Category New To Leadership?

I have a coaching client who was promoted from a specialist engineer to the dizzy heights of team-lead without the company investing in the skills she needed to transition from specialist to leader.

Because her boss and company did not recognize that they were promoting her into a new profession and invest in her accordingly, their accomplishment was to turn a fine and capable engineer into a poor supervisor!

The difference:

• Specialists use their skills and experience to create a product
• Team leaders need management skills, a knack for problem-solving and the ability to plan and manage the work – NOT to do it!

So, what is a team leader’s skill set?

1 Balancing between leadership and management

These are two separate skills:

Leadership is communicating a common vision of a future state; gaining agreement; then, motivating others in a forward direction.

Management is results driven and getting the work done.

Your job as a good team leader will constantly switch from a leader to a manager as situations require.

2 Be a Team Builder and a Leader

The leader sets the “tone” of the team to lead them through the various team development phases to the point where they begin to perform.

Read about teams

3 Be a Problem Solver

Identify the possible “causes” that lead to the problem, then analyze possible options and alternatives, and determine the best course of action to take.

4 Be a Negotiator and Influencer

Negotiation is working with others to come to a joint agreement. To avoid power struggles, develop influencing skills. Influencing is the ability to get people to do things they may not do otherwise.

5 Be an Excellent Communicator

Being a communicator is a two-way street as. A good way to get a grip on managing the information comes and goes is to ask yourself the following questions: who needs this information? Who gathers and delivers it? When or how often do they need it? And, in what form?

Read about communicating

6 Be Organized

Think of what you need to organize; project documentation, contracts, emails, memo’s, reviews, meetings, etc. It’s almost impossible to stay organized without developing good time management skills.

7 Become a Planner

The skill of planning can’t be underestimated. There are known and logical steps in creating plans. You may well own your team’s plan, but others depend upon your success.

8 Manage Budgets

At the heart of this is the skill is managing the budget, particularly costs. You will need a knowledge of financial systems and accounting principles.

If you are new to team leadership, don’t be overwhelmed by all this. There are well-understood methodologies, tools, guidelines, and procedures to help you on your way to developing the life-skill of leadership.

The first thing you need to do is book time with your boss and ask what their performance objectives are; what does he need you to do to help them be successful; and, then what professional development do you require to be successful.

Read about partnering with your boss

It was a dreary day 10 years ago, when a Cessna plane carrying 10 people crashed, shortly after taking off from Pelee Island. On Jan. 17, 2004 Georgian Express Flight 126 crashed into the icy waters of Lake Erie. The pilot, his fiancée and eight hunters from the area were killed. Without a doubt it was a huge tragedy for the family and friends of the 10 casualties, but in the big scheme of world disasters and crises it was a relatively small event.

That said there were over 10 agencies involved with the response: Ontario Provincial Police; local fire departments; emergency medical services; Red Cross; 2 municipal governments; provincial agencies; national transportation safety board; coroners; and, more. Each of these agencies had their own mandate & mission and they are all lead with by people with bosses & organizational agendas and all had HUGE egos.

How was this managed and led in a way that achieved all of the goals of all of the organizations? It was done by using the established emergency management systems and with communication with our organizations.

But the single most important thing that happened that day was the development of a team charter that laid out the game plan & role of each agency. And the most important part of the team charter was the definition of a clear MISSION.

I worked hard with the Police Inspector in charge of the response to define that mission that was posted prominently across the wall of the operations centre: To recovery the bodies and investigate the crash with the utmost respect & dignity to the casualties and their families.

Once your mission is defined then complete your charter by adapting this time tested 5-step military tool – SMEAC – to build your team’s charter.

1. Situation.
2. Mission and Objectives.
3. Execution.
4. Administration.
5. Command & Control.

Situation

This is the introduction to the charter and should answer the following questions:

• What problem is being addressed?
• What result or delivery is expected?
• Why is this important?

Mission and Objectives

By defining a mission, the team knows what it has to achieve as in the Pelee Island crash: To recovery the bodies and investigate the crash with the utmost respect & dignity to the casualties and their families.

Execution

By negotiating the execution phase of a Team Charter ensures that everyone understands:

• Why the project needs to be carried out;
• What the objectives and measures of success are;
• Who is doing what; and,
• With what resources.

Administration and Support

This section lists the resources available to the team to accomplish its goals. This includes:

• Budgets;
• Time;
• Equipment; and,
• etc.

Command, Control & Communications

Teams are most effective when they have members with:

• The skills and experience needed to do the job;
• They know where they fit into the organization;
• Who is in charge;
• What is expected of them; and
• That they not get bogged down in communication.