The Self-Evolved Leader

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Break the cycle of mediocrity

The cycle of mediocrity:

  1. Urgency - you
  2. Heroics - you
  3. Learned helplessness - your team
  4. Disempowerment - your team

Mediocre leaders exhibit:

  • Urgency and heroic leadership
  • They swing for the fences
  • They confuse busyness for progress
  • They believe they have the answers
  • They save the day

Impact on staff:

  • Learned helplessness
  • Disempowerment and feeling overwhelmed

The virtuous cycle:

  1. Importance - you
  2. Shared accountability - you
  3. Development - your team
  4. Empowerment - your team

Reset your perspective on leadership

Internal characteristics of leaders

  1. They push for growth
    1. They pursue an objective understanding of their leadership effectiveness
    2. They take responsibility for their development
    3. They focus on practise and reflection
  2. They demonstrate vulnerability
  3. They practice empathy
  4. They feel a sense of connectedness
  5. They operate from the locus of their control

External behaviours of leaders

  1. They set common goals
  2. They help their team achieve these goals
  3. They focus on the development of their people
  4. They focus on the long term direction of their team
  5. They move from pull to push

The leaders mantra

My focus is to help those on my team achieve our shared goals, and in doing so, to help them become the best version of themselves.

Key elements of self evolved leadership

Vision - Set a shared destination

Vision is considered through the lens of a vision statement which is created, shared with the team, and incorporated into ceremonies

Pulse - Build an implementation rhythm

Set multiple reviews over time to ensure that key areas are addressed at the right cadence. These are intended to be team meetings which bring everyone together to have a shared conversation about direction and goals. I've implemented this at a personal level through the use of Journal Templates.

Annual

  1. Stretch goal
  2. Quarterly leading indicators
  3. Key strategic initiatives
  4. Q1 tactics

Quarterly

  1. Review of last quarter
    1. What was successful
    2. What was a failure
    3. What did we abandon
    4. What did we learn
    5. What do we need to adjust
  2. New initiatives
  3. Preview of next quarter

Monthly

  1. Assign a traffic light status to the leading indicators

Weekly

  1. What's the most important thing you are working on this week? What's top priority that needs to get done for it to be a successful week for the team?
  2. What's the biggest challenge you think you'll face this week? What do they see as the potential obstacles or blockers in the way?
  3. How can I best help you? What advice guidance or support do they need from you in order to make this week a success?

Daily

  1. What did you accomplish yesterday
  2. What are your top three priorities for today
  3. What are your biggest challenges
  4. How might the team be able to help

One on ones

  1. What are your current challenges
  2. What did you try since the last time we met
  3. What worked well
  4. What didn't work
  5. What would you like to work on between now and the next time we meet
  6. How can I best support you

Making your pulse work

  • Consistency at all costs
  • Focus on implementation, not performance
  • Push for clarity in decision making
  • Recognize what mode you're in
    • Feedback
    • Decision
    • Assistance
  • Agree on the challenge you're trying to solve
  • Set the criteria for decision making
  • Balance data and debate
  • Hear from everybody
  • Have debate in the room and agreement outside
  • Agree on next actions and have a communication plan

Discipline - Develop the key practises

  1. Take a pause
    • Your team faces a challenge
    • You have to deliver bad news
    • You have a great idea
  2. Exist in the present
    • Turn off notifications
    • Leave technology out
    • Focus on one person or project at a time
  3. Set context
    • The vantage point of the discussion
    • The objective of the meeting
    • The wider impact of your decisions
  4. Be intentional
    • Understand your own goals
    • Set your intentions
    • Cut your losses when it's not working
  5. Listen first, talk second
    • Wear a rubber band
    • Sit on your hands
    • Use a tchotchke to aid discussion
  6. Push for clarity
    • The positions in the room
    • The issue at hand
    • The next action

Self Evolved Leadership Disciplines

Reclaim your attention

Protecting your headspace to give you more time to focus on the important things you need to work on rather than getting sucked into the urgent.

  • Perspective shift: stop chasing emergencies
  • Get everything out of your head and your inbox
  • Become ruthless at prioritization
  • Have a relentless focus on the next action
  • Decide on the right forum for implementation
  • Batch contexts

Facilitate team flow

Managing the inputs to, around, and out from your team in a way that keeps you focused on achieving your current goals and at the same time develops each team member.

  • Perspective shift: treat your team like they will succeed
  • Conduct a joint triage
  • Clarity on outcome, flexibility on delivery
  • Your involvement and check in points
    • How can I help make this a success for you?
    • When and for how long should we meet to review?
  • Review the outcome and the process
    • What worked well in both the execution and the process you followed?
    • What would you do differently next time?
    • What lessons will you both walk away with?

Support high performance

Helping you people discover the root cause of their issues, so that they can assess the options in front of them by themselves. Then, encouraging them to devise a plan of action and backing their decision.

  1. Identify the root cause
  2. Review the options they have
  3. Add your perspective
  4. Have them commit to a plan
  5. I've got your back
  6. Progress updates and debrief

Have symbiotic conversations

Having conversations that allow all parties the freedom to express their reality without fear of judgement. The focus should be to find the best outcome for the team as a whole and for the individuals within in, and the conversation will conclude with a clear next action that empowers people to open in and supports those who choose to out out.

  • Do it often
  • Assume positive intent
  • Envision a successful outcome and route to get there
  • Feedback is not criticism
  • Drop emotion and gossip
  • State clearly the issue then pause
  • Don't own their reaction
  • Put the next steps in their hands

Build shared accountability

Building the environment that allows your team to set, achieve, and celebrate their collective goals.

  • Change your goal setting process
    1. Your team creates their goals
    2. Ensure goals and complementary and interdependent
    3. Attach individual and team goals to your goal
  • Your role in helping your team set goals
    • Encourage a growth mind-set
    • Build deep empowerment
    • Mandate team sharing
    • Encourage peer accountability
  • Tracking progress and providing feedback
    • Focus on ninety day sprints
    • Make it an ongoing conversation
    • Get a dashboard