Managing According to Your Team
Leadership Lessons 6: Leading Individuals
Last week, I took a much-needed and well-deserved break, stepping away from my work computer and only checking email once. As a new leader, it was my first extended time away from work, and though I didn't exactly relax, the break was refreshing.
I spend a lot of time reminding my team to protect their time, and I realized I need to take my own advice. We, including myself, must cultivate healthy relationships with work to prevent burnout.
Managing According to Your Team
Today's message will be a bit shorter than normal, as I'm coming off a break and have quite a bit of catching up to do. I want to discuss the importance of managing according to your team—a concept that is sometimes overlooked by leaders.
Once leaders find their groove, it can be tempting to "manage a certain way" or "lead the same way for everyone," but that's not effective. While there should be guidelines and structure, we must remember that our team members are individuals and should be treated as such.
Each team member may require different levels of assistance in various areas of work, and it is our responsibility as leaders to guide them with the right amount and type of support they need to succeed.
For instance, I have one team member who is extremely detail-oriented and rarely makes spelling mistakes in her designs. However, she needed help with time management and prioritization. Although she excelled in one area, she required assistance in another, and it was my duty to help her prioritize her tasks and develop those skills.
As leaders, we must remember that we work with and lead individual people. Each person's needs may differ from the next, and the same help may need to be delivered in different ways.
Managing to the team and their individual needs is a skill that we all can and should continue to work on.
A special shout-out to Sandra for being so supportive and responsive to these letters.
I'd love to hear more from all of you about your leadership journeys and experiences. If you have something to add to the conversation, please share.
I'll be back next week with a regular-length message. Let's all become better leaders together.
Best,
Larry G.
Thanks for the shout-out Larry! I feel as though you are going through a leadership program I went through after being a manager for 2 years before being invited to participate in “Emerging Leaders.” I learned so much about myself through that program. I believe what you are referencing in this week’s article is called Situational Leadership. Basically, you have to figure out if the person you want to complete the task has the skill set to complete it. (Is she/he willing and/or able?). There are 4 quadrants and based on your answers, you should be able to find the best way to coach that person to complete the task you want completed.