When Your Team Has A Voice

#DrewsLeadershipThoughts #TheVoiceOfTheTeam

As I embark on my journey of civilian leadership again after a three year hiatus. I am reminded of one of the hardest lessons I learned as brand new manager with @StarwoodHotels. Leaving my cosy role as a supervisor and starting off at new location was difficult in an of itself, but adding to it the all consuming desire to create the absolute best department I could was something that nearly broke my team.

My first leadership lesson I learned was in my first staff meeting, it was a simple one: Ask for feedback. This may seem normal to most leaders, but for an excited new manager with a million ideas to bring, it was a wake-up call. I had brought, what I thought were amazing new operating procedures to the department that stream lined the operation and really created greater overall accountability.

The reality was these new SOPs were working quite well. But, during my staff meeting one of my team made a simple request. Drew, he said, "These new programs you are implementing are great and all, but could you ask us, your team, for feedback before implimenting them? You don't have to do anything with the feedback other than listen, this will really help us feel like it is not just your plan, but ours as well".

That simple request blew my mind. It was then I discovered how much a team desires to have a voice so that they have virtual "skin in the game". From that point forward, I decided that I would do my best to get their input on new processes and procedures. They understood that sometimes, these directions came from the corporate office, and there was nothing I could do about its implimentation, while at other times, it was an implimentation completely within my control. There feedback was actually instrumental in many of my plans becoming much better than even I had a envisioned and trully resulted in the success of our department.

As leaders I ask that you to consider the #TheVoiceOfYourTeam today, it may be a breakthrough that will take you and your team to greater success.