Let's have a conversation about Leadership and Team Building...

One of the things I want to do with this blog is to begin to engage in conversation about some of the things that I have observed as lacking in a few organizations currently; leadership, team building, and a willingness to take ownership of problems and obstacles and address them.  Although I am currently in between positions, I keep an ear to the tracks, keep up on publications, and listen to people as they talk about their work.  

A recurring theme seems to be that very few organizations have been built, specifically on the management side, to deal with the organizational stress that comes with maintaining a business in a challenging economy.  Many managers who have been able to reap the benefits of an economic growth cycle are either unskilled, under supported, or under trained to continue to lead under stress.  It is my position that these are the times that organizations should be preparing for by training managers to lead effectively, especially when they are succeeding.  

In the July 18 edition of Newsweek, Jack and Suzy Welch authored an article called "How to Build a Winning Team."  In the article, the Welches provide their observation that "winning teams" adhere to 4 very basic axioms;

1. Leaders of winning teams always let their folks know where they stand.

2. Winning teams know the game plan.

3. Winning teams are honest.

4. Winning teams celebrate.

It is and always has been my position that effective leadership consists of a relatively few things; establishing a vision for the team, communicating expectations (axiom 2) and establishing an environment in which your team will achieve it, (axioms 1, 3 and 4).   These ideas seem to be right in line with what the Welches are saying.

These sound like very simple concepts, but like I have heard about playing the blues, “it’s simple, but it ain’t easy.”

Establishing a vision is probably the most sensitive part of the leadership equation.  Most frequently in business, the vision you are charged with executing is not your own, but that of the organization for which you work.  It is incumbent upon you as a leader to be able to translate an organizational mission into a vision for your team.   This vision will help the team know what it is that they are working toward, other than their paycheck at the end of the pay period.   The vision, when broken down, also translates in expectations, and those expectations into metrics, and those metrics into actions.  That is tricky…how can you make actionable plans for your team which seem vague and overarching?  As a leader, you need to embrace clarity and simplicity.  Don’t overburden the team with multiple, misunderstood, and often, conflicting metrics.  Focus on the mission at hand.  We now see where every job description includes “Additional responsibilities as necessary.”  We might as well just say, “You’re responsible for everything.”  Expectations like this cause confusion…confusion leads to lack of confidence, which leads to mistrust and fear.  

Creating an environment where your team will achieve success, regardless of the task, also has many facets.  Chief among these is establishing a dynamic within the team where dialogue and discourse are valued and rewarded.  This is a function of trust.  Tying into the Welches’ first axiom, this trust is fostered by 2-way communications.  By letting your team know where they stand on an individual basis, and taking time to either recognize or coach them, you as a leader can take steps to ensure that there will be no surprises to either the organization or the team members.   Only once this communication rich environment is created will you as a leader have a level of understanding what impediments your team faces that you will be able to address with them.  

One important aspect that most aspiring leaders fail to recognize is that all great leaders had one thing in common…great followers.  If you cannot inspire people to follow you, you are not a leader.   If you cannot provide people with a reason to follow you, you are not a leader.   There are many individuals who think of themselves as leaders, by nature of position, who lead by dictate.  Telling subordinates that they must follow because their job/raise/promotion/etc. is on line might work…temporarily, but anyone can do that, even a machine can be programmed with if/then logic.  The Welches, in the 4^th axiom, talk about celebration.  I don’t know if “celebration” is too strong of a thought or not, so I will say “recognition”.  I have worked with managers who have completely disregarded this aspect of leadership, often stating something along the lines of “I don’t need to recognize someone just for doing their job.”   You don’t need to buy them a cake for showing up in the morning!   But as the Welches say, this is how you condition a team for success, but letting them feel what winning is.   After a certain point, if you, as a leader, condition your team that they won’t gain from winning, they wont know the difference between success and apathy, or worse, you’ll lose these folks, you’ll lose your opportunity to earn what could have been your greatest asset; a loyal team with which you can overcome most challenges.

One of the challenges associated with leadership is that people will consider themselves leaders by virtue of a title, position, rank, even birth…but this is not leadership.  Leadership is earned from your followers.  This is accomplished, primarily, by trust.  Do what you say you will do.  Be accountable for your team, but also hold them accountable for themselves, their own actions, their own results.   If your team trusts you and knows that you will “take a bullet” for them, they will reward you with their loyalty and effort in attaining your team goals.