Leading
“Bringing everyone on for the journey is a must” Sometimes, leaders with a good idea will expect the team to implement it straight away. No matter how disruptive and outside the team's comfort zone - leaders assume that eventually, the team will catch on. I've made this mistake more times than I care to recall. Whether incredibly busy, in a hurry or sometimes simply being top down the result will not be positive. The success of any project depends on the leader's ability to articulate the how and why first, before moving on to what the intended aim and result will be.
Most of the new initiatives I implemented encountered a lot of initial resistance, however most of them eventually became best practices and continued to evolve. I was once told that the higher you climb the leadership ladder, the thinner the air becomes. This has proven to be mostly true. A leader must shoulder the successes, the failures, and anticipate the challenges. It's important to see it through and not hesitate. Moving forward, especially today, where the rate of change is ever-increasing, is necessary for a brand's survival. Maintaining or standing still essentially means you are falling behind.
"If you want to rise quickly, develop the people working for you" is a quote I've repeated many, many times to all my department heads. I've found that most department heads tend to have a significant gap in experience and competency with their direct reports. This creates a huge issue when dealing with succession and the overall strength of any team. I firmly believe that by the time your subordinate can replace you, you should be in your next position. Healthy competition only makes us better and ensures we are not complacent.
"Make your job easier" is also something I repeat constantly. When you hire the right people and truly develop them, it makes your work easier, and the total output of the company becomes more efficient. The constant goal is to always create forward motion and progress. I have seen this over and over when a team gets stronger, the results improve, people work less overtime, and are more likely to stay with the company. It also allows some breathing space for department heads to work on strategy and innovation.
"Too much leadership can be a bad thing." During our weekly meetings, which I always ran and moderated, I found the team was not really enjoying them and not contributing to their full ability. The main reason was that I dominated the discussion and was very quick to come up with solutions to most issues raised. This created an environment that could be argued as efficient, but mostly, it was not conducive to the growth of the team and their individual leadership.
I realised we needed to make a change, so I proposed the question to the team and allowed them to come up with the best format. The result was that each department head would lead a meeting, and they would rotate. The person leading that week would be responsible for collecting all the topics and setting the agenda for that week. The added bonus was that they could prioritise their topics and projects while running the meeting. Another consequence was that most department leaders also came to meetings with solutions and not just issues.
Another important change was that I could only speak and give feedback at the end of the meeting. This new setup worked much better and greatly improved the vibe and outcome of weekly meetings. Also, the meetings could continue to function while I was away on business trips. The only thing I added to the new setup was that each department head should bring someone from their team to sit in the meeting to further develop the next management level and encourage communication.
At SUMParts, we recognise the importance of effective leadership in driving success. By embracing the lessons learned from navigating leadership challenges, we equip ourselves and our clients with the tools and strategies needed to thrive in an ever-evolving market.