Opportunities and pitfalls with the people you lead
Action
Identify the expectations people have for you as their leader and how they are driven by their personal needs, business conditions and past experience. Assess what role you play in their work procedures, especially where your role is on the critical path or risks becoming the bottleneck.
Risks/Opportunities/Surprises
There is no one way to be the leader. It is highly unlikely that you can be everything everyone wants. It is better to negotiate a workable arrangement.
Keep your leadership practical and grounded. Some leaders try to be so transformational or inspirational that they think transactional duties are beneath them or unimportant. When this happens their team can experience the leader as an obstacle to getting results rather than a support. Make sure you know when, where and how you impact on people's ability to get their work done.
Identify the expectations people have for you as their leader and how they are driven by their personal needs, business conditions and past experience. Assess what role you play in their work procedures, especially where your role is on the critical path or risks becoming the bottleneck.
Risks/Opportunities/Surprises
There is no one way to be the leader. It is highly unlikely that you can be everything everyone wants. It is better to negotiate a workable arrangement.
Keep your leadership practical and grounded. Some leaders try to be so transformational or inspirational that they think transactional duties are beneath them or unimportant. When this happens their team can experience the leader as an obstacle to getting results rather than a support. Make sure you know when, where and how you impact on people's ability to get their work done.
Action
Set up arrangements with your team about mutual expectations, negotiating team responsibilities, communication processes and decision-making processes. Ensure expectations fit with business processes and are results focused.
Risks/Opportunities/Surprises
People may be comfortable with past practices, regardless of whether or not they worked, and resist changes to their responsibilities and team communication processes.
Set up arrangements with your team about mutual expectations, negotiating team responsibilities, communication processes and decision-making processes. Ensure expectations fit with business processes and are results focused.
Risks/Opportunities/Surprises
People may be comfortable with past practices, regardless of whether or not they worked, and resist changes to their responsibilities and team communication processes.
Action
Develop how you want the team to operate. Establish clear criteria for the type of behaviour you want, such as working hours, communication, risk management. Clarify responsibilities, decision making delegations, work processes and anything else you think is a priority for effective performance.
Risks/Opportunities/Surprises
You will need to decide when will people 'check then act' or 'act then notify' for key decisions, depending on the level of risk attached to a decision, people's competence and team workloads.
While you are setting expectations, keep in mind situational variations and how they change the type of leadership required. Consider what decisions you need to reserve for yourself, when you need to consult or be consulted and when it's best to leave the decision to the team.
Develop how you want the team to operate. Establish clear criteria for the type of behaviour you want, such as working hours, communication, risk management. Clarify responsibilities, decision making delegations, work processes and anything else you think is a priority for effective performance.
Risks/Opportunities/Surprises
You will need to decide when will people 'check then act' or 'act then notify' for key decisions, depending on the level of risk attached to a decision, people's competence and team workloads.
While you are setting expectations, keep in mind situational variations and how they change the type of leadership required. Consider what decisions you need to reserve for yourself, when you need to consult or be consulted and when it's best to leave the decision to the team.
Action
Establish a map of competencies in the team to inform decisions about who does what and how to develop the team's capability. Assess competencies, work history and career ambitions with each person in the team. Analyse operational requirements and what skills are needed to deliver the outcomes required by your business.
Risks/Opportunities/Surprises
You can build a gap analysis of skills and abilities while you do this. A gap analysis identifies areas where available skills are less than what you need. It can achieved through simple conversations or a detailed assessment assessment process, depending on the level of rigour required. It then forms the basis of your skills and capability development plan for the team.
Establish a map of competencies in the team to inform decisions about who does what and how to develop the team's capability. Assess competencies, work history and career ambitions with each person in the team. Analyse operational requirements and what skills are needed to deliver the outcomes required by your business.
Risks/Opportunities/Surprises
You can build a gap analysis of skills and abilities while you do this. A gap analysis identifies areas where available skills are less than what you need. It can achieved through simple conversations or a detailed assessment assessment process, depending on the level of rigour required. It then forms the basis of your skills and capability development plan for the team.
Action
Recognise that people have difference views and feelings about the appointment of a new leader. Identify people who were passed over for a position or have loyalties to such a person and help foster worthwhile and respected roles for them. Ensure that people have responsibilities according to their capacity, including developmental opportunities, to promote smooth functioning of the operation.
Risks/Opportunities/Surprises
Beware 'malicious compliance'. This can appear, for example, when people do what is asked without highlighting risks and show no initiative to overcome problems. This lack of performance may point to hurt feelings and disappointment.
You might not know if anyone in the team applied for the role or supported another applicant. A useful exercise might be to ask, "If I were not appointed to this role, who in the team is capable and willing to take my place?" At some point you have to ask this question anyway, when you need someone to do higher duties when you are away.
Recognise that people have difference views and feelings about the appointment of a new leader. Identify people who were passed over for a position or have loyalties to such a person and help foster worthwhile and respected roles for them. Ensure that people have responsibilities according to their capacity, including developmental opportunities, to promote smooth functioning of the operation.
Risks/Opportunities/Surprises
Beware 'malicious compliance'. This can appear, for example, when people do what is asked without highlighting risks and show no initiative to overcome problems. This lack of performance may point to hurt feelings and disappointment.
You might not know if anyone in the team applied for the role or supported another applicant. A useful exercise might be to ask, "If I were not appointed to this role, who in the team is capable and willing to take my place?" At some point you have to ask this question anyway, when you need someone to do higher duties when you are away.
Action
Move people into the roles and responsibilities you think will best achieve the outcomes. This includes internal people as well as bringing in outsiders. Your appointments are more likely to look to you to validate their performance rather than cling to redundant expectations and precedents.
Risks/Opportunities/Surprises
Make sure you respect the rights and entitlements of incumbents and aspirants. Performance and loyalty works both ways. People will watch how you treat others.
The reality for many leaders in organisations is that they inherit a team that they cannot change, except over time through staff turnover. It may be more practical to think in terms of developing people into "your people", that is, working with them so they become the people you have confidence in, who are reliable and can get the results the business needs. This coaching and development path is usually the realistic way for getting effective people into roles.
Move people into the roles and responsibilities you think will best achieve the outcomes. This includes internal people as well as bringing in outsiders. Your appointments are more likely to look to you to validate their performance rather than cling to redundant expectations and precedents.
Risks/Opportunities/Surprises
Make sure you respect the rights and entitlements of incumbents and aspirants. Performance and loyalty works both ways. People will watch how you treat others.
The reality for many leaders in organisations is that they inherit a team that they cannot change, except over time through staff turnover. It may be more practical to think in terms of developing people into "your people", that is, working with them so they become the people you have confidence in, who are reliable and can get the results the business needs. This coaching and development path is usually the realistic way for getting effective people into roles.
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