In recent weeks I got the opportunity to discuss my leadership style it’s been a controversial topic discussed many times and I think over the years I have built a style that is built on three main pillars. Let me take the opportunity to put down those principles in writing it helps me usually grasp my ideas in a better format and also as a reminder to look back at this blog post to discuss and analyze am I really applying them in a life or not.
The 3 pillars for me are as follows :
1. Agree on the objective : A lot of leaders spend time setting objectives for their team members that align to the objectives and mission of the team, but in hindsight forget to make sure that the team is actually aligned to the mission and objective of the team as a whole. Where is point A and which point B are we heading to is in many cases overlooked. While setting individual objectives is definitely very important but that’s a completely different topic than setting team objective and aligning to it. One must not fall prey to confusing setting the objective with setting the path by which we will reach that objective , that is what you leave to each individual team member to figure on their own.
2. Feedback : You get astonished at the amount of people who lose their jobs or fail at it just because their leaders fall short in giving them feedback. There is no merit in watching your team member hit the wall multiple times without stepping in to discuss approach and coach them on their own approach. 6 months or even annual performance review cycles is a very flawed approach. Continuous check-ins both deepen the relationship with team members and insures you are actually setting up a person for success rather than waiting to tell them I have told you so.
3. Moonshots : Its often overlooked by leaders to understand why their team members are doing this job. Apart from the obvious reasons of earning a living , every individual in my mind chose their job initially because they found something they are passionate about in it. The daily ramblings of the job often push people away from their passion to the point that they forget. As a leader you must instill in your team a single project, task or objective that consumes around 10% of their time that is in direct connection with their passion, even if it is not in direct relationship with their day to day tasks. Without a reason to show up everyday with the same enthusiasm , one day they will just lose the reason to show up and things go downward from there
Get used to rethinking your style and adapting , who knows maybe in a few years from now my 3 pillars will change , till then we continue to pursuit what’s best given what we know at the time.