People Leadership

  • Share your thinking

    Over the past 5 years, I shifted to working in an almost exclusively virtual environment. One of my observations is that people (myself included) tend to share less of the ‘why’ behind their decision making and thinking than they might otherwise do when in person. It is easier for most people to explain something verbally than it is to communicate it in writing. This has a cost.

    One of the critical ways employees learn from their colleagues and bosses is by understanding the thinking that goes into decisions. It’s harder to develop mental models and expertise without understanding the frameworks and rationale people use to make conclusions. This applies to simple and daily tactical questions (e.g., how should we price this project? Should we accept this job or not? Is that person the right candidate for the role?), as well as strategic ones.

    When responding to a question in Teams/Slack, it’s much easier to give direction or the answer and takes a more deliberate and intentional effort to add in something like “and here’s how I came to that decision” or “this is the rationale I’m basing my choice on”. I’ve started to make a better effort to include that and have noticed an immediate positive impact.

    It’s not only for the benefit of employees who are learning and developing. It also aids in discussion among peers and within the team. If you explain your rationale, it opens the door for reactions and counter-points or considerations you may not have thought of. You’re going to come to better decisions with input from others and you’re going to receive better input if you create the circumstance that invites it.

    And here’s the best part: I’ve noticed if you CAN make it a point to include your rationale in writing, the discussion is often even better than it would be verbally in person. Putting it in writing forces you to be more articulate, it creates a record to refer to, and it gives the recipient(s) additional time to contemplate and respond, which they may be unable to do if it’s occurring real-time during a verbal conversation.

  • The Power of Enthusiasm

    An underrated and often overlooked leadership quality is enthusiasm. When you have a manager or leader who regularly presents themselves as melancholy, cynical, or worse: sarcastic, it’s incredibly hard to get excited about projects, objectives or key initiatives your team is working on. Nothing will rob you of your excitement faster than having your leader roll their eyes at a new project you are excited about. Not only can it rob you of excitement, but when a leader isn’t genuinely enthusiastic about their work, it can often lead to insecurity on the team; I’m much less likely to share an update I’m passionate about if I think my team or leader won’t care. It also negatively sets the tone and culture for the rest of the team; I will subconsciously be less excited about my peer’s projects if it’s clear the leader isn’t. When a leader makes it cool not to care, those who do will hide it.

    Conversely, it’s exceptionally contagious when a leader is enthusiastic about chasing a hard goal, accomplishing an objective, or discussing a project. How you show up as the leader matters and sets the tone for the rest of the team. When the leader is fired up, the team gets fired up.

    And the reality is sometimes you need to channel your enthusiasm even when you might be having a bad day, which we all have, and may not feel particularly enthusiastic. I’m not suggesting ever acting disingenuously, but I am talking about showing up for your team when they need it, and that might mean in attitude as well as physical or virtual presence.

  • Celebrate with authenticity

    I tend to naturally gravitate towards, and sometimes obsess over, what’s not working well. As a result, I can forget to celebrate wins and recognize people for successful projects or work. Over time, I’ve become more deliberate and intentional about recognizing great efforts from teams or individuals and making sure to celebrate and re-enforce those behaviors. That’s not shocking or novel: I think most people believe it’s important to highlight positive behaviors and celebrate your wins, sometimes even the small ones.

    But one thing I’ve reflected on lately is whether that sentiment can go too far, and the not so nice to say but belief I have is yes, it can. When EVERYTHING is celebrated, even the most basic expectations, it dilutes the celebration of the real wins. For example, if everything is a wonderful, amazing, exceptional accomplishment… well then nothing is.

    People tend to have different stylistic preferences for recognition, but everyone values knowing whether they are doing a good job or not. Even the best performers want their achievements to be celebrated; however, nothing is worse than watering down their accomplishments by celebrating insignificant events. And the team members who require a celebration for performing the basic routine elements of their job may not be the team members you want on your team long term.

    Let’s say you’re the quality manager for a manufacturing plant that produces steel parts for a major auto OEM. You have a team of three associates and are onboarding a new fourth team member. Part of the job requires you to review finished parts coming off the line and identify pieces with deficiencies. In the first week, the new member spots a deficiency, so the manager makes a point of celebrating it during the end of week wrap up… that’s awesome! It may be routine, but it’s a new task and this person is onboarding, so it feels good to be recognized for learning. But if six months later, the quality manager is making a point of celebrating an identified deficiency at the end of the week, it may not feel as good, when that is a routine element of the job all members are expected to perform. When disconnected from the effort required, overcelebration can become inauthentic, forced, or even demotivating.

    It’s important to be deliberate about celebrating the wins, but make sure you only do it when it’s genuine.