Being Shepherd
Leadership Lifestyle for New Age CEO's.
Chapter
5
https://www.linkedin.com/in/manavdhanda / www.beingshepherd.com
Tell them ‘what’ to do, not ‘how’ to do.
One of the greatest flaws of those who lead from the front
is that they often tend to be in love with their own voice. They feel compelled
to showcase that they know how each situation should be dealt with. But such a
showcase is often perceived more as self-adulation and less as problem solving
or vision charting.
A leader’s job is not to tell his team how good he is. His
job is to continually assess how good each of his team member is and how will they
manage a situation if given ‘complete
free will’ to do it their way within the available resources. It is wise to
get a fair sense of their execution strategy before they actually execute.
The biggest flaw that ‘from the front leaders’ make is that
they tell their team what and how to do and leave them be to only realize weeks
or months later that it’s not being done ‘exactly’ as were briefed. The
results, which is an amalgamation of the leaders brief and the doers
understanding + personal style, can be disastrous.
So how each task, each situation and each strategy should be
managed at an execution level?
Over here, to put things in perspective, it’s the best to
learn from the Shepherd.
Most importantly, a shepherd never puts his sheep on a
leash. It’s a tiring job to tug along an animal. Ever seen a dog walker on
leash? The one holding an enthusiastic dog is often more exhausted than the one
on leash itself. And that is one-on-one. Ever seen a dog walker hold onto a
dozen leashes together? Never fancy that! Strikingly contrary is the Shepherd,
who despite managing a dozen or so in the flock, often manages to make time to
rest through the day as the sheep go about their business. Who would you rather
be?
As a CXO you too need to manage a fair share of individuals
in the team. The moment you tell your team exactly how to execute, you put a
leash around their neck. A classic trap that one must never fall into.
Never tell only ask.
Whenever stuck or seeking fresh answers, it is often assumed
that the team must go to the boss to ask how to do the job. But as a boss you
will be wise to lead from behind and reverse the approach. The intensity of
approach varies basis the tenure on the job. If it’s a new team that you are
heading or have roped in a new member, you need to do a lot more asking than
you might if you’ve been with the same team long enough.
And the asking must
be done one-on-one.
It is critical to be aware of the fact that strategies can
be good or bad, you can never be sure till it’s fully executed. More so, the
team can etch strategies out internally or with the help of a consultant or an
industry expert. It is the execution of the strategy that is mostly done by
your team. Further success or failure finally depends on execution. An average
strategy well done is better than a great strategy poorly done. Thus, all the
asking / questioning must strictly be limited to execution detailing.
Once the strategy note has been etched out or the objective
at hand has been defined with the team / department at large, the leader must
sit one-on-one with the person in-charge of execution to understand his
approach.
The attempt while questioning is to gauge the following:
- Genuine depth of knowledge that the manager has of the given subject / strategy. A lot of quizzing here might help. Both at a broad industry / competitive level and on the depth of the chosen strategy
- How will the execution be broken down into phases?
- What resources will be deployed in each phase?
- What review mechanisms will be put in place and the periodicity of the managers’ review with his team?
- What will be the measurement tools of each phase’s success or failure?
- To whom in the team will subs tasks be further delegated to?
- What will be the specific measurement tools and delivery expectation of each sub task / vertical?
- In case of deviations at each review/ phase, at what points / triggers will be escalated to you?
- What does the manager need / expect from you to help facilitate the execution process?
- Finally, you must set a timeline to the project with each of its phases broken down to week, month and quarter on quarter achievable and agree on periodic review schedule based on targets or periodicity.
[Detailing on the line of questioning and review process in
subsequent chapters]
The leader must be aware that he must never be compelled to give
answers to any gaps that are evident in the above meeting. If required, give
the manager time to acquire knowledge / answers to the questions and set up a
follow up meeting. Only then, if gaps are still evident, must you guide them on
how you might approach the same.
The above process will help you better understand your team
well before they jump into the thick of things and critically, you will know
who needs greater support than the others. The support that they need might be
linked to attitude and/or aptitude. Both need extremely different management
styles and will be discussed in detail in subsequent chapters.
Additionally, after the first few reviews, since periodic
targets & escalation triggers were clearly agreed on, you would also be
able to filter the smooth talkers from the efficient doers, the innovators from
those who stagnate and the natural born leaders from the followers.
With passing time, as you understand each person’s execution
style, you will know what specific points need your involvement along with the
degree of control and periodicity of review with each manager. This will allow
you to be the Shepherd who can make time for other key priorities. Point to
note here is that time is ill optimised when each person under your command is
given the same periodicity of review. Be aware that at varying stages, some
might need it a bit more than the others.
With is knowledge it’s time for you to get back to work,
stop telling and start asking.
Lead from behind as the Shepherd does to his sheep; align
only those who go astray.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/manavdhanda / www.beingshepherd.com
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