My organization’s director has decided that we need to define the leadership principles that should guide our practice. The idea is to define them, communicate them to the entire team, and then use them as a guide for our behavior.
I am not opposed to the exercise, but something hasn’t felt right about it from the start. It is as if we can pick a list of good ones and then, what, just practice them? Is that the way leadership works? We select from a list of principles and then simply change our behavior or approach to how we lead our team?
What about the ways we are leading right now? Shouldn’t they count for something? Shouldn’t we reflect on the kind of leaders we are now, extract key principles from our current behavior, and determine what needs bolstering, discarding, or adding? What are the risks of not defining how we lead now? What blind spots may we have? What if we have critical gaps? What if we are not really good leaders?
These are the questions running through my mind, and I am afraid that my reticence in approaching the task as we are currently conducting it is communicating resistance to the whole project.
But I am providing leadership now, and I should be able to step back and ask what motivates me—what drives my current leadership—and what I am doing poorly.
So, here is what I sense (if not see).
My leadership is focused on ensuring my team has the tools and skills necessary to do their jobs. This can include everything from hybrid work schedules and schedule flexibility to the right software to enable our work and make it efficient. Skills are a bit tougher, but there is ongoing learning, if not training, in critical aspects of our work, and I keep an eye on their understanding of policies and procedures to address gaps. Work environment and workload are the first things that need to be taken care of, and there is never a time when they cease to be important; a time we have “arrived” at having everything related to the “logistics” of work figured out.
Related to the first one, I see my primary role as a supervisor (swapping out supervisor for leader here, but my leadership is grounded in my supervisory role) as clearing the path in front of my staff so they can get the work done. This means dealing with policy barriers that hinder the work, addressing conflict in the workplace that can stymie productivity, and focusing on things that keep us stuck.
I meet weekly with my staff so I can keep my finger on the pulse of what is hindering their work, and address it in a timely way.
My leadership is collaborative and seeks to include all team members in defining the work procedures we use. I don’t believe there is one best way to do anything. There are multiple ways to get a job done. I may have my preferences, but there may be better, more efficient, or more effective ways of working.
I try to lay out the ends of what we are trying to achieve, offer ideas on how we might structure the work, and then invite people to engage in praxis—trying something out, reflecting on how it is going, and, if necessary, changing our processes. This is an ongoing way of being as a team, and team members learn quickly that their ideas are both welcome and expected to help us function better as a team. This helps create trust and confidence in one another. It also helps us improve the way we do our work.
Building on the previous point, I keep my team focused on the ends we are trying to accomplish. Even if the ends are clear, I remind us all regularly of what we are trying to achieve and invite team members to discuss how we are doing, and whether our processes are becoming ends in themselves.
Without a clear focus on ends, teams devolve into battles over means, because the means become the ends. Many work conflicts have to do with the confusion between means and ends and people’s preferred way of doing things, rather than whether the way we are doing things helps or hinders our work.
I make myself available. Obviously, this relates to several of the previous points, but here the focus is on being willing to interrupt my work to address punctual issues as they arise. This can help smooth the path and reduce stress. If my team members need my input to proceed, or if they are stuck with a problem, my availability to help troubleshoot their issues on the spot communicates a great deal about my support to them.
I pick up slack. I know my team’s work and, if necessary, I can step in and lend a hand to ease the load. This becomes especially important during periods of staff turnover, when everyone’s workload increases as we await the replacement of a key staff member.
For whatever reason, there is a lot of turnover in our staff. The broader organization faces it, so there have been (and are) times when I need to step up and take on some of the work. Sometimes it can last a while. I don’t think there is anything else I do that more clearly communicates to my staff that I am with them than this. I have made it a practice from day one—agreeing to take on certain tasks so that I can maintain a direct understanding of the things they are facing .
There may be other “principles” here, but if I were to define with a word or short phrase these six I would say that my leadership principles include:
- Equipping the Team
- Removing Barriers
- Building Collaboration
- Being Ends Focused
- Being Available
- Picking up Slack
I don’t know how these compare to how others try to lead. Maybe they are more manager processes than leadership principles. I don’t know. But when I think about the kind of leadership I want, these elements are important to me.
Traveling at the Speed of Bike 