How to be a stronger team leader
When you shift from an individual contributor role to a management position, there is a lot to learn in regards to how to be a leader. Delegation, communication, relationship and trust building, are a few of the new challenges.
The thing is, no one teaches leaders how to run their team. We all learn from “The School of Hard Knocks”. Most team leaders are making it up as they go.
“With intentional leadership actions, team leaders can begin to strongly lead teams into high performance. ”
This often results in the following leadership challenges:
A reactive rather than proactive stance
A focus that over indexes on the detail of the work itself and under indexes on the team’s ways of working
A lack of confidence in speaking directly and openly to the team as one body
Not enough time set aside for actions directly related to leading the team
With intentional leadership actions, team leaders can begin to strongly lead teams into high performance.
Here are three weekly strategies to implement today
These small, consistent actions will add up to stronger team leadership.
1. Identify clear goals and areas of focus for your team.
The key word here is "clear". You probably already know what common purpose your team serves. But is it clear to team members, and do they understand it in the same way?
Maybe you have an evergreen purpose that's obvious to you, but you’ve never clearly stated it to the team.
Or maybe you have an evergreen purpose, but it takes on a different flavor each year. Is that something the team is aligned on and committed to? It’s on you as a leader to build strong clarity and alignment around these goals.
Take Action: Start a clear conversation with your team as soon as possible.
2. Speak to your team as one body.
A team is a collective entity rather than a group of individuals, and needs to be treated as such. When you treat your team as one body as you lead, you’re focusing on group dynamics and needs rather than just one individual. Team time is for team goals and issues. Protect that.
Take Action: For your next team meeting keep the agenda focused on team-level interests.
3. Intentionally build team culture.
Decide what you want the team culture to be and articulate it. Leaders who don’t intentionally shape team culture are at the mercy of unintentional, unproductive behaviors negatively influencing the culture.
Take Action: Each time you bring the team together, name something intentional that you want to work into the team culture. For example, you might say "Over the past year, I've noticed that we sometimes multitask at team meetings. I'd like us to commit to being fully present. I'll do my best, with your help, to design a team meeting that is worth 100% of your focus. What do you want to focus on in our next meeting?”
Conclusion
You may not have received step-by-step training in how to be an effective leader, and are learning on the job, but you can become more intentional with your leadership actions and communications to be a stronger team leader.
The strongest team leaders utilize tools such as communication, clarity, unity, focus and accountability to improve team productivity and culture.
What’s one method you’re planning to implement into your management strategy today to be a stronger team leader?
If you’re struggling with leadership and how to strongly lead teams, we can work with you to develop a solution.
