If Everyone is Leading, how are we Teaming?
Everywhere you look there is an article, blog or podcast screaming into the digital void about how to be a leader, what leaders do to enable teams to be successful and how to differentiate yourself as a great leader.
It is has become exhausting to sort out what is helpful and actionable and what is “look at me behavior.”
Do this, do that, what capability do we have to lead?
Let’s start with….
What’s is meant by the word “leader”?
Two examples of how the word: LEADER is used in today’s world of work.
· “I’m the leader of this organization, initiative, team”: Tends to indicate a “boss” or someone accountable, responsible for the overall outcome of the individuals and team. Traditional manufacturing hierarchical reporting structure, job code related. “You work, I oversee, direct, coordinate and communicate up and out.”
· “Be a leader, take responsibility for the work, your career, your life”: which indicates an ownership role everyone can take. Self-directed, autonomous and responsible and accountable for work outcomes. Not defined by a title or job code. “We accept accountability for the delivery of customer value”.
So, if everyone is leading:
1. Where are we leading to?
2. How do we know we are good leaders?
Let’s tackle these questions as they apply to the shift to the digital workplace and mix model teams.
Where are we leading to?
You’ve just been assigned initiative lead, new to existing distributed mix model team. How do you show up as a leader? How you engage with the team sets the tone for success or failure. Engaging doesn’t mean sending out an email or holding a meeting to provide information about you, your past accomplishments and how you would like to proceed with the team. Engagement is the start of a conversation; it requires active listening and allows for the setting of team agreements and understanding. This is especially critical with mixed model teams of digital knowledge workers, highly skilled digital workers and tend to work distributed, different time zones, days and hours.
The shift from the manufacturing-physical ways of working to service model, negates the leading by line of sight. It requires a collaborative approach between “leader” and team members who also, “lead” in the way they design, develop and deliver work. Trust, collaboration and clearly agreed to decision rights are required to activate and sustain the talent within the team. As a new Initiative leader, validate and confirm the type of team and the value to be delivered, to avoid conflict, confusion, increased cost of value delivery and delays.
As the team advances in the delivery of their objectives, how do you ensure everyone stays aligned in a dynamic changing digital world? It’s easy to get distracted by too many demands and start focusing on the wrong things. It takes discipline to make time for ongoing feedback sessions to ensure continual improvements and misunderstandings can be discussed and solutioned. A performing team will quickly stop performing if they feel they are not being heard, not given opportunities to expand skills or feel their decisions rights are not being honored. Too often leaders fall back on traditional command and control manufacturing models when they get over capacity or enter unknown territory. This can lead to micromanagement, eroding trust and respect. Collaboration and clear communications are critical for success in the digital workplace.
“No one can be everywhere at once; transparency is needed through digital workflow tools and open communications.”
So, how do we know we are good leaders?
This continues to be a hot topic of debate for mixed model teams. Most teams are typically measured on how consistently they deliver value, workflow improvement and team moral or satisfaction. These components tend to indicate a well-functioning team with executive leadership. As the digital workplace has shifted to a servant leader coach model, leaders tend to be measured on a % of the outcome of the team’s result, in addition to agreed to OKRs (Objective Key Results) examples: % of team members upskilled/quarter, #of promotions/year, % of attrition decreased/year, # of teams that require less than 50% servant leaders/coach, etc.…
As the mixed model team evolve in maturity, in the digital workplace, they become less reliant on the amount of time they need a servant leader/coach. This shift can result in a struggle between the legacy manufacturing model and the digital service model when leaders are resistant to let go of control.
“Everyone owns leadership, in the digital workplace!”
About the Author:
Cat Collins has been a pioneer in business digital transformation for 30 years. Her focus is on organizational, service, functional and experience design, enabled by emerging digital technology. She has held executive positions in global companies and consulting firms. Her background in psychology/business and hands-on digital transformation experience, have guided her to an innovative human-centric approach to successfully develop solutions and products while helping people transition to new ways of working.