I took the stage. Well, not the stage really, just stepping up to the front of the large meeting room. All eyes were on me, rows and rows of people looking, waiting. And even more people beamed in over the video link (this was very pre-pandemic, when being on camera felt less ordinary). I had my little cards. My three priorities to communicate, just as I’d learned at leadership school. I was ready to make my mark as the new Director. Or so I thought.
What followed was a pretty bumpy ride, perhaps not that day (everyone listened politely, none of the real issues surfaced, yet). But certainly over the next few months. I’d been put into a role that had been held by someone else on a temporary basis for quite a long time. So from the get-go I felt on the back foot and like I was being compared and needed to prove myself.
I was leading a disparate set of teams who had little to unite them, so all the things that the books say about forming the vision to take people with you felt much harder. I also had no clue about the technical aspects of some of the areas I was now responsible for (and they weren’t things that you could just mug-up on and ‘wing it’). Projects were off track, teams were unhappy and key people were under-performing. We faced cuts and impossible choices all around. How was I going to step in to lead this?
I made lots of mistakes back then so instead of tips today I’m going to share a few leadership ground rules instead:
🚫Don’t put up with the wrong leadership team. I know it’s hard to tackle under-performance or move people on who aren’t a good fit, but it’s worth the effort in the long run. I had people in key positions who were expert at their jobs but weren’t leading well. They drained energy and that cost us dearly.
🚫Don’t assume anything. Deciding when and where to get into the detail is a constant question and you can’t just ‘be strategic’ and rely on your team to bring you problems. You need to challenge the optimism bias in how things are presented to you and roll your sleeves up regularly to test all the assumptions being made. Doing this in a way that people feel accompanied rather than crowded out is an art that you will get better at over time if you ask for and listen to feedback.Â
🚫 Don’t cramp your style. You need to flex your leadership approach to the situation or team (I was a coach to some, a director to others and a facilitator when I had limited expertise to offer), but don’t let that flexing make you smaller. Fill your space and don’t let others tell you anything is off limits. Give autonomy and credit, of course, but remember you’re the one who’ll take responsibility if/when things go wrong so you need to be allowed in.
Ironically, later on my leaving do from the role was held in the same room as that first meeting. By then I was much more comfortable in my own skin. I spoke freely and from the heart instead of clutching my little vision cards, and wasn’t worried about get it right anymore. But if I’m honest, I was still quite pleased it was over. Oh well, you win some and when you don’t, you learn some.
