Whether you lead virtually or face-to-face, your role is simple:
To create value through others.
Ok, so it’s simple to say, not so simple in practice.
Why is it not simple? Because you are so used to doing things yourself.
This is the first mindset shift of a leader:
- I am no longer an individual contributor, only responsible for my own time and value creation.
- I am a leader, responsible for value creation through others.
If you can’t let go of being a brilliant individual contributor, you will not have the capacity to be a great leader.
The second mindset shift of a leader is:
- I can no longer work only in the short-term.
- I am a leader, responsible for the long-term success and health of this team, this business, this organisation.
If you can get your head around those, then we’re ready to start this hero’s journey.
You could argue though that you need to go through a preparative journey to learn those two mindsets from experience. You may not believe them until you have tried to push through with the old mindsets and failed. But perhaps you might just accept them as a gift from me to you. A short-cut if you like. I know, from working with hundreds of leaders: you will burn yourself out if you try to lead from the old mindsets; and you will lose your people as they won’t feel valued.
So how do you lead others to create value?
You provide both high support AND high challenge.
Support refers to interventions that affirm the value of the individual (building trust, respect, rapport) or those that reduce uncertainty & anxiety (encouragement, focusing on strengths, empathy).
Challenge refers to interventions that compel the individual to confront current reality (accountability, feedback, removing limiting beliefs) and to meet the changing expectations of all stakeholders (goal setting, visioning, alignment of values).
Low challenge/low support – produces inertia and apathy. This leadership style causes in others boredom, disinterest and low agency to act.
High challenge/low support – produces stress. This leadership style creates defensiveness, protectionism, drawing into oneself.
Low challenge/high support – the “cosy club” is too comfortable. Whilst the leadership style is one of high empathy, active listening and questioning, there could also be a risk of collusion and letting people off the hook.
High challenge/high support – produces growth, development and high performance. Leaders tap into the whole of a person’s wisdom and potential – creating value through others.
How much support do you give to your team members?
How much challenge do you offer?
This model applies to leadership no matter whether you are co-located or not. I hear you saying that it’s more difficult virtually – but it’s by no means impossible to build trust, respect, rapport when you are in different locations. Nor to provide encouragement, focus on strengths and be empathetic. Granted, you may need to make it more of a conscious way of being, but that doesn’t make it impossible.
What small things can you do every day, every week, every month to build trust, respect and rapport and to provide encouragement, focus on strengths and be empathetic?
I know, I know, you don’t have time for this. You would if you could, but you’re busy getting stuff done. Oh wait, there is the individual contributor mindset taking over again. Remember, your role as a leader is to create value through others.
You’re also going to tell me that you don’t create value through these soft skills. But those are only the half of it. You then add in the challenge. You can offer more challenge BECAUSE you are offering support. They can accept the challenge when they know you also support them.
It is the first yin and yang that we will talk about in this series. One without the other will give you inertia, stress or cosy collusion. Both together will provide you with high performance.
So now layer in the challenge:
- Accountability for the achievement of goals – what are they accountable for? By when?
- Feedback about how and whether they are meeting their goals and expectations; and how they are living their own and the company’s values
- Enabling them to remove limiting beliefs that are getting in their own way
Once again, I hear your cry – but how do I hold them accountable when I can’t see what they are doing? You get them to talk you through their progress, their thinking processes, their results, their sticking points! That’s not so hard, is it?
And an even louder cry, “but I would much prefer to give feedback face-to-face”. I think that is a big fat excuse, or dare I say it, a lie.
You don’t like giving feedback full-stop. Am I right?
You fear the confrontation. You don’t want to upset them. You don’t know how they will react. There is always an excuse not to give feedback. But you are killing them with kindness. They will not progress unless you tell them what their stakeholders think of their output and the way they behave.
Here ends today’s lesson! Shift your mindset and embrace the yin and yang of support and challenge. Virtually and/or face-to-face.
References:
Laurent Daloz, from his 1986 book ‘Effective Teaching and Mentoring.’ Quoted in Blakey, J and Day, I. (2012). ‘Challenging Coaching.’
