Are You Building Leaders Or Just Choosing Followers?
By Tris Hussey
Teams with leaders get things done and prepare for the future
Think about a couple of your current teams. How many leaders are on the teams? I don’t mean people “in charge,” but people who have the ability and tenacity to lead their own teams. There is a real difference between a team of leaders and a team of followers. Followers might get what you want done and will get what the client wants done, but they might not challenge or innovate that could make a project more successful in the eyes of the client (and you).
Leaders think outside the box
True leaders see the statement of work for a project as the destination, but not the route. Maybe along the way there is a step that will not only get you to the destination faster, but maybe get you some bonus sights along they way (maybe a few extra features in an app, uncovering a related client problem that you could be engaged to fix next). Followers take the directions and follow them. Here’s the path, this is how to do it, that’s it. These are the people who follow GPS directions blindly and wind up getting really lost in the process.
Leaders say no
Sure the customer/client is always right—except when he isn’t—and then you need someone who steps up as straightens things out. Maybe your client would like something that you know will cause trouble down the line (setting up a website for right now, but no room to grow in the future), true leaders will have the confidence to speak up. Even if they are overruled, good leaders know when something is wrong and don’t just shrug it off.
Leaders share
A team of leaders know that to get things done you need to leverage everyone the team, you can’t do it all you have colleagues who are experts in what they do—so leaders let them do it. Leaders also share with your client as well. People who lead know the value in bringing up the skills of everyone connected to the team. So helping the client understand the project better or technologies on the horizon that will be important soon, these show the richness and depth of your team.
Leaders make you look good
When you have people who are strong leaders, they know what will make you look good—without you telling them. Leaders have researched the client already. They are aware of the bigger picture for the client, you, and the companies together. Leaders work together to make sure the project achieves the written, and unwritten, goals. A solid team of leaders works and acts like the crack team of experts they are—and that only makes you look like a star.
Leaders step up
If things are going sideways or you need the team to run on their own without (much) guidance, it’s the leaders on the team who will keep things together. Leaders see what needs to get done and make it happen. No time for hand wringing, just get things done and get (or keep) the project on track.
Too many leaders?
We’ve heard all the clichés before—too many cooks in the kitchen or too many generals, not enough soldiers—and these bring up the down side of putting leaders together on a team: who is going to be the leader of the team? We’d all like to think true leaders will see who has the right skills for the job or everyone co-leads the project, but we know that doesn’t work out too well in reality. The rarest kind of team is the successful team where everyone has strong leadership skills, but no one is jockying for control of the project. There is one person in charge of the project and everyone else respects that person’s role. Respects, not subservient to, the project leader. This isn’t about hierarchy, a team leader is a person responsible for direction, goals, and milestones. The person who if the team doesn’t succeed is accountable for the failure—although a team of great leaders will take their share of the blame as well.
In the end, a strong team is made of people who all have the skills to lead, but the wisdom to accept the person who is leading as the leader.
Postscript: Right after I finished this post I saw this on io9—The Underlying Assumption That’s Necessary For Every Star Trek Mission—which puts a different spin on the same idea. Getting the smartest people in the room together can be a very powerful thing—as along as everyone follows the Star Trek example.
Photo from Flickr by Sven Lohmeyer under Creative Commons license.
