will get connected instantaneously!

3. DO NOT leave any Team member behind; Be sensitive to every Team individual’s pace of growth, sometimes it is better to go slow to go fast!

Flowers bloom at different seasons; we need to know our Team Members individually before we set them on a pace of exasperation. I suggest 2 levers we can use:

• Strength Finders with Catalytic Initiatives
• Mentorship  

My assumption is that we have the right people on the bus. Hence knowing the strengths and assigning/encouraging the Team to work on the initiatives associated to it will spur their growth like a catalyst. The opposite is true, I've witnessed discomfort that ends into lower energy levels which is a leading indicator that we need to look out for!

Everyone needs a mentor. Be it a mentor for a particular skillset, to build networking connections or for life, there is much to be benefitted. That said, it takes an experienced eye to recommend and connect mentors to our Team members. And once connected, it will go a long way to bring them along their success!

As I wrap up 2018, I believe bringing others along is not only for people managers, everyone can and should bring others along because we will always be ahead of someone in some ways as we learn and improve ourselves everyday.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor … A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

To my manager and the awesome Team at Microsoft APOC: "Thank you for inspiring me & journeying together over these last 2 years, everyday has been a learning moment for me to be a better people manager. And I am looking excitedly forward to a greater 2019 where we can excel further together as ONE Team!"

#Teams #Teamingtogether #Transformation #Leadership #BringOthersAlong #Learnings