As anyone who’s browsed the business section in a book shop can tell you, thousands upon thousands of pages have been published on management and leadership strategies.
“Focus on strengths!”
“RTO maximises productivity!”
“Radical candour, radical focus, radical transparency!”
There’s no doubt these and similar approaches have enriched the conversation around the evolving workplace. And as a data lover from way back, I genuinely appreciate the ongoing research and insights provided by MBAs and university professors.
But also there’s something to be said for practical observations gained in the course of working with managers and execs.
The following six points – some documented in L&D canon, some not – are ones that, as a practitioner, I’ve found to be true, useful and/or informative.
They’re certainly not meant to be exhaustive, simply a sample of concepts that I’ve seen play out over the course of my career supporting and training leaders at all levels.
1. Trust is everything: your brand, your currency and, ultimately, your legacy
Bringing consistency and authenticity to both the way you manage and lead people will build the kind of credibility needed to navigate the inevitable storms of business.
Truly great leaders use every opportunity to forge trusted relationships with those around them. They reap the benefits of that trust daily but, more critically, when moving people through change and making hard asks.
2. It’s not the rewards that people remember; it’s the recognition
Everyone loves a bonus or points to spend in the rewards portal. But when we reflect on our most meaningful moments, those most gratifying, they’re often tied to the impact we had on something: a product launch, a new program, a KPI.
Better still, they can be tied to the difference you made for someone. Being appreciated taps into our innate desire to contribute and be valued for those contributions.
Making recognition a regular practice in creative and personal (not necessarily pricey) ways can help employees elevate recognition through storytelling, reinforce desired behaviors, and drive engagement as well as retention.
Truly great leaders use every opportunity to forge trusted relationships with those around them
3. Shared struggles forge strong teams
Despite leaders’ best efforts, we know that operations can turn on a dime.
The upside of churn, missed objectives and org changes? Teams forced to lean on one another can forge bonds that an otherwise placid period never would have.
I’ve seen particularly observant managers move through these times with care and conscientiousness, acknowledging what employees were dealing with and, when needed, taking accountability.
The result: higher trust and a level of resilience that made the team better able to tackle the next challenge.
4. For good or ill, new leaders/managers change the team dynamic
The more senior the role, the greater the potential for disruption.
If an organisation wants to preserve its culture, hiring processes must be rigorous. Interviews have to include culture fit (or culture add) questions to suss out whether someone’s approach or style may erode established practices, rituals and artifacts.
By the way, this isn’t always intentional! So, even when you ostensibly do everything right – from recruiting to hiring and onboarding – it’s important to know that a questionable hire can in a very short time undo what may have taken years to build.
Managers with healthy and cohesive teams hire with high judgment and, as the adage goes, also ‘hire slow and fire fast.’
5. Prioritising work ensures the kind of focus that minimises busy work
Too many priorities in an already noisy world can feel overwhelming. It can also create unnecessary chaos, leading teams to waste precious time and energy.
The most effective leaders I’ve observed regularly and transparently (re)prioritise work in partnership with their teams.
They involve their people, ensuring that everyone knows and agrees to roles, outcomes, and measurements while being responsible for identifying and removing barriers.
The most effective leaders I’ve observed regularly and transparently (re)prioritise work in partnership with their teams
6. Respected leaders show grace for themselves and others
Despite its progressive leanings, tech culture can prioritise output over creativity, team dynamics and work-life integration. It’s easier to measure success by whether the latest version of the software hit GA on time.
What differentiates those managers who get the most from their teams is the ability to achieve results while demonstrating grace. These leaders encourage exploration and risk-taking while allowing for mistakes and sharing bad news (AKA psychological safety).
They go a couple steps further by ensuring team members can attend family events and are taking care of their mental and physical health.
They pay attention to signs of burnout and find ways to interact with others. In short, they care that employees have lives outside of work.
Finally, the manager models these behaviours so there’s a standing permission structure.
The future of work
According to Nichol Bradford, AI speaker, futurist strategist, and author: “The future of work is going to be about being good at emotional fluency, emotional skilling, the ability to lead teams, coach teams, be a leader from any role on a team, those are going to become table stakes to be highly compensated”.
For this and other reasons that will have lasting effects on people’s everyday lives, our organisations and economies around the world, L&D and its related disciplines (communications and enablement, among them) will continue to be critical points of investment.
- [Read more about the Trust Bank Account concept in this LinkedIn post by George Bennett and trust as a foundational principle in The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni.]
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