Of all the work experiences I have had in the last few years, managing a team has been both the most challenging and the most fulfilling. It forced me to reconsider many beliefs I had and approach my working life in a different (and hopefully better) way. As always, I would like to share with you what I have found out, hoping to give somebody a little bit of inspiration or spark some interesting conversations.
I see many leaders managing their people as an amplifier of their own work, as if they now had 10 more artificial arms that can multiply the number of tasks and projects they can deliver. Personally, my approach is the opposite: if I have the privilege of leading a group of people, I see myself as the enabler of their professional growth. It is my job to help them thrive and emerge in the office, not the other way around.
In order to accomplish that, you need to make sure that every person on your team:
Has a clear career path in front of them. It doesn't matter if it leads to a top-management position or not, and it can change over time, but there has to be a clear direction and a reason behind the work they are doing today.
Has an open communication channel with you. It should always be possible to set aside some time for an honest conversation, where everyone expects the other to be sincere and fair.
It’s impossible to always guarantee these two aspects, perfection doesn’t exist. But if you prioritise them in your decisions, I’m confident you’ll see results in the long term.
Another important aspect to consider is that working with a team requires compromises. Your individual productivity will inevitably decrease compared to when you were working alone, simply because part of your time has to be spent on team management activities like keeping everyone aligned or doing performance reviews.
If your goal is to maximize your individual productivity, you should avoid having a team to manage. But if you aspire to achieve significant progress, working alone won't make it. At one point in your career, you will see that everything impactful comes through people skills. It doesn't matter the degree of automation in your business, your success in the workplace will depend on how well you can deal with people, understand them, and motivate them.
I’d love to hear your take on this, please leave a comment if you agree (or disagree) with my thoughts. Have a great weekend!