Your Soapbox

Recently I was asked by the leader of a company to come in and do some work with one of their new department heads, mainly because this person was going to head up a key income-generating section of the company; however, they had limited personal experience within this part of the industry.

Now before you jump on the 'why would you put someone with limited experience in to a position of such importance' bandwagon, let me share with you what I know.

The incoming department head had a set of experiences, skills and knowledge that, although from a different set of circumstances, would allow them to fit in very nicely to the role they would be fulfilling.

Obviously in our initial discussions we covered a lot of strategies, topics and understanding. We attempted to gather a lot of information on what the position needed, what management was looking for, and most importantly what the team they were going to lead was looking for from a leader.

It was this last point that I put the most emphasis on. Not just to try to please the troops, but more along the lines of how this new department head would lead this team.

I took the incoming leader through a history lesson and self-discovery tour all in one go.

Basically, what I was working on was to have the leader identify the platform from which they were going to lead this team.

The history lesson was related to the principles of leadership that those who came before them had used to lead this team.

Was the previous leadership based on the elements of:

Position

Experience

Coercion

Personal skill

Collaboration

Strategy

Vision

Communication

Commitment

And rather than have them carry on someone else's leadership style, we then worked hard on identifying the style, the philosophy and the platform from which the new department head was going to lead this team.

Now as we were going through the history lesson and the self-discovery tour, I made sure that this person did not lose sight of themselves, and what made them who they were.

But as we put the pieces of the self-discovery puzzle together, and as we understood what had taken place in the past, I made sure that there was a sense of reality attached to every single item of what we were putting together for them to go forward with, --

The main reality being that the team would react to certain things that the new incoming leader would do, say, think, expect and direct them towards. Some of that reaction (hopefully) would be positive and some of it (no doubt) would be negative, and all of that is OK.

It was how the new department head dealt with these reactions that would go along way in determining their overall acceptance as a leader.

It has been a few weeks now and as predicted, there has been a mixture of reactions. These reactions have been based on individuals' past experiences, beliefs, ideas, wants and needs etc.

Through all of this though, the new department head is remaining true to who they are, their position, and most importantly, to the people they lead.

More often than not, the leader and the team are finding middle ground, points of commonality and points of difference. Like any relationship, the boundaries, priorities and strategies are being directed, discussed and better understood.

The future will continue to show how this leader and the team can more effectively come together.

But where does this fit into your leadership duties and responsibilities?

Over the next week I would like you to take an hour (or a little more if you can afford it or need it), to consider what is the platform from which you lead?

And then once that is understood, ask yourself this question -- simple to ask, but difficult to answer, "Is there a better way?"

And as you do, remember-

The Journey Continues!

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