What your team needs from you daily!

Welcome to the Leader’s Lens: The Perspective Shift issue!

This issue offers a fresh perspective and actionable tips to enhance your leadership this week.

Send me an email and let me know how you plan on implementing this perspective shift in your leadership!

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Above the Frame: Mid-Level Leadership Accelerator Feedback!

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned developing a Mid-Level Leadership Accelerator program designed for us looking to make culture change happen from the middle. A few Culture Change Leaders in our community responded with wanting support like:

• A system like time blocking or “ideal week” design

• How to lead when you don’t hold formal authority.

• Team communication, morale management, strategic delegation

• Practices for engaging team feedback and resolving misalignment

• Difficult conversation facilitation, performance coaching

• Clear expectations, development plans, and escalation policies

This is great feedback and I want to continue to hear from you!

Have you ever said to yourself “I wish I had better tools or support to lead my team,” then reply back with your answer:

• What’s one leadership skill or situation you wish you had better support for right now?

Let me know! I’m juiced to shape this Accelerator experience around your feedback.

Now, time for this issue:

Through the Lens: 5 Daily Actions Your Team Needs from You

Y’all know that SpongeBob gif where he is waiting anxiously at a table with his coffee?

That was me when I first stepped into my organizational leadership role.

One of the main points I heard leadership experts say at the time was “have an open door policy.” I may have taken that to heart by just sitting in my office hoping for staff to come in and tell me what they need from me.

I only found myself sitting there for hours with not a soul even poking their head in to say hi.

I was very discouraged, but decided to do something about it because what I was doing was not effective.

When I got up out of my desk and rounded in the team’s area, I found out that they were busy working to come see me. In someways that was a good thing, but it did spark a new question:

What are the actions my team needs from their leader?

Through rounding, strategic questioning in their team huddles, and observing how they work, I was able to discover 5 actions they wanted from me daily to help them in their work.

Show Up and Lead by Example:

Demonstrate your commitment by stepping into their world and modeling the behaviors you expect.

Your presence and actions set the tone, showing that you are a leader who walks the walk and can be trusted to guide the team.

My goal was to model the way of how I wanted the team to show up, communicate, and perform.

By me doing that, it provided the courage for others to model the same actions of being present for others on the team. The act itself created stronger relationships and trust for one another, especially if we were experiencing tight project deadlines.

We need to be leaders worth following. Set the example of how you want others to be on your team through your actions.

Question: Who is a transformational leader that you follow and why? What characteristics do you work to embody in your own leadership?

Guide and Develop:

To be honest, I did not have the depth of knowledge the team had in their work. Many of them have been doing the job as long as I’ve been alive!

I had to shift from being a directive, subject matter expert leader to becoming more of a coach.”

With the focus on actively supporting the team's growth, I was able to help them develop their skills and guide them towards success.

We can be leaders that connect with them, engage in meaningful ways, and provide a clear pathway for their development. Our role to foster their capabilities and help them thrive in their roles allows them to know that they have someone who cares for their well being beyond just getting the tasks done.

A stagnant team member is a disengaged team member. Each person wants to grow and be challenged. It might not be up the career ladder, but it could be taking on a new tasks that stretches their skills.

Your social awareness and strategic mindset can create a space where they are growing in their work (and can thank you for that opportunity).

Question: How can you stay attune with your team's desires and develop a plan to help them continue to grow?

Follow Through with Actions:

As I became more present, the team began asking for help removing roadblocks.

They desired things like getting updates, organizing meetings, or clarifying policy. I said yes! Who doesn’t want to be of service?!

But I learned quickly: saying yes isn’t enough.

Following through builds trust; dropping the ball breaks it. And rebuilding that trust takes time.

It's crucial to back up our words with actions. Our team will trust us more when we are consistently execute tasks at a high level to prove that you can deliver results.

The team will lose hope in you and the organization if you say one thing and do another. Then it will be hard to get that back once you've lost it once. How do I know? Because early on I witnessed a shift in a few team members relationship with me when I started dropping the ball on their requests.

Build trust and demonstrate to your team that you can execute a task to help them achieve their work.

Question: If you are asked to accomplish a task, how can you get it done and communicate your status effectively to the team?

Set Clear Expectations and Purpose:

Brené Brown has a whole message around the phrase “Clear is Kind.” Through the questions my team was asking me, I could see there were aspects of my leadership and organization that was harming their progress.

The team expressed concerns on priorities, confusion in direction, and miscommunication from multiple sources.

And they all looked to me to help them clear the air.

Our team’s need us to establish a clear mission and set of standards to operate. When they understand their purpose and see how they fit into the bigger picture, they are more motivated and directed.

We lose production and our path without this level of clarity. Your team needs to know where they stand on the team and in their work.

Question: How can you clear up and define expectations for your team today?

Be Relatable:

Finally, the team needed a leader who was not a robot.

They wanted someone who could connect to their humanity, busyness of life, and have empathy with what is surrounding them beyond the work.

They also were seeking someone where it would be ok to laugh and express joy with.

Show that you are human and that you can connect with them. Highlight your lessons, communicate your intentions, share your opinions (in a way that is respectful, of course).

Your team wants to see that you are more than the work that you produce, and that you have the same perspective when you see them.

Relatability can help a team member feel like they can be themselves and make it easier to approach you if there are concerns in the workplace.

Question: What can you do to engage your team on a personal level?

I’d love to hear from you—what’s one small action your team has appreciated recently?

Hit reply and let’s trade ideas.

Ray

Whenever you are ready, here are ways you can work with me:

• 🎤Speaking - As a Speaker and Facilitator, I will engage your team on how belonging and inclusivity can increase your team dynamics! ​Book Ray Now

• 🤝Coaching - As a Coach, I will help you enhance the power of inclusivity and empathy to be an effective leader through an equity lens! Book a Call Now

• 📘Consulting - As a Consultant, I will help strengthen your organizational culture to increase the employee experience and retention! Book a Consultation Now

P.S. - Thank you to those who have filled out the survey letting me know more about your leadership journey! I am excited to dive into the results over the next couple of weeks to provide you with resources and content that will support your leadership! If you haven’t filled it out yet, do so by clicking the link here!