“If you think you're leading, but no one is following, then you are only taking a walk.” - John Maxwell.
Leadership inherently includes people. If you want to cultivate leaders, you need to make time for people.
Some people might need a post titled "make time for strategy" As an INTJ, that's not me. For me, there's a draw to pull away and design, strategize, solve problems. Early in my leadership journey, I would go away, craft a plan, and bring it back to the team. This usually had mixed results.
Over time I learned to facilitate co-creation times with my team where we would solve together. This was a breakthrough for me and became my core leadership style. Later I discovered IDEOs design thinking concepts and Google's Design Sprint format, which gave me even more tools in this toolbox. But it's not about the tools. These tools help me engage the people to draw out their unique perspectives and insight and platform their voices as we solve together.
It's critical to find ways to engage and regularly connect with people in a way that recognizes and maintains their humanity.
It's important to know what your tendencies and preference are. If you're like me, some of these habits may help bring some balance.
A pitfall I fell into early in leadership was seeing people as interrupting the work I was trying to get done. This mainly was a result of unmet expectations. I had an expectation about how I would spend a specific time, like Tuesday afternoon, and then someone would call or come by at that time with a question or wanting to work on something else.
I have other spaces of time that I've pre-allocated for meeting with people
Smartphones didn't help this. Now I was always accessible to my team and others. I needed to add some structure. I began by theming my days and block scheduling my time. I still do this by having chunks of time for focused work where I turn off all notifications and my calendar is not free. And then I have other spaces of time that I've pre-allocated for meeting with people. This way, when someone wants to meet, I offer my preset times, and it doesn't feel like I'm giving anything up because the decision was already made in the past.
Another essential habit that I began was having weekly 1on1s with people on my team. If you haven't heard of 1on1s before, check out how I do it or look through the many resources on manager tools. Here's a quick overview
Some questions need to be asked right now, but many fall in the category, "I'll ask when I see them..." Having a weekly 1on1 ensures that they'll see you this week. This regular rhythm allows people to write down questions or ideas they have rather than shooting them to you in an email or slack message.
It’s easy to feel stuck or uncertain about how to move ahead. Maybe you feel overloaded or like you’re just spinning your wheels. What if you had someone alongside you on the journey?
There are people beyond your team with whom you connect and collaborate. It's important to recognize this network and prioritize connecting with people. This could be scheduling a 30 min check-in each month or quarter. It could mean having lunch or sending a quick "how's it going?" text.
It can be easy to see this network as transactional. When this happens, I don't see Mike; I see the budget person. This is not how you want to cultivate your leadership. It's critical to find ways to engage and regularly connect with people in a way that recognizes and maintains their humanity.
Often projects are more straightforward than people.
Again, depending on your personality, this may not be as much of an issue. But if it is, habits like this can help you protect against blind spots developing in your leadership and life.
Often projects are more straightforward than people. When relationships are complicated, there is the temptation to stay longer at work or find another way to keep busy. I've struggled with this but what's helped me is refocusing on my long-term priorities.
When I think about what will matter at the end of my life, it's people. This may seem strange, but imagining what you want to be said about you at your funeral quickly distills what's important to you.
A few years ago, I set a couple of habits to help me live by my priorities.
Remember, creating time for people requires intentionality and commitment. By incorporating these action steps into your leadership approach, you can foster stronger connections, improve team morale, and create a positive work environment.
Team leadership is a management approach focused on leading and guiding a group of individuals working together towards a common goal. A team leader is responsible for providing direction, support, and guidance to the team members, while fostering a positive and productive work environment.
Team leadership involves setting clear goals and expectations for the team, communicating effectively, and building trust and relationships with team members. It also involves empowering team members to take ownership of their work and contribute their unique skills and perspectives to the team's success.
Some key characteristics of effective team leadership include:
Overall, team leadership is a collaborative and empowering approach to management that values communication, trust-building, and results-driven performance.
There are several different styles of team leadership, including:
Overall, each style of team leadership has its own strengths and weaknesses, and effective leaders may use a combination of different styles depending on the situation and the needs of their team.
There are several key skills required for effective team leadership, including:
Overall, effective team leadership requires a combination of interpersonal, decision-making, and management skills, as well as the ability to inspire and empower team members to work collaboratively towards shared goals.
Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy and management style that emphasizes the importance of serving others first before considering one's own needs and desires. It's an approach to leadership that focuses on the well-being and growth of others, rather than solely on achieving organizational goals.
A servant leader prioritizes the needs of their followers or team members, providing them with support, guidance, and mentorship. They are committed to empowering their team members to reach their full potential and achieve their goals.
Some common characteristics of servant leaders include:
Overall, servant leadership is about creating a supportive and empowering environment for others to thrive. By prioritizing the needs of their followers, a servant leader can inspire trust, loyalty, and commitment, ultimately leading to better outcomes for the organization as a whole.
Learn more about how to cultivate servant leadership.
Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy and management style that emphasizes the importance of serving others first before considering one's own needs and desires. It's an approach to leadership that focuses on the well-being and growth of others, rather than solely on achieving organizational goals.
A servant leader prioritizes the needs of their followers or team members, providing them with support, guidance, and mentorship. They are committed to empowering their team members to reach their full potential and achieve their goals.
Some common characteristics of servant leaders include:
Overall, servant leadership is about creating a supportive and empowering environment for others to thrive. By prioritizing the needs of their followers, a servant leader can inspire trust, loyalty, and commitment, ultimately leading to better outcomes for the organization as a whole.
Learn more about how to cultivate servant leadership.
Servant leadership can be beneficial in the workplace in a number of ways, including:
Overall, servant leadership can lead to a more positive, productive, and fulfilling workplace environment, benefiting both employees and the organization as a whole.
Learn more about how to cultivate servant leadership.
Servant leadership differs from many other leadership styles in several key ways:
Overall, servant leadership is characterized by a focus on serving others, prioritizing empathy and collaboration, and taking a humble and accountable approach to leadership. While other leadership styles may be effective in different contexts, servant leadership can be a powerful tool for creating positive change and empowering others to reach their full potential.
Learn more about how to cultivate servant leadership.
Are you striving to align your goals with your values and passions?
Wondering how to measure progress or break down large goals into manageable steps?
Are you ready to transform your dreams into reality?
Our Goal Focus Guide + Worksheet is designed for you to discover how effective goal setting can transform your personal and professional life.
Download the Goal Focus Worksheet