Moving the spotlight from leaders to teams

Perspectives on effective workplace leadership have changed profoundly over the last three decades.?When I started at HP in 1990, managers commonly used a task-based, prescriptive approach: We’d get specific instructions for discrete assignments, followed by hands-off leadership and heads-down follow-through. In the 32 years since, that approach has changed significantly, both at HP and across other workplaces around the world.

HP has always prioritized attracting highly capable, diverse, innovative people. Our focus on supporting and recognizing their contributions has often put us at the forefront of a broader shift away from top-down leadership. Instead, we’re pursuing a more collaborative approach, designed to take advantage of the collective brainpower we’ve assembled.

Here are three of the most substantial shifts in leadership style I’ve experienced.

Getting out of your team’s way

The first line of the HP Way is, “We have trust and respect for individuals.” That has always translated into the belief that workers want to do a good job. If they're experiencing challenges, it's likely because we're not providing the tools and support that they need. Because those concepts are so integrated into HP’s culture, I have always felt that I have a voice and that my opinion is valued.

As I’ve shifted into management roles, I’ve realized that oftentimes the best way to support my team is to modulate my voice so that theirs is heard. The most successful teams I’ve been a part of have gotten clear direction from leadership in terms of the end goal —combined with flexibility to determine the best way to get there.

When I give teams free rein to tackle a problem, they almost always come back with a solution that’s better than what I could have come up with on my own. That’s the power of tapping into a diversity of thought and combined brain power on the way to a solution, rather than dominating the process in a way that could drown out valuable contributions.

Making collaboration a bigger priority

Our role as leaders is the enabler—a positive guide to the opportunity or challenge, the goal, and each person’s role. But we can’t just stick people in a room together and expect that magic to happen. Instead, we must be proactive in helping them confront challenges. And as a leader, you’re only as good as the information people will give you. Without top-down transparency, employees won’t share important things about their work, you’ll lack insight into what’s really happening, and you won’t be able to make informed decisions together. ?

I was among the first managers at HP to have a team distributed across multiple sites. At one point, our staff meetings had about 80% on-site in Vancouver, with the remainder dialing in from Colorado. The remote employees in Colorado expressed difficulty contributing to the meeting because it was hard to follow without being specifically integrated -- and this was all of course before COVID accelerated the hybrid model. To address that issue, I had the team prepare and send materials 24 hours in advance to our off-site colleagues so they could follow along.?In addition, we made sure to be intentional about including them in the discussion – calling on them first for feedback & ensuring they had input into critical decisions. These were relatively simple fixes, but they made a big difference in our team’s cohesion.

Today, that premise of collaboration from anywhere is more important than ever. The number of people fully on site at remote-capable jobs dropped from 60% in 2019 to 19% in 2022, and it’s expected to remain below 25% for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, the tools available to support hybrid work, including technologies like HP Presence, are making it easier than ever for collaboration to continue.

Valuing diversity and inclusion

Getting out of your team’s way and enabling better collaboration helps ensure you take full advantage of your colleagues’ diverse experiences and perspectives. As we’ve grown more collaborative, we’ve learned that the more diverse experiences we have around the table, the higher-quality output we’ll get from our team. When everybody has a slightly different point of view and is empowered to participate as part of the group, there’s a richness of thought that helps the real magic occur. The leader’s job, as always, is to enable that magic by the best means available.