Thankful for people giving me support and encouragement

This day before Thanksgiving, I am thankful for many things. One of those things is people who were around me when I was learning and developing new skills, including leadership skills. What makes me thankful for them is that they were encouraging and understanding. They would answer questions and help me to understand why and not just what. Part of learning is occasionally failing. Many people will not try new things because they are afraid of failure. It helps when there are people around who will be supportive and encouraging. Everyone deep down wants to be successful. They also want to feel that it is ok to not be a master the first time they try something.

The worst thing we can do as a leader is to come down hard, yell, scream, or shout at someone who is making a mistake at something while they are learning. This is a critical time to remember to be someone that individuals can look to for advice and suggestions not a stern tongue-lashing.

There are times when people need to hear it, but those are people who know what they are supposed to be doing and are for some reason are just not doing it. If you have a young leader reporting to you, they are not going to get everything right at first. Work with them to understand where they struggle and then help them to learn and improve their skills as a leader. Your efforts will pay dividends for a long time to come.

Follow-up, Follow-Through

I once worked for an executive who would pop in and have some concept that he wanted researched or had an idea for improvement. I knew that at some point in the future he would stop back in and ask for a response. I never knew how soon his follow-up would be, but I knew that it would ultimately come. I always made sure to gather the information or assign someone to the task. I then made sure to stay on top of making sure I would have the information available when asked. And sure enough, I would always be asked about it. I knew that it was never wasted effort to pursue one of his requests. I knew he would be following up, which ultimately insured my following through.

The next executive that I worked for would stop by and make the same requests, but the difference with him was that his follow-up was spotty at best. Initially I would take initiative to follow-up with him on issues and he would not show much interest. I quickly learned that I did not need to do anything about his requests. If at first glance I found his suggestions useful then I acted on them, if I didn’t, then I just let them pass. I did not need to take him seriously because follow-up rarely ever came.

Think about how you want those people who report to you to view you and your requests. Do you want your people to know that when you ask them to do something, it is important enough for a follow-up? Or are you ok with letting them think that it doesn’t really matter? Your follow-up ultimately also shows them you respect their time and the job they do. They will respect you more for it.

Always follow-up and follow-through.

Don't Forget Time for Learning

The old saying goes, “Feed a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” This is an important philosophy to have in mind as a leader and manager.

A lot people end up being promoted to managerial roles because they are good individual contributors. Unfortunately, there are only so many hours that you can work and even as you get more efficient and effective, there is only so much output that you can produce by yourself. As you move into a leadership role you will no longer be solely judged on the work you put in as an individual, rather you will be measured by the output and success of the people that you lead. There are 2 key ways to get your team to produce more - by having more people doing the right things or by increasing each team member’s individual capabilities.

Be sure to make time for teaching and learning. If things are always rushed, it is tempting to try and do things yourself that others need to learn to take on. Even if it is easier and more efficient to do it yourself THIS time, you will be no closer to having someone else able to do it NEXT time unless you invest time in people. Sometimes you have to be willing to let people struggle and maybe even fail so that they may learn and increase their capacity. You have to plan for learning and not schedule it during an absolutely critical time. It is not advantageous to anyone if you set someone up to fail when they are trying something new. You have to allow someone to get used to riding without training wheels on an uncrowded street before putting them in rush hour traffic.
Remember that being a leader means that it’s not just about you and what you can produce by yourself.

Leadership is not about being nice to people. It is about showing respect.

Showing respect is different from being nice. If you respect a person and their abilities, then being “nice” and looking the other way is not an option when they make a mistake that they need to learn from. As a leader you have to do what is necessary but not always fun or easy. You have to address the issue with the person. You have to approach in a non-confrontational way that allows you to discuss the issue in a rational thought provoking manner. The goal here is learning not punishment. It’s about how to do things differently or better next time and helping the person grow.

Think of it from the other side of the table. We’ve all been there. We’ve done something that we need to be called to the carpet for. Funny thing is that if we aren’t called out for it, we lose a little respect for the person that let us get away with it. And then we figure that either they don’t care, or they don’t respect us enough to say something. It takes away from the future effectiveness of the person in the leadership position. You don’t want that to happen to you as a leader.

So remember that leaders should respect those they lead which means that they may need to say things that some might find not “nice” but are ultimately necessary.

Team members don’t always get along. Make sure they own the problem and the solution

As a manager there will be times when employees come to you because they are not happy with something that someone else on the team is doing or not doing. This can be anything from, “Joe Employee doesn’t listen to me,” to “He doesn’t smile at me when I walk by or say hello every morning.” Of course since people know the rule about bringing a solution when they come to discuss their problem, they indicate their preferred solution is that I talk with the other person and fix it. This is not an acceptable solution.

Everyone needs to learn to get along with his or her teammates. There will be times when there are issues that need to be worked out. These issues should be worked out between the team members themselves. People need to learn how to work through issues and you stepping in won’t help them learn. Some people will not be comfortable having a conversation, so it can be a good idea to walk them through some potential things to say and ice breakers to get things started. From that point, it is important that they take the steps to initiate and complete the conversation with the other individual. They need to own the solution as well as the problem.

