During a recent leader training session, we paired off with a colleague to work through an exercise on effectively coaching a team member. During our discussion, we both realized that one of our biggest personal challenges, which is a challenge for our teams, was knowing when to “dig in” to the details versus trusting our team to handle it. The more we talked, I also realized that on some level, I had a fear of losing the “skills that brought me here.”
Perhaps you’re a leader struggling with delegation, or fearful of losing the skills that you spent years perfecting. In this article, I’ll discuss three real approaches I’ve implemented following those discussions. Some of these are still in the probation period and still being evaluated, but I’ll share them anyway.
Reframing My Role
In previous roles, I was hands-on all the time. I was writing code and designing solutions. It was fun. I loved it – I still do. Being that hands-on and “in the weeds” isn’t my role any longer.
My role is to cast the vision of our organization to the team and keep it fresh in their minds. My role is to coach and teach the team how to overcome challenges. My role is to knock down roadblocks preventing the team from being successful.
If needed, I can still roll up my sleeves and code. But those times must be few and far between, reserved only for emergencies. I’m not helping the team’s overall success if I’m being a bottleneck to productivity by trying to be in the details of everything. Jumping into the weeds too frequently also sends a message that I don’t trust the team to execute a task or project.
Listening to the Team
There’s a saying: “You have two ears and one mouth, you should listen twice as much as you talk.” Sometimes as leaders, we like to hear ourselves talk – it’s about what we want to say or what our agenda is. While that may be true in some instances sometimes. It shouldn’t be the case all the time.
One change I’ve made in my 1:1 meetings with my team has been to let them set the agenda. That allows my team to see they are a priority and they are important. That is their time with me to discuss whatever is on their minds – with no boundaries other than those they impose. If they want to brag about the team, their kids, or themselves – great! I want to hear about it.
By allowing them to set the agenda, it also conveys to them that I trust them to ensure I’m kept aware of important items on projects, timeline impacts, or areas where they need me to help.
If there were topics I needed or wanted to discuss with them that didn’t come up from their agenda or we ran out of time – I’ll simply schedule another meeting to focus on that topic. If it was anything urgent, it shouldn’t have waited until the 1:1 anyway. Urgent matters should be addressed immediately.
Focused “Tinker Time”
I’ve described myself as a “tinkerer” before. I come by it honestly – my dad was one. He was always tinkering with something, it’s just how his mind worked. I’ve inherited a lot of those same traits. Tinkering is how I keep my skills sharp and learn new ones.
I have set aside some dedicated time in my week for tinkering. It may be part of my lunch break or an hour in the afternoon when it’s not full of meetings or even a few minutes before or after regular work hours. It’s a focused time when I can code, read, or test some hair-brained ideas. It helps me scratch that coding itch while not taking my focus away from leading my team well.
Conclusion
If a perfect way to be a leader exists for every situation, team, and industry, there wouldn’t be hundreds of books and articles written on leadership. I’m finding that a lot of leadership is experimentation and refining my hypothesis of how to do so effectively regularly. Who knows, you may come back in six months, and all these ideas may be lying in a pile on the side of the road, or maybe they’re slightly modified to test again.
Eric Heilman 