Teamership: Gelato leadership

On the weekend, I went to a local street festival with the family. There were market stalls including plenty of food options and multiple different gelato options. I noticed that of all of the gelato trucks and caravans, one was a lot more popular than others. People were lining up at the Mapo Gelato stall that claimed to be Natural, Artisan, Imperfect and Transparent.

It got me thinking that in our teams, we could benefit from leadership that is like this gelato!

Natural

Gelato is not a naturally occurring substance! I think what they mean is that the final product is not aided by any artificial flavouring and colours. For many people, leadership (whatever that means to you) may not occur naturally, but with some thought, design and effort most of us are able to add value by using what we have - our experience, preferences and existing capabilities - to add value in a leadership role.

Artisan

Mirriam-Webster define artisan as “a person or company that produces something (such as cheese or wine) in limited quantities often using traditional methods”.

It’s a classic case of quality over quantity.

For our leadership, being a leader that chooses when, where and how to lead is important. It’s not always required that we “lead” in every situation. Quite often the best leadership action we can take is to allow others the space to take the lead - and is almost always the small, meaningful actions as opposed to the grand gestures.

Imperfect

I love that this is a selling point for the gelato. It’s not perfect and not only is that acceptable, it’s part of what makes it great. If more of us felt like we could be imperfect leaders, it would free us up from the idea that a perfect leader even exists. That will allow more of us to stop resisting the Imposter in our minds and focus our energy on taking the actions that foster teamership (which is my current definition of leadership).

Transparent

Much like the gelato, leaders who are willing to share openly - about their successes, failures, challenges, thinking - are far more likely to engage their teams. It is also more likely to encourage transparency within their teams and there are plenty of benefits to that for performance and engagement.

How do we have more moments where we lead better?

This is a question that was posed by a leadership team that I worked with recently.

I scribbled it down to capture it. It is such a powerful question to ask in your team. It acknowledges that leadership isn’t always large gestures. Leadership is about moments and the more you can have in your teams, the better.

Have you read this?

I get asked for (and offer) a lot of book recommendations.

Here’s one you might like.

The Art of Possibility ?– Rosamund Stone Zander & Benjamin Zander

This is a book that I have read a couple of times. It seems to be primarily written from the perspective of Benjamin, who is conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (or at least was at the time – he may or may not still be). No doubt it was heavily informed and contributed to by his wife and co-author, Rosamund, who is a therapist. The book describes a range of ways to create an environment that allows for full contribution and engagement from people – and what that can offer the group, its members and those that they serve.

It’s really enjoyable, entertaining and thought provoking. Don’t forget Rule #6.

Here’s?Benjamin’s TED Talk ?from 2008. A classic.

Consider this

Some questions for you to consider this week.

How might your teams benefit benefit from you being:

• Natural - and bringing your experience, preferences and existing capabilities to the teams that you are in?
• Artisan - by focusing on quality over quantity as a leader?
• Imperfect - embracing imperfection as a feature, not a bug?
• Transparent - sharing your successes, failures, challenges and thinking?

Go well,

Keegan