Our Teams Are Reassembling - Are You Ready To Lead Them?

FIRST IN A THREE PART SERIES

The long 15+ month "Covid Winter" is giving way to a new Spring and Summer of people learning to see each other with their 'whole faces' (not just the top half). There are gatherings of all kinds, social, familial, sports and music venue related and cycle-of-life happenings as well. Among all of that, our Work Teams are also re-emerging and re-engaging, some of them back in an office setting or in some new hybrid model.

Business and organizational Leaders, many for the 1st time in over a year are now out of 'survive and maintain mode' and into 'crank up the engines and let's go mode'. That means communicating, giving direction and getting everyone on the same page as well.

The Old School version of that is to simply put things out there in front of the Team with a hearty "...OK, you know what I want, now let's just get it done..." Ever hear that phrase? Ever use that phrase?

Often as Leaders and Managers we simply "ask and expect" as it relates to project ideas, quotas, requests or even some role requirements. We desire that our people will, of course, just do what we say or do what we have asked. Sometimes it works. Often it does not.

When there is a disconnect between what we ask for and what we actually get, it may be because we have not given each Team member a good enough reason to comply or contribute. And the fact that you are 'the boss' no longer is enough. Some call this communication gap the "...show me why..." or the "...what's in it for me..." syndrome of Leader/ Follower dynamics.

In this time of re-gathering, our Sales Associates, Distribution and Delivery Teams, our Office and Call Center people, everyone (including us) has an opportunity to get better at something. Doing so requires at least (3) three things: (1) a willingness and an interest in getting better, (2) a recognition that getting better takes a specific effort and, (3) having a clear goal in mind. Improvement of any kind seldom "just happens".

Interestingly, we all have reasons to not change as well; in effect to not improve. Chief among these are; "...I'm already good at what I do..." (possible), "...I'm too busy to focus on changing right now..." (possible, but when will be a good time?), "... Learning to change is boring and mostly a waste of time..." (could be true if the wrong changes are targeted), and, "...I do things my way because it works for me..." (again, possible but dangerously closed minded).

Maybe we should recognize that there are many, if not more good reasons to consider changing for the better like: (1) Is "not great, but good enough" really the way you want to be known in the marketplace? (2) How many Customers did we lose today [because of] our own ineffectiveness in (fill in the blank) attracting, engaging, servicing or just being fast enough for them? and, (3) Have we become complacent or accepting that we will never be Number 1 or 2 in the competitive arena and that we do the best we can with what we have?

Tough questions worthy of a hard look in the mirror for us individually as well.

If we never change or improve, do we really believe that we are just standing still [versus] going backwards? And by the way, being in reverse gear is a bad way to drive any business or organization; worse if you are doing in unconsciously!

Commit right now to DO ONE THING before June ends. Connect or re-connect with every member of your team and ask them these two direct questions: (1) What would you like to be better at 30 days from today and (2) How can I help you get there? (It may be smart to start with ourselves here as well).

Then put some effort into making sure that ONE THING, happens for both of you, with specific parts to play and the tools needed to achieve the desired outcomes. Make your targets relevant and go for small wins as a starting point. People like succeeding!

Massive opportunities await all of us as the world and the economy re-open. Some will just pick up where they left off 15 months ago; same old, same old. Others will seize the moment and re-invigorate, re-look, re-engage and re-commit.

Why not let your competitors be the ones who think that the 'same old, same old' is still a good way of doing business...

=================================================================

Allan's full profile is on LinkedIn.com. Consider engaging him for a 30 minute discussion on this topic. [email protected]