The focus of this chapter is helping your team to see your value to them as a leader. This involves learning to listen more than speak, to ask rather than tell, to open doors so people can shine, becoming attuned to the unusual or unexpected and above all making sure credit for good things always lands in the right place.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Many IT people get promoted to a leadership position because they are good at their current job and that job is likely to be a technical one. The role of a leader is, however, very different from that of a ‘doer’. Often IT people are expected to perform as a leader with little training, guidance or preparation and just to make this even more difficult, there are seldom good role models to follow. Sometimes you may find yourselves having to lead former ‘workmates’ and, other times, you may find yourself leading very intelligent technicians with little respect, or regard, for the leadership role. As you become a more experienced leader, you also become more distant from your technical roots and soon find that the people in your team know much more than you do about the technical aspects of their job. Whatever your circumstances, you need to earn the respect of your team.
Leadership is an art, rather than a science; it is not just about process and procedure: it is about communication, influence, teamwork and the ability to inspire and motivate others. It is about keeping your eyes open and your hands off, rather than your eyes down and your hands on. It is about asking the right questions, rather than searching for or providing the right answers.
THE IMPACT OF THE ISSUE
If your staff don’t respect you or your role as their leader, you will not get the best out of them and sometimes you will get the very worst due to boredom, frustration or simply because ‘they can’t be bothered’.
If you are ineffective in your leadership role the organisation will have suffered a double whammy; it will have lost a valuable team member while gaining a poor leader. Principal reasons for this include:
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Poor communication – staff don’t know what is expected of them or how they are meant to do it.
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Lack of teamwork – staff expend effort in ‘doing their own thing’; there are no guiding principles to bring the individual members of the team together.
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Lack of a shared and compelling vision – there isn’t anything for the team members to believe in; no group purpose or vision to see where they are heading.
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Lack of urgency – there is no drive, energy or motivation to perform and achieve.
MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL
Leadership is not about having all the answers or always being right; in fact one of the best ways of gaining trust from your team is to openly demonstrate some humility. Increasingly this is being termed ‘Humble Leadership’ and is characterised by a willingness to admit mistakes, empower followers and take risks for the greater good (that includes putting the needs of your organisation or team before your own needs).
Remember your success rests on the willingness of your team to volunteer their energy and initiative to your cause. Telling them what to do may produce short-term compliant behaviour but gaining their trust and releasing their potential is the only sure way of producing long-term commitment and results.
As the leader, you enjoy levels of organisational access that are not available to your team. You get to hear things that they don’t, you are invited into discussions that are closed to them and your level of organisational autonomy allows you to access resources and leverage relationships that can help your teams work with much less stress. Your team has to play the hand of cards that it is dealt, but your position allows you the opportunity to stack the deck slightly in its favour.
Successful team leadership requires you to simultaneously operate at multiple levels of both attention and abstraction. You need to be able to focus on important details whilst never losing sight of the greater goal; this ability to zoom in and zoom out is a key skill and not a simple one to master. You also need to exercise your influence and relationship-building skills in every direction: downwards, sideways and upwards.
Increasingly as you move to more senior positions, technical ability counts for less than your relational skills; it becomes less about knowing ‘stuff’ and more about a way of seeing differently, communicating widely and wisely and evoking a passion within your listeners. Ultimately you need to find a new way of being in the world.
As a personal health check, which of the behaviours listed in Table 1.1 best describe your current leadership behaviours?
THINGS FOR YOU TO WORK ON NOW
Below are some questions to help you diagnose where you are now and what aspects of your professional persona as a team leader are most in need of development. Think carefully about these questions and regularly build in time to reflect honestly upon how you are performing against these criteria.
Reflect on your answers and build yourself a prioritised action plan to make progress on your top three areas of concern. Give yourself tangible and measurable goals.
Below are some simple practical steps that you can start to build into your routine. If some of this is alien to your natural character and demeanour you may want to build up slowly. Just be sincere and be consistent.
If you are inspired to find out more about any of the themes covered in this chapter we suggest that you start by reviewing the resources listed below.
FURTHER FOOD FOR THE CURIOUS
Chatham R. (2015) The Art of IT Management: Practical tools, techniques and people skills. Swindon: BCS:
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Combining simple models and powerful examples, this book is a must read for new and more seasoned IT managers alike.
Collins J. (2005) Level 5 Leadership: The triumph of humility and fierce resolve. Harvard Business Review, July-August. Available from https://hbr.org/2005/07/level-5-leadership-the-triumph-of-humility-and-fierce-resolve [21 March 2017]:
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An excellent insight into what makes a leader truly great – a paradoxical mixture of personal humility and professional will.
Prime J. and Salib E. (2014) The Best Leaders are Humble Leaders. Harvard Business Review, 12 May. Available from https://hbr.org/2014/05/the-best-leaders-are-humble-leaders [21 March 2017]:
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An interesting report of the findings of a wide-ranging international study that points to ways in which leaders can increase feelings of involvement and belonging in their teams.
Valcour M. (2016) How to Know Whether You’re Giving Your Team Needless Work. Harvard Business Review, 26 August. Available from https://hbr.org/2016/08/how-to-know-whether-youre-giving-your-team-needless-work [21 March 2017]:
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This identifies the concept of illegitimate tasks’ and shows how they arise and proliferate. Some good practical tips for how to keep these illegitimate tasks in proportion.
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