I forget about this from time to time, but was reminded by a colleague last week. When trying to find a way forward with colleagues, or a common ground, the first step forward can be in taking a step back and trying to understand what that team member’s motivation is. What are they focused on? Where are they starting from? What do they need? Where do they need to go? All these questions and more…
If you don’t have trust on your team. If you’re not all working towards the same goal. If you’re not being up front with where you are at with your team. Ask yourself this one question… Where are you then helping your team?
When you lead a team, you are presumably the one that everyone knows as the leader that is in that position to lead. Whether it’s by an organization chart, or a discussion among the team, you are the person “at the top” so to say. But when you are Leading Up, you are not, you are somewhere in the middle with a team that has rallied around your skills and recognizes your abilities and “know-how”…
When it needs to get done. When we needed it yesterday. When the customer is asking for it. When the project plan says it must be done. Until you look at what you are doing, how you are doing it and where you need to go with it, it’s all imagined, it’s all an idea, it’s all a concept. There is no rush, unless you make one. And if you’re making one, the only people…
When you Lead By Example, you are taking on the action yourself so that your team can learn from you and identify the best approach to getting their work done. When you Lead With Example, you take your team along for the ride, they are side by side with you, you are growing, developing and learning from one another and you figure out the best approach to getting everyone’s work done.