Five Essential Things That You Need To Do When Leading A Team/Group

But one of the most common calls I receive are from managers who have taken over a team and are struggling with the increased workload. A trap that managers, especially new ones, fall into is that they get so involved in the core work that they forget to take a step back and lead yet that is exactly what leaders are there for.

To make people understand, I always use a rugby analogy. When the ball is being contested in the scrum there’s a great temptation to jump in and help out.

But you are no longer a prop now you are the fly-half and it’s your role to direct the play and its other people’s role to get you the ball. Because if you are helping out in the scrum and manage to get the ball there’s no one to direct the play because you are not where you need to be. Leaders need to lead, but that doesn’t mean you never help out. It does mean you have to play your role and never forget your role is to lead.

Have a clear philosophy

When I’m working with a manager that has taken over a team, the first thing we work on is to help identifying his or her own personal philosophy.

Successful leaders provide direction to the team.

The team understands how their leader wants to operate, so are they relaxed or are they strict?

The team also needs to understand the type of culture that the leader wants to create, what behaviours are going to be acceptable and what are not and this is why every leader needs to have their own philosophy.

Every leader talks about wanting people to be professional to be a good team player amongst many other qualities.

But it’s the successful leaders that can articulate what these qualities look like on a daily basis.

Leadership is all about clarity and it starts with the leader being clear about who they are as a leader.

Get to know your team

Here is one of the most important things that every leader needs to understand which is a successful leader doesn’t motivate people instead they create an environment which allows people to motivate themselves.

For a leader to be able to do this is like unlocking a complex puzzle, because every member of the team has a different set of priorities. Some will be part of the team, because it fulfils their personal ambition.

While others will see their role as a stepping stone to the job they really want and there will also be some that see their job as just that, a job.

It means to give them money to do what is more important to them and all of those reason are perfectly fine.

The role of the leader is to provide each member of the team with a clear route which will enable them to achieve their own personal ambition and that can only happen if the leader truly knows everyone within their team. Communication, communication, communication is the key.

Give the team a reason to care

One of the most valuable things a Leader can bring to a team is a reason to care. The vast majority of people don’t come to work to do a bad job, because they know that if they do a bad job then they don’t have a job for very long.

So while everyone has a good reason to do an acceptable job, as a leader you need to do it yourself or what reason do people have to do a great job, to go above and beyond what is required, to be the kind of team member that brings ideas to the table, to do extra work without being asked, why should they do this?

As a leader it’s your role to create a purpose for the team that is bigger than the team and by a purpose I don’t mean sales targets or numbers. The only people who care about numbers are mathematicians so the purpose has to be something that gives the team a reason to care. I appreciate this can be difficult but that is why not everyone can be a leader.

Set high standards

One of the main duties of a leader is to set high standards of performance and behaviours and to maintain those standards.

This is challenging because firstly the leader needs to lead by example.

There’s no point in telling people to do something unless the leader is willing to do it themselves.

If punctuality is important then a good timekeeping message is completely lost if the leader is turning up late.

The second stage is to maintain their standards and this happens through a series of conversations praising people for doing things right and having courageous conversations when people fall below those standards and it’s vital that those conversations occur because as a leader silence is agreement.

If people’s standards fall and the leader says nothing, then it’s the same as the leader agreeing that standards can be lowered.

As I said previously, leadership is about clarity and its communication, communication, communication.

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