Please note that if the issue has to do with safety, harassment, or a violation of policies, you do need to step in immediately and get involved. You might even want to contact human resources depending on the severity of the issue. But if it is something that requires a conversation between the two individuals, then that is exactly what should happen and it should be initiated by the individual and approached in a manner that is seeking resolution not confrontation. The part about seeking resolution is an important point to remind them of. It is not going to do anyone any good if they go in guns blazing. I also remind them to try and understand the other person’s point of view and listen to them during the conversation. I steal from Covey and tell them, “Seek first to understand then to be understood.” It helps in reaching a resolution.

As a leader you find yourself in a position to help others grow. Don’t let growth opportunities be missed because you want to solve problems for people or be the hero.

Final note: Remember as a leader never to go to the person you report to and ask him or her to fix something that you should be solving yourself.

Getting people to own their own problems

It seems easy to just go ahead and solve problems for people, but as leaders that is not always the best course of action. When we take on problems that should be handled by others we take away the learning opportunity from them. It is in figuring out how to solve problems that we each learn and grow. When a problem is something important or new, it is a good idea to talk it over with someone. I encourage people to come to talk to me about issues they are facing, but I also always stress that they come both the problem and a couple of possible solutions that they have thought of. If they come with just the problem and no solutions then I try to give them a couple of things to think about and ask that they come back after they have considered the problem themselves and have thought of some way to solve it.

Once they have thought about solutions and come up with options then I know that they have applied themselves and are ready to have a conversation about the advantages and disadvantages of the options. We can start the conversation at a higher level than if they had not truly thought through the issue. They also come from a contributing position and are not just waiting for you to solve the problem for them.

An important part of leadership is helping others to grow and forcing them to own their own problems is one way to do that.

Having the courage to tell people what they don’t want to hear.

Being a good leader takes courage and respect. You have to be willing to tell people things that they don’t want to hear. This includes telling someone that reports to you what he or she needs to improve on. Sometimes this is easy because the person is open and wants to hear your insights. Sometimes this is more difficult because not only does the person not see what they are doing wrong, he or she actually thinks it is something they do well. It is easy to give up on a conversation because you know the other person is not taking things well. Rather than soften up or change course and just tell them they are doing fine, draw on your courage to tell them what is necessary.

Be sure to balance this courage with respect. The manner in which you deliver feedback is crucial. Anyone can go off and yell at someone for poor performance. But this is not the kind of message that you want to deliver. You want to make sure that you are showing a genuine interest in the person and in their improvement. You are not attacking the person; you are working with them to correct or change behavior.

Unfortunately some people work their entire career for leaders who are unwilling to tell them what is necessary. Their leaders have let them down because they never understand what they need to do in order to succeed. Don’t be that leader that lets mediocre performance skate on through. Give your team members your respect by giving them honest feedback.
You have to be willing to favor people respecting you rather than liking you. No one likes to hear what they are doing wrong, but in the end reasonable people will respect you for telling them how things really are.

A leader's value goes beyond their individual contributions

While interviewing with a company today, I was talking to the Human Resources Director about a philosophy that I have. I told her that some people like to know that when they go on vacation that everything back at the office falls apart because they are not there to keep it together. It makes them feel that they are important and they think that is shows their worth to the organization and higher management. They want others to think; wow this place just cannot survive without so and so. These are the same people that think that knowledge is power and make sure that they are the only ones that know how to perform certain tasks because it makes them indispensable. Unfortunately these types of people do not enable the organization to grow or develop.

I told her I take the opposite approach. I want to know when I go on vacation that everything will run smoothly while I am gone. In order to make sure that will happen, I have helped establish or improved enough processes and procedures so that things carry on. I have also helped people increase their ability to take on responsibility and perform. My value as a leader is derived not just from what I contribute as an individual, but what I am able to do to help others raise the level of their ability to perform. I always have strived to leave people and places a little better than I found them and worked to take organizations to the next level.
I came across this quote by Walter Lippmann years ago, “The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.”

How Did I End up Being a Leader?

I thought back and tried to remember my first experience as a leader. It certainly could be said that I was a leader when I was leading a team of 30 people developing software not long into my first job after college. Going back further, I could remember big roles that I took in school and in sports: positions in student government in both high school and college, being captain of various sports teams, and serving as a leader in student organizations, but those defined roles would not cover my experience. As far back as grade school when there were kids running around on the playground I would organize the game. When we would sit in class and everyone was grumbling because the teacher was asking us to do something that was really unfair, everyone would look to me to be the one to speak up and ask for a more equitable solution for the group. People would look to me because they knew I would be willing to do something, also because they were not willing to stick their own neck out. I think I gravitated toward leadership roles because I thrived on the challenge. It also helps that I have a predisposition to action. I like to get things done and see that the right things are happening.

It was in college that I remember making a conscience effort to learn how to be a better leader. There are elements to leadership that are both art and science. I love reading books on leadership and studying other leaders which helps with the science side. The best way to improve your art is to practice it, so I am always looking for leadership opportunities. Then sometimes you just have to take time to reflect on what you have learned and practiced to gain additional insight. I will always consider myself a student when it comes to learning about leadership.