The 3 answers you need to be a better leader

Ahoy,

Wednesday’s scenario wasn’t a bad spot to be in was it?

Whenever we think leadership situations, we usually dive straight into what to do when things are going wrong.

But you’re not only a leader when things are going wrong.

You need to lead 24/7.

That means when things are going right as well.

I really hope you spent some time thinking Wednesday’s questions through, because doing these kinds of exercises really helps you understand the kind of leader you are right now. Which can be really important to understanding how we can improve.

Make sure you stick around to the end for an exciting announcement!

What we’re going to do now is quickly refresh the scenario, then really dive into the details of how this situation can be dealt with.

The goal is that you come away from this deep dive with some tactical skills you can take away and use immediately, and that you feel that you would be able to comfortably make the most of this situation if ever placed in it in the future.

So first up a reminder…

Following a few months of hard work, a member of your team has delivered a presentation on their project to you as their manager, and to the rest of the team. They have exceeded your expectations, and the outcome was way above standard.

They demonstrated a high level of competence and professionalism.

1. The presentation ends and the team looks to you for a reaction, how do you react once the presentation is complete?

2. How are you going to capitalise on this to try and promote more of this quality of work from the rest of the team?

3. Can you use this as an example to further solidify the culture within your team?

As I started with, this is not a bad situation to be in…

This is obviously what you want!

People pushing themselves to deliver results.

The questions we have today are really based on how we can capitalise on that to make sure we get more of what we want.

In the military we absolutely loved this acronym, COA, or Course Of Action. When generating plans we would always need to present multiple COAs to command for them to make a decision.

More often than not we would have a first COA: do nothing.

And more often than not, this was not the correct response.

On operations or in the office, we want to be engaged with the situation around us, not just letting things happen around us.

Our default should be to take positive action of a situation.

So in our situation here, COA 1: do nothing, isn’t going to fly.

We want to capitalise on this to build our culture and ensure we get more of this kind of behaviour in the future.

So to begin with, question 1, how are we initially reacting to this?

• What is your instinctive reaction?

• What are your initial thoughts here?

• And what should we be considering when we react?

For me, I’m almost immediately thinking about the second and third question in my response to the first one.

“What reaction is going to promote this kind of behaviour in the future and help solidify the team’s culture as a culture of high standards?”

Over-communicate.

We want to make it abundantly clear to everyone in the room that this was great work.

The team member delivering the presentation needs to know they did a great job, letting them know this publicly and quickly gets them the well deserved recognition.

So our immediate reaction is a very clearly delivered message that this is great work, in front of the team.

Next up, how are we making sure this quality of work is maintained by the rest of the team?

We have already made a public display of recognition for the work.

The new standard has now been set for the team.

But we want to make sure that this momentum is kept up.

There are a few ways we can do this.

Firstly, continue to use this as an example of good work over the next few weeks.

We want people to think of that as the expected quality from now on.

And by continuing to bring it up and use it as an example, we solidify this message over time.

Secondly, you identify who’s delivering the presentation next.

The expectation is that they’ll deliver work of the same quality or higher.

Ideally, you’ve highlighted the expectations or standards enough to the point where it is common knowledge.

However, although you already expect that the new standard has been set, you can use this as a great way to empower the first team member, recognising them again for their great work. You can ask them to run through the second team member’s presentation with them and ensure it’s at the same standard as their own.

This encourages the sharing of corporate knowledge, makes the team member feel more valued and supports the growing standards of the organisation.

And finally, if the work really was well above the expected standard and delivered some kind of unexpectedly positive result, you can find some kind of suitable reward for their work.

This isn’t a quote that ridicules those that fought for medals.

This is a quote that highlights the power of recognition for hard work.

This will massively vary based on the organisation, the quality of work or the actual output. But don’t underestimate the power or rewarding those that perform well.

Finally we come onto culture:

Can you use this as an example to further solidify the culture within your team?

The only difference between encouraging more of this work from your team in the short term and building culture is consistency.

Very simply, reacting in the way already described in question 1 consistently over time, and encouraging your team in the methods described in question 2 repeatedly over time, will build a positive culture and raise the standards withing your organisation.

The challenge is maintaining that consistency.

And to do that, leadership must be at the front of your mind at all times.

Your day to day tasks are important, but you are paid as a leader.

So lead.

That is our breakdown for today.

As always I really hope you found this useful.

It’s important that you take the time to have a think through these questions yourselves in order to truly develop as a leader.

And so each Wednesday we will continue to share a short scenario and a few questions as we did this week.

However, if you want to read more of these deep dives, and have the opportunity to submit your own situations to us, make sure you subscribe to Silent Leadership Premium.

I’m incredibly excited to announce the launch of Silent Leadership Premium. If you are here already, then you are probably already aware of the problems that can be caused by a lack of leadership training.

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Thanks very much for getting the whole way through today’s email.

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Have a great day.

Reece