Reflections
I have been working with individuals and teams for many years now and am surprised by the recurring patterns surrounding key challenges facing them. I thought I’d reflect these back to you and also invite you to reflect on your own situation.
So, a moment to reflect…
How was your day?
You might be reading this at the start of your working day, at the close, on the train home from work, during a lunch break, so how’s your day? How are you feeling about the contribution you are making at work? What emotions are you feeling at the moment – pressured, stressed, overwhelmed, rung-out, or excited, buzzy, optimistic, energised? Or somewhere in-between?
It seems to me that managers are often grappling with balance and I’d like to summarise these tensions into three challenges:
Challenge 1. Finding the balance – “work priorities” & “people focus”
- How would you describe a break-down of what you have been working on today?
- How much would you describe as operational, progressing projects, developing technology, managing the supply chain?
- How much of your work has been more customer or team focused?
- How far have you been involved in what you would term as people issues?
- When have you been available for your team?
At work we have, to some degree, choices about how we spend our time. Frequently, I support new managers who share with me they are focussing on business issues first before getting to know the team. I wonder if this is working for them and question whether a more collaborative approach would be more beneficial for all. The approach is often justified by, “I’m just getting get to know the business and then I will focus on getting to know everyone.” Similarly, I have met many people, who share, “I was just letting my manager settle in, get their feet under the table, before I get to know them.” This may well be a valid approach to work but I wonder if there is a richer balance available.
Equally, I was working recently with a senior manager who had in her diary a date for an official introduction to a new director. What will be interesting, she said, is whether he seeks me out, and introduces himself before then. Individuals matter, feel they matter, and want their contribution to be recognised.
“People shine not in the glow of your charisma.
They shine in the light of your attention for them…
They shine when you remind them that they matter.” (Nancy Kline)
- What have you done today to show your team they matter?
- How many touchpoints have you had with your team members today? How far have these been official and unofficial?
- What approaches are working well?
- “Imaginate a different approach….”
Challenge 2. Finding the balance – personal effectiveness
I find many conversations I have with individuals and teams are around what energises and motivates them at work, and where they feel they operate most effectively. For some, our conversations highlight what they have known for some time, for others the learning is new, intriguing and, sometimes, a little unsettling. It has always been a privilege to support managers and leaders when they share what they love to do.
I’ve worked with the Margerison-McCann Team Management Profile (www.tmsdi.com) for many years and found this an extremely powerful tool to enable these conversations. As Steve Jobs stated:
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
- How clear are you about what you enjoy about work?
- How far can you name this and use this knowledge when making choices about how you work?
- What impact will this knowledge make for future career choices?
Equally, there is a need to grow, learn and stretch at work. Many managers who have not been provided new opportunities or feel unable to prompt change for themselves will share feelings of boredom, frustrations, irritation and begin to be disruptive to the working of the organisation. As Albert Einstein rather dramatically proposed:
“Once you stop learning, you start dying.”
- What is the “something new”, you have learnt today?
As Denis Waitley challenges us:
“All of the top achievers I know are life-long learners. Looking for new skills, insights and ideas.
If they’re not learning, they’re not growing and not moving towards excellence.”
- What can you do differently?
- “Imaginate a different approach….”
Challenge 3. Finding the balance – being known and knowing
I often have conversations with managers about their role and how they wish to be seen by others, about risks, about vulnerability, about the fear of losing face. This openness is so important and leads to the development of trust, the bedrock of high functioning teams as Lencioni explores in his book, “The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team.”
“Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable.
Be honest and transparent anyway!”
Mother Theresa
- How open and transparent are you at work?
- Would you say people really know the real you?
- How is this working for you?
- What can you do to share more about yourself with your team?
I was working recently with a large financial organisation on a leadership programme who were totally committed to enabling this level of sharing – knowing and being known. Many team members were flying in to the central location, thrilled by the privilege of seeing some colleagues face-to-face for the first time, and able to provide feedback to their newly appointed line manager around their working styles, preferences and how best to work with them. This frank and open exchange of expectations set a useful benchmark of the openness the team can expect in the future from their boss.
I have worked with many managers who, even after several months, share with me, they do not really know their colleagues. As Tamsin Hartley proposes in her book, “The Listening Space”:
“A mindset of curiosity is probably the single most important component to opening the door to compassionate and wholehearted exploration of our own experience and the experience of others.”
- What can you do to truly get to know your team?
- How well do you know how your leadership style impacts others?
- How far can you name this and use this knowledge when managing those you lead, manage and influence?
- What can you do differently?
- “Imaginate a different approach….”
I hope these reflections prompt further food for thought and imaginings….
Janet Leonard
Imaginate Development
www.imaginatedevelopment.co.uk