#21 - Practical Ways to Lead & Motivate Your Teams Today
Learn to lead and motivate your team
How do we learn to lead? A lot of us lead like we’ve seen others lead.
Few earnestly study leadership, few people have seen examples of really impactful leadership, and even less have had the opportunity to be mentored or coached by extraordinary leaders.
The result? We muddle through leadership, often feeling like a failure when we don’t get the results we want. Thinking, “Man, I should know how to lead.”
I know that was the experience for me. I picked up nuggets that I saw and then led with my natural tendencies and most of the time it didn’t get me very far.
But a few years back, I was getting tired of that approach and so I started to really study leadership through books and podcasts. And then a couple of years ago, Lauren and I hired a business coach. And it was probably the best business decision to date that we’ve made.
Here are some things we learned from our business coach:
Offer a balanced amount of support and challenge
A lot of us have a natural tendency towards one or the other - we may be great supporters, but not offer enough challenge. In time that can lead to an entitled culture. We may offer too much challenge with not enough support and our teams feel like they can never measure up.
So, at Sprout, Lauren and I are always calibrating to ensure we are providing equal parts support and challenge.
How do you lead yourself?
Start with a hard look in the mirror.
How well did you lead yourself during this time? This week?
We look to individuals that do well in all areas of life to lead us. If you had the choice between someone who was a killer at the office, but a total wreck otherwise… and someone who was balanced and successful in most areas of life. Who would you choose?
Get your oxygen mask on first.
Back when flying was fun,“Should the cabin lose pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the overhead area. Please place the mask over your own mouth and nose before assisting others.”
In a sense, the “cabin pressure” of our life has changed. And it did suddenly and dramatically. A lot of us may feel like we’ve been gasping for air - especially the first few weeks.
One of the lightbulb moments with our coach last week was that what was our 100 percent looked like two months ago, might only look like 80% this week. And that’s okay.
Your capacity is split now with family and work and new hurdles. You are HUMAN, and only have so much to capacity to give. Give yourself a balance of support and challenge. Many of us dominate ourselves (in other words too much challenge) without offering enough support. This is debilitating and tiring.
Find time for you - whatever that looks like.
It might be in your car, in your closet, on a zoom happy hour with your girlfriends….
I keep a list on my phone of things that make me happy - simple things like putting on my robe, to taking Jax for a walk, to dancing to my favorite playlist in the office while I’m alone. Keep your list and look back at it to remind you of what makes you happy and keeps you going.
Decide What Type of Leader You Want to Be.
No matter what changes. No matter how corporate or our bosses are leading - we decide who we are and how we will respond.
a good leader is a combo of being intentional and being consistent.
Keep that picture firm in mind and every day with every interaction try to hit that mark. You won’t do it perfectly and some days will feel worse than others. But having a target that you miss by a bit is better than having no target at all.
What does it look like to lead your team through this time?
Think of yourself 6 months from now or a year from now? How do you want to be able to think of yourself? Keep that picture firm in mind and every day, with every interaction, try to hit that mark. You won’t do it perfectly and some days will feel worse than others. But having a target that you miss by a bit is better than having no target at all.
Offer yourself the right amount of challenge and support
You may have let go of a lot of routines. Maybe you're eating whatever, staying up until whatever time, not getting any exercise in, or checking emails until midnight. You could say, “these are weird times and I’ll get back on my routine when this passes.” Or you could challenge yourself to say, “Is there a minimal routine that I could start incorporating again?” And then make sure that it’s realistic and that you are giving yourself enough support to make it happen.
Whether leadership offers this or not, Build Your own Support System:
Leadership Team
A group of managers in your region
A FB support group
Communicate Often & Openly:
Y’all this is the time to talk.
While you want to hold regular team meetings, you still want to regularly check in on individual employees. Some may be more comfortable in a 1:1 setting.
What’s been the most challenging thing during this time?
What has been an unexpected positive experience about this time?
What can I do to support you better?
I see an opportunity to…
Provide a North Star:
Your team doesn’t know what the new normal is right now. They likely have fears and concerns. So as a leader, we have to offer as much clarity as we can provide.
This can be a challenge when you are dependent on others (maybe at corporate), but what you can do to build trust is share what you know.
What does success look like for your team? Alignment of what success looks like
How are goals adjusted?
Expectations HAVE to shift
Less manpower, more work. What is the 20% driving 80% results?
Less on social media...
Create a sense belonging
Invite and accept feedback. If something isn’t working well, or at all anymore - you need to know. Create an environment where your employees can come to you with questions, concerns, and suggestions. When they do - LISTEN. If the idea works for your company, try to implement it in whole or part.
Caveat: A lot of this will depend on how well you’ve established relationships thus far.
Give credit and recognize good work. When someone has a brilliant idea you hadn’t thought of, give them credit! Your employees need the boost of confidence that they are doing a good job. This will give them a sense that you are committed to them as well. They need to feel like they are contributing to the company in a time of crisis.
Find ways to share positive feedback - testimonials.
Schedule some fun stuff
The Sprout Team at a Team Meeting :)
Zoom Happy Hour - What makes a team meeting fun? Besides getting to see the faces you miss? Drinks. Invite your employees to serve up their favorite cocktail, beer, wine, smoothie or latte and jump on the call.
Zoom Talent Show
Coloring contests - Send your team some adult coloring sheets. They can print or color in digitally (Pigment on your iPad is a dream). Upload them to a Slack Channel or a Google Drive folder and invite everyone to vote on their favorite. A $25 Gift Card to Amazon or a grocery store is an easy incentive. ---- MEMBERS: Check out #650 Daily Dose Here.
Fitness Challenge
Themed Zoom
Additional Resources Outside of Yourself
Links we mentioned:
Compassion Fatigue - Rommel Anacan