I’d like to spend some time today discussing team building and development, but first some thoughts on leadership experience. There are no shortcuts to experience. Experience is not a result of time spent, but rather personal growth and development. Being promoted to a leadership position does not make you a leader. When I work with a manager for instance and they tell me, they have eight years experience as a leader, I’ll ask them rhetorically; do you have eight years experience or one year eight times? Are they doing the same things they did very early in their position, or have they developed into a true leader? True experience in leadership is critical to team building. The below is a guide and written to help newer leaders establish a team of effective employees. It’s a guide, not a short cut.
There are basically three scenarios you will encounter as a leader. The first, you inherit an existing team. Second, you’re increasing the size of an existing team. Third, you’re building a new team. Regardless of the scenario and the challenges each present, being a forward thinking leader and one who is never satisfied with business as usual, there will inventively be change. However, before you can implement changes, you’ll need to develop a performance baseline. Once you have a performance baseline, you can plan, develop and execute your strategy to take your team to the next level.
It’s unlikely you’ll have a team where all members are adaptable and welcome change. Basically the individuals on the team will fall into one of four groups; Super Stars, Steady Performers, Poor Performers, and Underachievers. Here are some characteristics of each. The “super stars” in short, are overachievers. They’re driven, adaptable, responsible and accountable, very effective, will go above and beyond, they may come in early or stay late and they usually finish above quota. “Steady performers” are individuals who are driven, to a degree, and accountable, they understand their responsibilities, sufficiently effective, and will finish near or at quota. Steady performers are those who get to work on time and leave on time. They are usually not as adaptable and can be uncomfortable with change. They’ll do what they need to do but usually won’t go above and beyond and work to sufficiency. “Poor performers” are individuals who are simply not right for the job. They may be honest, hard working, and try their very best every day but are not effective in the position and consequently rarely, if ever, hit quota. But remember, these employees may be Super Stars in the right position so look for their true talents and help them transition to the right position.
I need to spend a bit more time discussing “underachievers” as they may be your biggest challenge and can be the most damaging to the team, department and ultimately the company. This outline of characteristics although true, is a guideline of what to look for. An underachiever may overtly demonstrate one or all these characteristics, however they may be somewhat indiscernible and a challenge to identify. As you gain leadership experience even the most subtle characteristics will become more evident and quick to identify. “Underachievers” will usually spend more time trying to look busy then they do actually working. In fact they’ll be happy to tell you how hard they work, and to the inexperienced they can be quite convincing. You’ll find that when you’re having a performance discussion with them they may try to redirect to conversation and you need to reel them back to in. Although their intelligent and fully understand their responsibilities they usually lack drive, and accountability. They can however be very outspoken, pointing out the problems within the department or company. Underachievers will hit quota only when they absolutely have to, usually when they know their job is on the line.
You’ll need to identify an underachiever and take action quickly as these individuals will slow the development and progress of the team. This is where key performance indicators are essential. Without evidence of their individual results, you’ll be hard pressed to take action. No one can argue with facts. You’ll then need to implement a performance plan, and they either become part of the team’s success or they don’t. Make sure you are working with your HR department. Outline the performance plan and make sure you have HR approvals. With that said, you need to be careful with how you manage your time. I use a 90/10 guideline. I focus 90% of my time on the successful members of the team and no more than 10% with those who are not performing. Within that 10%, be clear and decisive in your discussions and direction then move on.
Remember, time spent is not experience. Don’t ever kid yourself in believing that you can’t continue to grow and improve any more than you have. More topics to come over the upcoming months.
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