I had the pleasure of working alongside, hearing from and working with some great people this week. Highly passionate, driven and many of them top performers in their field.
The common theme was that they were all quickly thrusted into a team leader or a manager role at some point in their careers. They were seen as likely candidates for leadership roles to help the business they work for navigate through challenges like “scrutinising underperformers and mobilising other high performers to improve efficiency in the midst of cutting costs” (Euan Black 2023, Financial Review ).
Some relished in the situation that they had faced but many were anxious and unsure about: What are next steps? Would I be successful? Do I have to do two jobs now? Can I manage people?
The uneasiness of "I havent done this before" and "I have never managed people let alone my peers" scares many from aspiring to team leader and management positions. From conversations this week, many individuals talk about not being set up for success when talking about their journey into leadership roles.
Examples:
The first group of people I worked with were a bunch of bright young sales people. They work within a structured environment designed to drive them to meet sales targets each day. They crave autonomy but give them to much space productivity, standards and motivation can be like a rollacoaster. Traditionionally, they have only had to make decisions confined to each individual sale or sometimes be given enough rope to determine their own rythm to their work. However, this is very different from managing a team of sales people where the team leader needs to plan for the rythm and goals of the team and not just for themselves.
The second group of people I worked alongside with this week were from all walks of life - a piping specialist, an architectural engineer, an experienced aviation refueller, an investment banker, a school office team leader and a warehouse team leader to name a few. We all attended a "peer to leader" workshop and many were looking for the silver bullets to being a successful leader. The frustrations were all very similar and most had been sent by their leaders which indicated to me that for the lack of time, understanding or resources many businesses need to refine what their learning and development process looks like for new leaders. With an abundance of content around leadership, the coaching and collaborative side of learning in this case should be more of a priority.
Lastly, I listened to an ESPN podcast that interviewed Steve Kerr (Mulitple NBA World Champion as a player and as a coach). He talks about being ready for leadership. He was never ready for the role of GM at a basketball franchise and he did not enjoy the 3 years in that role. He suggests that to be ready for leadership you need to be your authentic self. Being able to be open, to learn, to refine, to collaborate, to listen, to be vulnerable and be comfortable bringing to the fore the values that are important to you. Sure it will be challenging at times but if your values dont align with the business values and you are unable to be your authentic self, you need to ask yourself the question why you are doing all this in the first place.
There is no doubt that "actively moving employees into different roles is one of the most underutilized, yet most effective, development and cultural enhancement techniques in companies today" (Kevin Oaks, 2023 Harvard Business Review). The questions I pose to you is:
How do you expose high performers and top talent to leadership?
Do you do enough to support emerging leaders?
Can you onboard emerging leaders like you do new starters?
How do you set emerging leaders up for success?
Reach out to discuss where we can help.
Please find the links to Steve Kerr's book A life and to the interview with Bob Myers on ESPN, Steve Kerr on leadership, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Michael Jordan & MORE | Lead by Example
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