You\u2019ve been promoted to the position of manager of the procurement team in your organisation. Initially, you started your new role by working hard at trying to impress your own manager as well as your direct reports you\u2019d be a successful leader. Full of enthusiasm you believed the way to be a successful manager was to tell your staff what to do even to the point of micro managing them. You also made sure they didn\u2019t waste any time and ignored any suggestions they might offer to improve operations. After all, you\u2019re the manager and surely that meant you would know best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now some 12 months later you\u2019ve discovered your authoritarian leadership style is not as effective as you had expected. Absenteeism has increased over that period, productivity has fallen since you started and team morale has plummeted. Moreover, your own manager has noticed and has asked you to account for what\u2019s happening. You\u2019ve also started to notice that other managers seem to have a different leadership style from your own and are getting much better results. What can you do to turn things around? Here are some ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Start with Respect<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Begin by learning to respect the members of your team. Respect them firstly as human beings and secondly as individuals with specific gifts and abilities. So take the focus off yourself, off your desire to impress others and put your focus on valuing, supporting and believing in your direct reports rather than trying to control them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Lead with Confession<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s your responsibility as leader to attempt to rebuild trust with your team. As leader you are the circuit breaker! You can only lead effectively if your team experiences you as being trustworthy. And that can only start if you own up to them in a team meeting that your leadership style has been faulty. Explain why you acted as you did and how you\u2019ve come to realise that was wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Introduce the Five Dysfunctions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Introduce your team to \u2018The Five Dysfunctions of a Team\u2019 by Patrick Lencioni. This is one of the best books available on rebuilding a damaged team, especially the first two foundations: building trust and values based conflict. Trust begins to be restored by sharing vulnerably. As leader you\u2019ve started that process with steps 1 and 2. The process now needs to continue as you and the team take time to share for a few minutes in each team meeting something from your personal lives – background, family, interests and especially humorous weaknesses. Once trust begins to grow addressing conflict avoidance becomes the next priority. The capacity to engage in conflict respectfully and honestly is vital for team health and effectiveness. (Further resources on developing trust and values based conflict are available on this site.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Establish Employee Based One on One\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Many managers conduct regular one on one mentoring sessions with their direct reports. Often however they are more geared to the needs of the employer rather than the needs of the employee. By that I mean instead of focusing on what the employee needs to do to meet management expectations, the main emphasis should be on what the employee believes they need to develop in order to be effective in both their current role and also their career pathway. Also there needs to be a shift from primarily the manager telling employees to asking questions that enable the employee, together with their manager, to identify and pursue their own development goals. (Again, resources regarding coaching, specific assessments and goal development are available on this site.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Affirm and Celebrate Team Achievements<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As trust builds you can expect to see absenteeism decline and productivity increase. As that happens recognise, affirm and celebrate individual and team achievements as their achievements not yours. Honour your team and its members with senior management whenever you have the opportunity and find ways to celebrate and reward team success. Your manager will see you as successful when your team becomes successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. Demonstrate Personal Care<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Without being intrusive and to the degree they are comfortable get to know your team members personally. Inquire about their interests, hobbies and families and be sure to follow up any significant concerns they express such as a child\u2019s ill health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. Be Positive and Consistent<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Research is showing that positivity is the chief characteristic employees look for in their managers. This doesn\u2019t mean sugar- coating problems. Rather, it\u2019s about being hopeful in the midst of challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Honesty is a critical characteristic people value in their leaders. It signals they have integrity and therefore can be trusted. Therefore when leaders make mistakes that significantly impact their team it\u2019s important to acknowledge what they have done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n