Being a leader is an interesting and challenging responsibility, but leading a cross-departmental team where influencing an already busy group of folks kicks it up a notch. For the last couple of months I’ve been leading an intranet implementation team for a global enterprise. I work with folks from several department from more than one location and report to a multi-national executive committee. The task is large and the timeline is condensed for the initial launch in the matter of months. Some of the lessons I’m learning (or relearning) are transferable to many different team leadership situations:
- Listen. A great lesson for many of life’s situations, but listening is a key in leadership. Hearing the expectations of upper management, the concerns and ideas of the team and getting feedback from the company or organization in general is invaluable. Building surveys and interviews into the process will give some beefy information.
- Communicate. It is up to the team leader to take initiative to communicate often, thoroughly, timely and succinctly. To keep the team engaged and encouraged, consistent communication from you breathes life into the process and helps to keep the team objectives front burner.
- Plan. Planning is huge and encompassing for team leadership. Developing and continually revising issues, tasks, milestones, team meetings and reporting mechanisms is critical.
- Report. Invest time into report creation. Monthly reports are a summary of the process and are a good accountability structure. I leverage the time to tie-up loose ends and advance objectives in the process of report creation. Keeping the next report in mind with every task helps in staying the course when issues arise that would become a side eddy for the teams efforts.
- Illustrate. Nothing like pretty pictures to tell a story. Illustrations, graphs, charts, wireframes all help to paint the picture that both the team and leadership need to see.
- Work hard. Team leadership requires a level of committment and industry that is not for the faint at heart. More responsibility than authority, more service than honor, but it can be a fascinating process to see something concrete develop through the course of the project.
- Be diplomatic. Issues such as the development timeline, objectives, structure and features are often negotiable with a bit of diplomacy. The reporting structure provides a means to address key issues along with ad hoc meetings with key stakeholders.
- Make no assumptions. Everyone has the best intentions in a team meeting. Follow-up and building-in accountability structures will help folks stay on task.
- Research. Know your subject well as you will now be seen as an expert. The more you know the better communicator you will be.
- Share the load. It’s called a team for a reason. Engaging all the team members in the process is critical for it’s success.
There are undoubtably many more takeaways I’ll gain from this experience. Hopefully, I can keep these points in mind as the project moves forward. There are so many good lessons to learn from leadership. Any thoughts come to your mind? I’m always in the market for good pointers.
4 Comments
The old skill of listening – we can go so far with just that one ability. It is a good list thank you for sharing.
Thanks Matt, yes listening is the most important lesson to learn. While I didn’t necessarily order all by importance, listening was number one for a reason.
Nice post. I tend to look at leadership from a different perspective: Being a leader is all about trust. A leader needs followers, and followers need a leader they can trust. That begs the question: How does a leader become trustable? Does he earn it, is he born with it, or is it a cocktail of those factors?
As Christian husbands and fathers, we have a head start. We have been given the blueprints and power to be a leader for our families. Furthermore, our leader, Christ, knew/knows exactly how to listen, communicate, illustrate, share the load, etc., and making the goal crystal clear, he said, “not only do I know how you can have everlasting life but I know how you can make your life here fulfilling beyond your wildest dreams.” As leaders, we need to figure out how to do something analogous.
I might be on the team you mention here. Unfortunately, “leader” on our corporate culture tends to mean “guy burdened with most of the work.”
Good thoughts Jeff. Yes, leading in our corporate culture is baring the burden. I would take your analogy w/ Christ as He is the one who bore the burden for us. Our yoke is then easy and our burden light. Perhaps leading a team is in reality taking the load in many respects. I’m not sure how light I’m making the team’s burden, but perhaps the end result is to shoulder the load for the enterprise as a whole.