I sat down next to him as he showed me the messages he was getting from users about the data-sharing system. He walked me through how he answered their questions and sorted out the problems they had. I noticed that one issue came up repeatedly and each time he gave the frustrated person the same fix. I asked him whether we could do something centrally to stop this coming up. He wasn’t sure… and because no-one had asked him before he didn’t seem confident to come up with suggestions. 😶
It seemed like a small thing, but it signalled something disturbing about the set up – those closest to the action weren’t empowered to act beyond the individual fix. Leaders weren’t in touch with what was really happening at the front line. That experience has stayed with me for many years, as a reminder to stay connected and to not make assumptions. I had assumed my deputies had the relationships and systems in place to pick up problems; I has assumed that someone working on the helpdesk would raise a flag if there was a repeated issue that could be fixed in a more systematic way.
So here are some suggestions if you’ve taken on a new leadership role and want to know what’s really going on.
⛵Get out and about: it may seem like a huge drain on your time but getting out and about to meet the people in your team, regardless of rank or role, is critical. Apart from creating personal connection, it’s a great way to see for yourself what’s happening out there. And I don’t mean the typical ‘meet and greet’ where you shake hands or speak to room-fulls of people about your vision. I mean going and sitting alongside people, seeing what their daily work is and building credibility as someone who listens and is genuinely interested.
🔁Get reverse mentoring: when you’re on your travels be on the look for people who you can ask for more regular feedback about how things are going in your department or group. Maybe they have a role that’s particularly important for implementation, or perhaps they look and sound very different to you and so can bring you a new perspective on how your leadership is being experienced.
💡Encourage engagement: build opportunities for groups of people to come together to share and generate ideas for change, whatever the topic at hand. You might need a bit of courage for this – what if they ask for things you can’t deliver? Or just spend the whole time complaining? Be clear about the boundaries and trust that people will generally behave like adults if you treat them like adults.
👀Set expectations: if you manage a gorup of leaders let them know that this is what you expect from them too. Don’t just role model and hope for the best. Ask them what their teams think and do and how they know. Create space for them to get out and about too and celebrate it, even if it brings you things you don’t want to hear.
How has getting out and about helped you to be a better leader?
