Imagine you lead a team. You will aim to build on your strengths as a leader, whilst compensating for any weaknesses.
There are also many leadership models you can use in your own way. One approach is to combine the elements of being an encourager, educator and, when necessary, an enforcer. Let’s explore these themes.
Encourager
Good leaders encourage people when meeting them in one-to-one situations. They give their full attention to the person and, when appropriate, give specific encouragement. They also show a sincere interest in the person and their development.
Such leaders aim to build a positive culture in which motivated people can achieve peak performance. Realising they are always on stage, such leaders aim to be good models. The team members must be self-motivated, of course, but they can also be lifted by a leader who is energetic and enthusiastic.
Good leaders often communicate a compelling purpose. They also communicate the benefits – to all stakeholders – of achieving the goals.
Such leaders explain the guidelines – the Dos and Don’ts – people can follow to do superb work. They then invite people to choose if they would like to contribute. They implement the right strategy with the right people in the right way.
Good leaders are encouraging, but they are also crystal clear. They explain the professional standards people will need to follow to achieve success. As we will see later, they are prepared to act if people choose not to follow those standards.
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to do the following things.
Looking at your own leadership style, how would you rate yourself as being an encourager for the people in your team? Do this on a scale 0-10. Describe the specific things you can do to maintain or improve the rating.
Educator
Good leaders educate their people to become more self-managing and perform superb work. Different leaders do this in different ways. Depending on their own strengths, they may do this in some of the following ways.
They act as a positive model for their people.
They coach people to perform superb work.
They provide practical tools and educational programmes that enable people to develop.
Good leaders often educate people by giving them context and the big picture. They then manage by outcomes, rather than by tasks. They achieve this by doing the following things.
They keep communicating the team’s story, strategy and road to success. They explain the What, Why, How, Who and When.
They invite people to make clear contracts about their contributions towards achieving the picture of success.
They encourage people to write their goals in outcome terms – describing the specific things they will deliver and by when – rather than as a list of tasks.
They manage by outcomes – rather than by tasks. When having conversations with people, they continually return to the actual things people have contracted to deliver. They encourage and enable people to deliver those outcomes.
Good leaders are decisive. They are happy to make decisions themselves but, when appropriate, they also educate their people to make good decisions and find creative solutions to challenges.
Different leaders do this in different ways. Some educate people to focus on Clarity, Creativity and Concrete Results. They encourage them to go through the following steps.
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to do the following things.
Looking at your own leadership style, how would you rate yourself as being an educator for the people in your team? Do this on a scale 0-10. Describe the specific things you can do to maintain or improve the rating.
Enforcer
Some leaders are happy to encourage and educate others, but they may find it hard to deal with people who step over the line. One person said:
“I score highly on being an encourager and educator, probably 8/10 on both.
“I have difficulty with the enforcement part, however, where I score 6/10. Have you any suggestions?”
Good leaders see themselves as custodians of the culture. As mentioned earlier, they explain the guidelines and goals to people who want to be part of the culture.
Such leaders are prepared to act to protect the environment if some people want to spoil it for others. Let’s explore how to take this step.
Great teams focus on their purpose, follow certain principles and translate these into professional standards. So what can you do if somebody continually fails to deliver the required standards?
One approach is to act as a policeman and supervise them every day, but that will consume too much time. Let’s look at the alternative approach.
You are the trustee of the team’s purpose and principles. Certainly the trigger for taking action may be that a person has failed to deliver on some element of the standards.
When talking with the person, however, it is vital to return to the team’s compass. So you may wish to say something like:
“Let’s go back to the team’s purpose, principles and professional standards. Are these things that you are prepared to follow?”
Sometimes the person may say: “Yes, but …” They may blame somebody else or want to get into an argument. If so, simply go back to the original agreements that were made when they joined the team.
Again, you are the custodian of the team’s culture. If the person wants to drag you into the gutter with them, do not start arguing about the past. If appropriate, say:
“Looking to the future, do you want to deliver on the team’s professional standards? It is up to you. It is your choice.”
Give the person chance to reflect. They can choose whether they want to follow the required professional standards. You can then give them the opportunity to create and present an action plan for how they are going to translate these words into action.
Remember, it is not your job to persuade a person to behave responsibly. It is their job to persuade you. Bearing this in mind, however, it is important that:
You have previously explained the team’s purpose, principles and professional standards. You have also give the reasons for these standards.
You have made clear contracts with people about their best contribution to the team.
You have given them the support they need to do the job. You have asked people to proactively keep you informed of their progress towards their agreed goals.
You have been managing by outcomes – focusing on what people actually deliver – rather than falling into managing by tasks.
The person can decide whether or not they want to follow the required professional standards. If not, you can replace them with somebody who does want to be positive, professional and deliver peak performance.
Good leaders protect the environment in which motivated people can do good work. The leader mentioned at the start of this section liked this approach. He said:
“I feel comfortable with being a protector of the culture.
“Even though I will be acting as an enforcer, I will be doing so in a positive way.”
Great leaders are good encouragers and educators. They are also prepared to be enforcers to protect the environment, however, to help the team to success.
If you wish, try tackling the final exercise on this theme. This invites you to do the following things.
Looking at your own leadership style, how would you rate yourself as being an enforcer who protects the culture for the people in your team? Do this on a scale 0-10. Describe the specific things you can do to maintain or improve the rating.
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