Stop telling your team how, and starting asking this
May 30, 2023
As hybrid work becomes the norm for many companies, your team members are not the same people who headed home during the first lockdown. This new arrangement a mix of working from home and the office has some new leadership paradigms to address.
They are more seasoned. Like soldiers who have faced battle, they are worn and have learned to cope with immeasurable hardship. They have also learned to solve problems, re-route on initiatives, and developed skills which managers of 2 years ago didn’t necessarily see in them. They have levelled up!
Leaders have developed too, but according to research by Microsoft and Gallup, not as much. Are you still relying on the skills you used to lead which you had before lockdowns and global pandemics and all that? So we have more capable teams and less (in comparison) capable leadership.
If you want to be a better leader with your team, stop trying to tell them how to do everything and instead start to ask them “how might you/we….”
By taking this stance you move up the vertical leadership ladder from expert to enabler. You will also uncover ideas that are beyond the limits of your own thinking and experience. You will also take the pressure off yourself because you suddenly aren’t responsible for having all the good ideas. How good might that feel?
The other significant benefit I noticed whilst listening during a recent mastermind call I led was a leader who moved from telling to asking how and the levels of engagement their teams reported in the annual feedback survey. One small change made a 15% difference to their perception as a leader on their annual engagement survey and general performance was up 26%. I think we can all use that right?
I’ve been trying this with my team the last few months and the results have been startling. New brand colours, new social media plans, new program updates - and all because I asked versus told what was in my head.
Give it a try and see what happens.
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