The Many Roles of a Leader

Last week, I had the great pleasure of working with a team striving to be better leaders. One of the sessions we ran questioned ‘what makes a great leader’.

We explored the desirable traits of a leader and discussed the many hats we wear as people managers and individuals who want to help others achieve more.

Not an exclusive list, but some food for thought on those many hats we consciously and subconsciously wear every day.

A Leader as a Manager

Ah… let’s begin with the ‘manager’, as this is where we all start as people leaders.

We exist to manage. Delegate. Give action. Review performance. They all sounded a bit negative, so let’s add some positives: an advisor, a team builder, a communicator, a strategist.

Essentially, as managers, we manage the business and the company’s risk. This sounds more beneficial to the company, less so for the employee.

That said, the manager role provides structure for an employee, which can increase their sense of safety and happiness. Structure comes in many forms: operating cadence, regular meetings and reporting, and most importantly, communicating.

We all fear the unknown to different degrees.

The most crucial skill of a manager is to have regular communication with employees, even when there is nothing to communicate. Absence of regular communication leads to gossip, speculation and distrust. On the flip side, regular communication fosters openness, transparency, employee engagement, and a positive working culture, which in turn lead to higher productivity and greater company loyalty.

Often, managers just relate communication to the ‘cascade’, which comes from the company. I’d say think bigger.

Managers see patterns, attend different meetings, and see other company communications which could be interesting for teams to hear (within reason, of course).

Remember everything YOU know is not UNIVERSALLY known.

An easy way to improve your managerial skills is to set aside a regular time slot for communication and Q&A. An increased connection with your team will be achieved instantly.

A Leader as an Expert

Leaders are often promoted in recognition of their expertise and knowledge, and are regarded as a guru in a particular subject area. Humans also like to feel they belong and are needed, so…

Balancing your use of this knowledge is a skill.

Overuse of your knowledge can create reliance on you by the team. In particular, forcing your knowledge on people can create resentment: "I am capable myself, I don’t need my boss stepping in". To truly scale as a leader, your team need to step up and into those knowledge areas.

On the flip side, not using your knowledge might leave the team detached from you, knowing you have the expertise and not sharing/using it. Frankly, in crunch moments (like the end of financial periods), expertise is often needed to speed up decisions and get to the result faster.

The best way to let your team lead the ‘expert’ conversation is in training. The temptation as the expert is to be the person at the front ‘preaching’. Instead, why not ask a capable member of the team to present? You can supplement as required; however, you’ll find your team will probably help the team member out, sharing their knowledge and experience.

A Leader as a Mentor

The mentor role has some subtleties when you play a mentor as a manager. A mentor is usually a subject matter expert who can advise with context. You give advice based on your own relevant experience.

Advice is also elective. A mentee is asking for advice, which you provide based on their needs.

Mentorship is reassuring for employees. It lets them know they are not alone. You’ve been in their shoes and you can help them navigate through. Whilst official mentoring isn’t usually done with first line managers, managers assume the unofficial role of mentor everyday.

Mentoring as a manager also reinforces the career path. Your experiences have led to the manager’s position (and you can give reassurance that you survived the journey).

A Leader as a Coach

Maybe an employee has a problem which hasn’t been framed yet. Perhaps you become the coach to tease out what the real challenges are before jumping into solution mode.

Perhaps your employee or colleague just needs some help finding the solution themselves. Often, as a people leader, we jump to solutions and don’t take time for coaching and self-reflection, which leads employees to become dependent on the solutions we propose, effectively leaving us to be the manager again. Give the solution, and the employee will act.

A cycle then begins. We throw the ball (the action), and the employee fetches it (the solution). The cycle is then the proverbial ‘Monkey on your back’ each time an employee comes back.

Coaching allows the employee to self-discover (throwing their own ball). Employees learn to ‘self-soothe’ in repetitive situations. The best way to encourage this is the use of the G-R-O-W model, which most organisations teach.

Using GROW, you assess whether the employee needs more support (for example, by taking on another role) and foster self-development.

(GROW is a technique of questioning which helps the employee find the desired goal and options to succeed, which they are fully committed to. Search for Sir John Whitmore and GROW.)

The Role Model Leader

Employees also look for reassurance in your own behaviours and values. It’s unsaid that they are watching all the time.

Good and Bad…

The Good….You have an opportunity to ‘shape’ employee behaviour subliminally. The greater the consistency and alignment to company values, the greater an employee’s compass will be to guide them when they are in a sticky situation.

The Bad… a leader is an automatic role model, whether you like it or not, just like a parent is to a child. Perhaps they might not agree with everything said and done, but seeing the leader's behaviour is a license to act that way.

A word of caution, then, for leaders of leaders. If you have high-achieving, bad-behaved leaders as role models, you can guarantee it's rubbing off on employees. You are reinforcing that you condone their behaviour and that it's ‘ok’ to mimic.

If you need convincing that everyone is a role model, read this blog.

A ‘Cheer’-Leader

Then the chips are down; we are the ‘Cheerleader,' there to promote a positive mood.

It sounds like an obvious point. Sometimes things happen, and all our teams need is a positive chat to reenergise.

The trick here is to recognise the situations when a Cheerleader is needed. It’s easy to want to offer advice, fix, problem-solve, or even criticise, when actually it’s time for a verbal cuddle and help pick an employee up from a low place.

So in every moment, let’s pick a hat or two….

Who are you as a manager? All of the above? Some of the above? The answer should be all.

Have you considered which roles your team values most?

And do you consciously move between roles, or do you move without thinking? Next time you are in the moment, spare a thought for which role you are playing.

Being a leader is a difficult balance between being an expert, driving toward goals, being a teacher and coach, and helping your employees grow. The best leaders I have known are ‘fluid’ in their switch between roles. They take every moment as it comes, apply the right role and ensure employees feel empowered to succeed.

If you are interested in new ideas, inspir’em sales meeting exercises, and lesson plans are available to continue the development journey of your teams.

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