Your Team is Going to Follow You

This is a truth.  Unless you are managing  a band of mutinous pirates, your team will follow your example.

Having been in a number of positions in which I could observe managers work, I can tell you that the team will follow the manager's lead.   If a manager was a good operations person, I knew that the team would be a good operational team.  If a manager was an excellent customer service leader, I knew that the team would receive great customer service scores.   If a manager personally believed in the United Way campaign, their team would not have a problem making their goal.

It is a good idea, then,to consider your personal strengths, weaknesses and belief systems and how those impact your team.  As you look at your team's goals, it's worth reflecting whether those are natural strengths you possess, or whether you are going to need to actively reach out of your comfort zone to develop additional strengths in order to lead your team.

Using the customer service example, if you are a strong customer service leader your team will probably achieve their customer service goals.   If perchance you do not excel in customer service (and that's okay - some people do, some people don't)  you then need to pay more attention to this specific aspect of your  own performance, as well as your team's performance, so that all of you may attain your goals.

It's also worth thinking of  traits you may  have that you don't want the team to follow.  For instance, I'm prone to worrying.   I do not want, however, my team to worry - their time should be spent on far more productive pursuits.   This means that I need to keep my own personal worry habits in check - because I don't want the team to go down that road.

Here's the acid test;  if you find yourself thinking that you really wished your team were better at somnething, check in with yourself whether you are actively leading the team in that direction through your own personal example.

Great leaders edit out their own personal weaknesses that they don't want the team to follow while  adding and building personal strengths that will allow the team to achieve their goals.

What do all leaders have in common?   They have followers - and those followers will go whichever direction you lead.

Please note: this site now has a tab entitled:  Leadership Coaching and Consulting.  Please check it out!

Brent Frerichs is the author of "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders,"  available for the Kindle, I-Pad, I-Phone and PCs on Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0095KPA6A