You are the leaders of this organization and hold the keys to success.

At the heart of any mission is talent. Whether building the new rocketship to take us to Mars, raising money for a charity, designing a new service online, or working to be the best manufacturer of the latest series of widgets, talent matters. Which is why it is part of so many of my blogs and why I want to quickly share some thoughts for leaders. This one is targeted to leaders that are at the director/senior manager level, typically CEO – 3 layers. In my org, this would mean people that report to my direct reports. Beyond that, I think they could really be considered for any leaders of teams.

The crux of the message is this: You are the leaders of this organization and hold the keys to success. When given a role as a leader, you must immediately transform yourself from an individual contributor that must manage up, to a leader that must manage up, down, and sideways. And, from time to time, you will need to transform again as peers and managers change significantly, or you go to a new company. In many ways, the global leadership team (my directs) need to serve in the capacity of “Chairman and CEO” of the company we are building. They need to be the ones setting the strategy, selling the vision, and building the dream. But if the next layer down is not willing and ready to be the “President and COO” of our company, the dream can never be achieved.

People may think that I want the directs of my directs to be “empowered”, “trusted”, and held “accountable” because that is the right thing to do for team engagement. Bullocks. Yes, its good for the teams to be treated with respect in this way. However, it is not purely altruistic that I form teams in this manner. The fact of the matter is, our mission DEPENDS on this. We simply cannot be successful if leaders at all levels do not step up to the challenge they have been given to drive change independently. The directs of my directs, I call them the XLT, run our business. That means we expect a lot of them and, likewise, they should expect more from us. So, I wanted to share some thoughts on leadership and my expectations. I am sharing these with my team as well as with my friends here in the online world.

What we expect from you as a manager

1. Ownership of transitions  Remember back when you were in grade school? Don’t worry, I don’t remember much either. However, I do remember that each new year was a new adventure pretty much directed by my teachers. They showed me how my last year’s learning tied to the new year. They led exercises to introduce me to my new classmates, courses, and books.  But in the corporate world, on our mission, we do not always have that luxury. And, frankly, the higher up you go, the less assistance you will get with transitions. Things move faster and are not always as structured as grade school. That means you are in some cases you will be leaving behind responsibilities to take on new ones before fully completing your prior responsibilities. As leaders, you are expected to manage transitions, ensuring that your responsibilities are not only well in hand but all key stakeholders are informed of the change. This is a critical mission success factor.
2. Setting expectations I was the News Editor of my college newspaper, Student Life, at Washington University. At the beginning of each editorial cycle, I worked out a set schedule of articles our reporters were expected to write, with dates they were due and no leeway for being late.  For a newspaper that came out twice a week, there was only so much flexibility. But the MAJORITY of corporate decisions are not actually this tightly time constrained. So, leaders must help manage expectations. You know your workload, skillsets and available tools better than anyone else. And you are a leader. If you get a request to drive something, you must set expectations. When should I hear from you and how often will you provide updates? Where does this fall within your priority list? Are you not the right person for the job? If you do not set expectations appropriately, the best possible outcome is that you unwittingly meet expectations set by someone else. The worst case is that the expectations that were set were completely unrealistic and you will fail.
3. Communication to your teams and peers – Every day, I think about what I want to wear to the office. That is perhaps the only decision I make each day that does not require input from others. Even that one is influenced by others based on conversations I have had about a particular type of shoes (“Adam is the only c-suite exec here that has a pair of Blue shoes”) or my choice of casual or formal business attire (“still wearing a tie, eh, Adam?”). But in a fast-changing, active decision environment, communication is critical. Especially during times of change and transition, our colleagues need to hear from us much more. Decisions are being made that impact lives, impact our clients, impact the markets and how our competitors react to us. We can get into a trap of having so many meetings and conference calls that we forget the basics. Pick up the phone. Reach out to someone for coffee. Write a personal thank you note.
4. Driving independently  In order for any organization to deliver effectively the massive change programs underway in a competitive environment, we must hold our leaders accountable for driving independently. We must empower them to make decisions without funneling every action through hierarchies. We must trust them to get done their component of the work. And we must hold them accountable for delivering and punish/reward them based on agreed expectations. I blogged on this a while back (See Blog and a poster with these three words in on most of my team’s desks. We must expect XLT leaders to deliver on change programs with less direct intervention. Clear objectives set up front, guidance and support when needed, and recognition/credit when complete. The mission depends on this, as every hour spent by me working on a component of the mission is an hour I cannot sell the dream, build the vision.

What you should expect from your manager

It is easy for senior level executives to set expectations on their subordinate leaders. However, we must recognize that relationships go two ways. If I truly want my leaders to act a certain way, managing transitions, communicating to their teams, and driving independently, my leaders must be able to expect certain things from me.

1. Support for this process, including patience and understanding as they build plans, outside assistance if justified, and help identifying the right person to whom you should transition if needed.
2. Leading by example when it comes to communication and team engagement.
3. Unless you lead them to conclude otherwise, your manager should trust your judgment and be reasonably accepting of the expectations you set.

What are some expectations you have of your leaders and how have you seen them help your mission? Is your manager providing effective space for you to grow as a leader?

Be well. Lead On.
Adam

Related Posts:
Investing in talent for the long-term
Expectations of Leaders at all Levels
Khalil Gibran on Leadership
Lessons from Henry V

Adam Stanley

Adam L. Stanley Connections Blog

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