What Does Good Look Like?

Leading People 6

When it comes to leading a team, most of us can muddle through.


Often, little is expected of us.


But, wouldn't it be great to be good?
Key Points:
  • A good team leader should expect to be judged by the performance of their team
  • The role of the leader is to select individuals, harness their potential and help move them on when the time is right
  • This is a constant challenge, as good team's rarely remain static for long
  • If you can do this in a way that consistently delivers performance, while building strength in the individuals, team and wider organisation, then you can feel sure you are doing a good job
How Should You Be Judged?

Ultimately, how good you are as a team leader should be judged by performance. 

Not yours personally, but that of your team.

For most of us, this comes as a slightly alien and uncomfortable concept.  We've typically grown up being judged as individuals, not by what we can achieve through others.

This is generally reinforced throughout the educational system and early years of employment.

When given the responsibility of leading a team, a minority will truly thrive, perhaps for the first time in their lives.  These individuals instinctively know how to bring out the best in others.

The rest of us are more likely to see it as a distraction from our own personal goals.  We might default to leading through positional authority, or our subject matter expertise.

Maybe the expectations on us are not that great.

And besides, there are often systems in place that help drive performance regardless of our personal ability to lead the team.

If the team are good enough, and willing enough, we will probably muddle through most of the time.
Organisations have a specific focus of attention
But, the chances are, you want more from yourself, or you expect more of others.

And, wouldn't it be great to be good?
So, What Does Good Look Like?

The role of a team leader is:
  • to select individuals
  • to harness their potential
  • to help them move on when the time is right
This is a constant challenge:
  • a good team rarely remains static for long 
  • there is rarely anyone who is a perfect fit for the job in hand
  • even if you find them, they will change, or the role will change
  • and, it's about the whole team, not just one or two individuals
Do it well and you will not just achieve short term performance, but build a legacy of strength within the organisation that will last long after they, or you, have moved on.
Changing the focus of attention
The Leading People 6 are designed to support and guide team leaders each step of the way.

Select

Selecting the right individual for any given role can often be fraught with difficulty for all concerned.

All too often it is done badly, with little true respect for the potential candidates.

There are two things you can be sure of:
  • an individual may be the best candidate for the role regardless of their current levels of skill and experience, but they will never be right if they don't have the innate strengths the role requires
  • an individual may be convinced they are right for the role even without the right skills and experience, but they will rarely choose to put themselves in to a position that they don't have the innate strengths to perform
Help candidates see the degree to which their strengths match the role they are applying for and you can significantly increase the odds of choosing the right candidate while ensuring the candidates feel understood and respected in the process.

Harness

Some people feel uncomfortable with the word harness and yet it precisely describes what any team leader should be striving to achieve for each and every member of their team.
Changing the focus of attention
To maximise the use of each individual's strengths, to align them with the rest of the team, to focus them on the job in hand, to positively support their growth and development and to help clear away any obstacles in their path.

This is what it means to lead a team.

Move On

If selecting individuals is often fraught with difficulty then, helping them to move on is even more so.

Yet, baring changes to personal circumstances, there is only one reason for someone to move on from a team:

Because their growth potential is greater elsewhere.

It really is that simple.

Whether they have outgrown the role, the requirements have changed, a better opportunity has arisen, they were never the right person in the first place, or just because there is greater potential for them elsewhere, then help them move on.

With respect.
Created 13/08/2018
Last Updated 14/08/2018