Leadership Lesson: Work 'WITH' not 'FOR'
There is a prevalent belief that employees work FOR managers, as well as working FOR the company that pays
both of your paychecks ("I work for so and so," or "she
works for me over in accounting"). Whether said in jest or
with even a grain of sincerity, the phrases, "you work for
me" and "my employees" and "I work for XYZ company"
are very simply not true.
Employees do not, in most cases, complete work, meet
deadlines, stay late, work overtime, go the extra mile for the
customer, or help you with a last-minute crisis for the purpose
of making your day, as the manager, or for spending
those extra few moments of quality time with you ... no
matter how nice a person you are or how much fun you are
to hang out with.
It is not FOR you that employees work, nor is it always for
money, but rather for what that money can provide. In truth,
none of us works for anyone other than ourselves, and thus we
all work WITH each other. The sooner you are able to recognize
this, verbalize this, and begin to work WITH the employees
that you manage, the sooner they will work with you.
Leadership Lesson: SMART Goals
One method for goal setting that has proved very successful
(for both professional and personal goals) is the SMART
method. For those who report to you and for yourself, the
SMART method allows you to remember to make goals that
are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Recorded, and Timed.
Ask each employee to share with you in writing (Recorded)
one professional and one personal goal that outlines exactly
(Specific) what he or she wants to achieve, have, reach,
be, or attain over the next quarter, half year, or year. Each
goal is then written with a timeline (Timed) and stored in
the employee's file.
Your first look at each goal should seek out measurability.
How will the team and the goal setter know when to celebrate?
(Measurable) Is it a goal that is probable, or even
possible? (Attainable) If the goal setter has declared a desire
to gain a promotion, reinforce the ambition, as this is certainly
possible, and then focus on a feasible time frame for
that person. However, if the goal setter declares that he or
she would like to remodel the office and begin knocking
down walls during budget cutbacks — well, you get the
idea. The important thing is to set the goal setter, and yourself,
up for success in reaching his or her goal.
For both you and the employees you work with, or who
report to you, setting SMART goals can open the door for a
regular conversation about progress, will point you in the
direction of success, and will increase your chances of
achieving those goals most important to you.
Leadership Lesson:
Delegation does not mean do
it for someone else when you
are tired of waiting!
"Delegation is choosing to let someone else grow,
increase what they know, and let you be the one they show."
Are there any card-carrying members of the control freak
club out there? If so, listen up! For a control freak, delegation is almost a dirty word. Yet, if you decide not to delegate,
by choice or by default, you are robbing those who
report to you of valuable opportunities to grow and learn
from your experience. Even your co-workers and fellow
club members in your volunteer organizations will benefit
from mutual delegation that forms a win-win result.
But, how do you do it? How do you delegate without
micromanaging and without just dumping the workload in
the lap of an innocent bystander? The key is to care about
the growth of others even more than they care about it themselves.
If you are, instead, focused on how you can achieve
a lighter workload, then you are not delegating, you are
shirking responsibilities. If you are telling someone what to
do and how to do it and allowing for no other options, then
chances are you aren't delegating there either. You might be
dictating or micromanaging, but delegation is different.
When you delegate, remember the following:
- Be clear about your expectations. Share, beforehand,
with the recipient of this new task just what your desire is for the date for completion, the quantity of completion
(if applicable), and the quality that is expected
upon completion.
- Describe what the end result will look like. Once you
have done that, then let the person reach that end result in
whatever way works for him or her, thus utilizing the natural
gifts, skills, talents, and abilities of this person.
- Allow for mistakes that likely will occur and can be
learned from. Mistakes will happen, hopefully only little
ones, and if you allow for them, the fact that they occur naturally
will not be such a surprise. In fact, build mistakes
into your budget. They are one of the best learning mechanisms,
but do take extra cost and a cushion to allow for them.
- Give the person guidance, expectations, support, and
the proper resources, and then get the heck out of the way and
let him or her carry out what you have so clearly delegated!
- Celebrate the success of the end result and see if you
can learn anything from how this person achieved it.
Leadership Lesson: Be clear about your expectations,
and employees will be clear in
their work.
"Expectations are like wishes: You can have as many
as you like, yet without effort, neither is going to
happen!"
One key to successful delegation is to clearly define
and communicate your expectations. Yet just how do
you convey your expectations and what should they
be? We have all heard the message Keep It Simple,
and I agree with the philosophy, yet is it enough? It
might be, but simple is not the priority. I believe
IMPACTFUL is.
The greatest managers believe that if you expect the
best from people, then more often than not the best is
what you get. What do you expect from the employees
who report to you? Have you shared your expectations
with them? Do you expect them to grow? You may be
interested in the growth, but have you told them so? Do
they know in what way you expect them to grow?
Resolve to share clear expectations for each person
who reports to you. As this is often neglected and
employees spend time wondering what is expected of
them, a great many benefits come about by helping people
get clear on what you expect. And, if you are the one
who is not clear, then ask your leader to help you understand
what he or she expects of you. It may not be as
much as you think, it may be more, but it will certainly
be clearer if you ask rather than assume.
Monica L. Wofford is a nationally acclaimed author,
speaker, and trainer who inspires others to lead,
rather than manage. Learn more about Monica and
her book, Contagious Leadership.