BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF LEADERS & HOW TO OVERCOME IT

Do you remember the time when you were just starting out in your career… was it was about ambition, growth, learning, and wanting to be a leader? Was it aspirational and inspirational on what is yet to come?

For most high achievers, high potential folks, it was. Perhaps it still is.

So if you are one of them, I assume you continued to climb the corporate ladder, vertically for most but lots of squiggly moves for others. Then came a point when people started reporting to you, you had decision making authority and were now in a position of influence. With this growth, it wasn’t just about managing up, but a key focus on managing sideways and down. So, in addition to doing the work, managing up, now you had added responsibility to manage your peers and manage your team.

On the face of it, it looks great. It symbolises growth, seniority, and if we fan our egos, then importance as well. However, the workload is never assigned taking into account people management now, is it? The workload is always defined by targets, responsibility and achievement. People management is thrown in as a need to do. It is something you are expected to do when you are in a certain position. At the start, it seems fantastic and you put in the effort to do it right. Then when the overwhelm of work and responsibility hits you, people management goes to the bottom of the list. It starts to become passive, reactive, even maybe directive.

The larger your team becomes, the more complex it is. Do you manage your direct reports, do you keep an eye on the next level, what about the level below? How far down do you care and pay attention to? You try to observe and notice that everyone has a great relationship with each other, but there are undercurrents, things like people don’t do what you ask them to do, overstepping, perhaps shifting priorities, and you are frustrated and annoyed because on top of everything that you have to do, now you have to resolve these tricky and not so obvious issues which you wished would just go away. You start thinking, ‘why can’t people just do what they have been asked to do!’. So, in order to be a good leader, you invest time and resources to rectify the situation hoping it won’t happen again. Until it does.

So, what is the magic ingredient that ensures your added work is not work anymore? The thing that allows you to focus on the strategic stuff that drives you in the first place?

To me, it’s investing time in your people. You must be thinking, isn’t time scarce? Perhaps you are wondering, I don’t have the time to do the things I need to do, how do I invest time in people, especially when you have a fairly large team.

In my humble opinion and experience, when you invest time and resources in your people, they invest in you. What does this mean?

Well, it means spending time with your team members, listening to their concerns, queries and joys, helping them think bigger, more strategically and other times giving them advice on how things should be done. It also means helping them keep a laser focus on what is their remit, how to use time effectively so it will take them one step further towards their goal (your people have goals right?). It can also mean mentoring them to raise their profile and helping them nurture their own authentic style. Sometimes it will be supporting them till they become better communicators, more effective team players, have a growth mindset, create an environment where team members are friends. It could be teaching them how to service a client, better liaise with internal teams or learn how to sell as that’s the next level they are aspiring to. And so much more.

Now multiply this by x3 x4 x10 depending on your direct reports and the size of the team.

I get it, it's time-intensive. But, when you do the above, magic happens.

Somehow, eventually, your work lessens. Why? Because people want to work for you and with you. They give their best because you have believed in them to be the best. When you delegate, there are no grunts and thoughts like why me. In fact, when you send a message asking for help, there are 3 hands raised in a matter of seconds offering their help. Someone will go out of their own way to take things off your plate, manage things more at their end, give you complete deliverables rather than a draft that someone else (that means you) can complete. There is improved quality in communication and deliverables. They strive to fulfil your vision everyone is aligned and they know what and why they are working towards. Everything and I mean everything becomes easier and better. Except for the people management part 😉

And you know what happens when you have an awesome team? You shine. You stand out as a leader. A great leader. People start noticing when the team’s work is stellar. While its your team’s job to do brilliant work, it is your responsibility to give them that support and enable them with resources and empower them to have a bold mindset. So you all shine together.

So, my friend, if you want your life to be easier at work, invest in your people. Give them time, attention, go fight battles for them or enable them to fight when the time is right. Have the loudest voice for them so their lives are easier, they are recognised and appreciated for all that they do. Make sure they know, they matter and their contributions are invaluable.

When you invest in people, people invest in you.

I love hearing back from you. Do share your thoughts and stories, as it really inspires me to read them.

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Categories: Growth, Leadership, People manager