Lead and Serve Others: Focus on the Team, Not Individuals

Have you seen these problems? The organization wants to reward individuals. However, you know teams succeed when they work together. The organization focuses on manager- and HR-led performance management. You know that when you build relationships, you succeed with all that performance management. Your organization wants predictability. You want to encourage experimentation.

If you’ve seen these problems and you’d like to change your leadership practice, join Johanna Rothman as she discusses concrete options you can consider to change how you lead in the organization.

Learn to create an environment that frees people to do their best work with your leadership. Become a modern leader who leads and serves others—not controls or directs

Transcript

1. Johanna Rothman @johannarothman www.jrothman.com Lead and Serve Others: Focus on the Team, Not Individuals
2. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Excellent leadership means serving the team, not individuals 2
3. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Reward Individuals But Want Collaboration? 3 We focus on and reward resource efficiency: Everyone is busy all the time But, we need flow efficiency To optimize for the flow of value through the team
4. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman The Case for Flow Efficiency • Fastest way to create outcomes • Much reduced delays • Increased team learning • Makes agility easier 4
5. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman How can you switch the focus from individual to team? 5
6. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman You create an environment where all people can lead 6
7. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Lewin’s Equation: B= f (P,E) • Each person’s Behavior is a function of the Person and their Environment • Most performance “problems” arise from the environment • Environment is all of: • How the team works, separately or together • How safe the people on the team feel to discuss their concerns and challenges. • The physical location and how the person and team use that location. • How much trust the team members offer each other. • How organization policies and procedures help the team perform their work. 7
8. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Environment is all about culture 8
9. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Culture Creates Teams (or Not) 9
10. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Consider These Suggestions • Define the team’s (or workgroup) value. • Help the team visualize and coalesce around an overarching goal • Team-based leadership • Team-based feedback & coaching • Experiment to learn and manage risks • One-on-ones • Create an environment where people can succeed • Move out people who prevent success • Focus on reinforcing feedback • Stand up for your team 10
11. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 1. Define the Team’s Value • What value does the team offer the organization? • Start with product or service • Define the overarching goal that aligns with that product or service (outcomes) • Move from only individual goals to partly team-based goals and compensation 11
12. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 2. What’s the Overarching Goal? • What outcomes does the team need to provide? • Avoid outputs, such as interim milestone complete by date • Focus on what customers can do with the product/service • Customers can <solve this problem> by <this date> • I no longer advocate OKRs, but those might work for you 12
13. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 3. Coalesce Around Goal • Learn together (flow efficiency) • Technical excellence • The more the team checks itself as they proceed, the faster they can finish • Technical excellence makes everything much easier • How can the team create small experiments and learn from them? 13
14. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 4. Team-Based Leadership • Team learns how to offer feedback and coaching to each other • You “teach” feedback and coaching • Meta feedback • Meta coaching • Offer “labs” during work hours: • How to offer feedback and coaching 14
15. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman People Need Frequent Feedback • Feedback is about observable behavior • Peer-to-peer feedback: • Create an opening • Describe behavior or results • State the impact • Make a request 15
16. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Coaching and Meta-Coaching • Not just teaching, offering options with support • You create an environment in which everyone coaches everyone else • Not inflicting help on others 16
17. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 5. Regular One-on-Ones • Every week or two, depending on the kind of work you do • Once a month is too long • Build trusting relationships • Learn what each person wants/ needs • Check in on career development • Listen for bad news 17
18. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Make Regular One-on-One Time Sacrosanct (You will have to protect your schedule) 18
19. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman From Manager-Led One-on-Ones to Person-Led • First Structure: • Greeting • Review your action items for the person. • Ask for obstacles, etc. • Ask if they want help, feedback, coaching • Placeholder for career development • What do they want to discuss? • Action item review • Second Structure: • From Greeting to a Checkin • They take the responsibility to create an agenda • Include: • Obstacles • Help, feedback, coaching • Career development • Action item review 19
20. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Minimal One-on-One Structure • Check-in • Do you need anything? (Not just from you, anything at all.) • Is anything getting in your way? • What can I, as your manager, do to help? 20
21. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Regular One-on-Ones Allow You To… • Offer reinforcing feedback often • Learn more about the team’s environment • See the team’s system/environment • Avoid performance reviews • Which don’t work anyway • Evaluations are about managing money, not performance 21
22. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Change-Focused vs Reinforcing Feedback • Make it a point to offer reinforcing feedback every week: • Something people do right/well • Supports other people • Offer change-focused feedback when it’s behaviors they can change • I am always going to be blunt and direct. I can learn to choose words that people can hear 22
23. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 6. Create an Environment Where All People Succeed • Collaboration over cooperation • Weed out non-jellers or people who can’t do the work • Hire for people who can work as part of a team • Sufficient cultural fit (see the culture slide) not necessarily comfort • Hire for diversity of thought and experience • Reinforcing feedback 23
24. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman “The Culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate.” — Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker, School Culture Rewired, ch.3 (2015) 24
25. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 7. Back/Support Your Team (Especially to Others) • “The buck stops here” • Take the ultimate responsibility • Why managing yourself is so necessary 25
26. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Move From Individual Theory to Team Practice • Experiment • Apply • Engage • Realize results • Choose where you will experiment and learn more • Practice new behaviors first. (Beliefs arise from behaviors.) 26
27. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Culture Drives Behaviors • How does your environment create behaviors? • We often behave to maximize our rewards or minimize punishment • What does your organization reward? • Individual work (resource efficiency) • Team-based work (flow efficiency) 27
28. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Lead and Serve Others 28
29. © 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Let’s Stay in Touch • Pragmatic Manager: • www.jrothman.com/ pragmaticmanager • Please link with me on LinkedIn • Modern Management Made Easy: • Bundle at https://leanpub.com/b/ modernmanagementmadeeasy • Everywhere you buy books 29