Not only is this a new year, but it follows a year of turbulence that calls for a renewed commitment to leadership and a focus on avoiding a management as usual approach.
An excellent and lengthy article on the First Round Review recaps the best advice from the last year and offers great insights into the challenges that many faced over that time, the ways they adjusted, and what they learned and can share with us.
We selected five tips from the review that are important to consider as you hone your own leadership practice.
Manage the What, Not The How
Resist the urge to tell your team exactly how to complete a task. After all, you hire high-performing individuals because they are able to work independently. Instead of “making robots out of humans,” good managers do not get wrapped up in the work processes of others.
While giving feedback on how others manage (especially if their “how” is destructive or wastes resources), focusing primarily on goals – on the outcomes that people are responsible for – lets you establish clear expectations focusing on the “what.”
Give Equal Airtime
You will not create an inclusive team unless you do it on purpose. While it is natural that some members of your team will make themselves heard more often than others, leaders can make space for others on the team.
Use such tactics as creating thinking time, adding round-robin time to each meeting, asking for additional perspectives as regular practice, and circling back on issues that may not have been fully discussed, is especially helpful in virtual settings.
Lean on the Advice of Advisors and Mentors
Leaders should lean on their mentors and advisors more than ever. You are faced with evaluating diverging points of view, managing different personalities, and finding new ways to solve problems and create opportunities.
The resources that you can tap include the organization’s founder, consultants and advisors. Asking them and yourself if you are getting enough help, and if you are getting it on a regular basis, can provide opportunities to learn and grow. You will benefit from the experiences of others.
Better Manage Remote Teams with Common Northstar Values
2020 presented a common new challenge for many: managing a remote team for the first time in their career. Missing the insights that come with in-person interaction, successful leaders can find it difficult to establish work norms that keep the team healthy and successful.
Establishing a cultural North Star creates expectations for every team member. In their absence, members fill the void with their personal goals and expectations. Those expectations, shared as early as in the interview process, create the culture that the leader wants, not the culture that emerges without leadership.
Make Virtual Offsites Effective
Team offsites can focus too much on strategy, or too much of team relationships – done well, these meetings balance the two. Reaching this balance is hard enough when working in-person; the challenges in a virtual setting are even greater.
Key advice involves investing upfront in developing and sharing a framework that makes clear the team’s shared objectives. The difference, in the end, is in managing the virtual offsite, or letting the offsite manage itself.
2021 is a time for all of us to grow as leaders. Make a difference in your life, the lives of your employees, and take your company to the next level. To find out more, contact Rom LaPointe.