Do you know how your team wants to be led by you? Or, are you performing "leadership by guessing?"
It is important to the success of your leadership to have absolute clarity as to how your team wants to experience your leadership. Why is this important to your success? Leaders who have this deep level of understanding have teams that are engaged, feel valued, and are motivated to carry out the work and the leadership vision.
Key questions to ask your team include:
- What have they identified as their top priorities for your leadership?
- What do they need from you?
- How do they want to experience you?
- How often do they need interaction with you and in what ways?
- What motivates each team member?
- What do they think excellent leadership looks like?
How do you find out this information? One simple and effective way is to have a team meeting to ask these questions. Brainstorm with your team around these questions. This feedback will provide you with fresh ideas and different perspectives. Another way to gain this information is to regularly ask these questions during your one-one-one meetings. This information gives you access to a high-level view of your leadership and provides you with opportunities to immediately pivot, if necessary.
Leaders often assume the leadership role thinking about the strategies and outcomes but less often about what their leadership will mean to their team. It is pertinent for leaders to know how to get their team to not just follow out of duty but to follow because they believe in their leadership.
The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things. - Ronald Reagan
Knowing how your team wants to be led by you will help you lead in a powerful and meaningful way.