Avoiding the Void

Where there is a perceived lack of visibility - trouble steps into that void.

It goes something like this.   The manager of the area becomes very busy - perhaps is given extra responsibility.      Manager doesn't get out to the team area or interact with the team as much as before.    Team feels the absence - they wonder where the manager is.     They start to wonder what is wrong.   In the middle of the this, people who don't have the overall good of the enterprise at heart start to "take over" the team and become the voice of the team.   Within a matter of weeks, the team is, minimally, suspicious of the manager's absence and in more dramatic cases, the team becomes estranged from the  manager and the mission of the enterprise.

And it's all because they haven't seen the manager; and not seeing that manager creates the void that trouble begins to fill.

Simply put - there is one way to fill that void - the leader of the team needs to be visible and needs to continuously interact with the team.

There are various forms of making one's presence felt:   memos (is that now a really old word?), e-mail, texts, webinars.   All of these should be considered to be augmentations to the most powerful way of making one's presence known - that is actually being there.   The leader who makes it a priority to be with the team - even in small, but consistent segments - will be richly rewarded with a team that is aligned with her or his priorities.

Once that is accomplished, the leader's presence can then be further enhanced with other forms of communication.      These also should be a priority - because the more  meaningful communication there is - the safer the team will feel and the more productive they will be.

I always encourage people to think of the ways that their team communicates - and use those as their primary ways to communicate back to the team.    Team seems to like e-mail - use e-mail.   Team uses texts - use texts.  In fact, in larger teams, the leader may find it necessary to use multiple forms of communication in order to serve a diverse audience.

At the end of the day, however, nothing does it like really being in the room and being there for the team.   Without the leader's presence there is a void;   with the leader present it is a great opportunity.

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My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle for PC's, e-readers and tablets.