Leadership is a great strategic topic, but I don’t read too much on how to start being a leader, especially for newly appointed managers who are expected to quickly become leaders.
If you are newly hired or a newly promoted leader what are the first couple of steps you should do to start leading.
We all know that you need to find a way to build rapport or empathy with your team… and at the start its really tough to do, especially if you don’t know what to do.
As a member of the team you are now leading, they realize a simple truth- that you’ll be their leader only for a defined period. Your tenure as their leader is finite, eventually you’ll be going. In two or three or four years you’ll be promoted or fired. Your new team members, on the other hand, probably plan to remain- having had several leaders in the past years- most of your team members will have seen two, four maybe even eight people like you in the past- especially if you are part of a multinational.
So remember, as you start a “leadership conversation” with most of your new team members that they will probably tell you what they think you want to hear and so keep a low profile.
But how does that enable you to lead? This is especially problematic if you striving to quickly build a relationship with your team in Asia. You have to start building a relationship and you’re the one who has to make the first move. And several follow-up moves. It is likely that it will take a period of months, even years, to create a productive leadership relationship.
The foundation of leading in any situation is in building the level of trust you have with your team members, and here are five tips on building leader-team-member trust:
1. Don’t try to create a lasting bond in a single chat.
Yes, you believe that you can build instant rapport, maybe you can but don’t try that in Asia.
It’s very difficult to get employees to trust your leadership and open up if you haven’t had a trustworthy relationship in place already. Historically employees feel they have to be very guarded around their manager and the company in general. Maybe you should research how the previous leader managed the team, what reputation they had. Often this lack of trust stems from their previous trust having been abused in some way.
The solution? Build a relationship at the speed your team-members choose, maybe it has to be slowly. Informally, share your own values and aspirations- avoid the town hall meeting where you explain your DISC preferences and leadership profile to them. In the conversations, often over coffee or lunch, share something personal, even if it’s merely who your favorite movie is. And don’t expect to learn anything meaningful about your team members the first few times you’re speaking with them. The truth is, most employees fear they’re getting fired whenever a leader wants to speak privately with them. That’s why this type of trust-building takes time. It must be sincere and in-person.
2. Forget the notion of complete long-term alignment.
Don’t aim for 100% alignment on all topics, aim to have sufficient alignment to get your assignment completed. Face it, as a leader you probably won’t be around too long- 2 years, maybe three, at the outside 4 years, after that – if you are any good- you’ll be looking for a promotion. Your team members may have been around for a year already or twenty years, they’ll be left behind when you’ve achieved what you want to achieve and have gone.
Remember you in the company on assignment and your role is to successfully complete this assignment and then move on.
Have you defined what your assignment for this leadership role is?
Now think about what each of your team members “personal assignments” are. For them, it could be developing skills or gaining connections that help them transition to a different job in your company or outside into a different industry. As a leader, it’s in your power to help your employees with their personal assignments. Think about how much more motivated your employees would be, if they knew you actually wanted to help them build a career, or to make a career transition–even though the transition would mean that they’ll be leaving your company one day.
3. Get out of the office.
You can’t possibly expect a team member to let their guard down if you call them into your office and close the door. Consider changing the context. Lose the seriousness of the work space. Going out to lunch is a great place to start.
When the time is right–remember, this work takes time and multiple chats–even consider inviting your team members to your house. One way to continue the trust building is to invite them around for a meal or drinks maybe watch a big game on your big screen. Not happy about that, then have an informal meeting outside that can involved some forced informal interactions- yes, team building, it does work if not over scripted and overused.
4. Depersonalize the key questions.
Consider approaching your employees by saying something like this: “It’s my job to help you overcome bottlenecks and remove all the things that are in your way. What things are preventing you from accomplishing your current assignments? This allows the employee to describe what’s wrong with their job, without feeling like they’re critiquing their own performance or ability to adapt to challenging circumstances.
How about thinking about other forms of de-personalizing questions: for example, ask a team member what “most people” think of a certain situation. Usually, they will tell you what most people think. But in doing so, they will also provide a glimpse of their own personal feelings. Try these as well…
- How is everyone feeling about what’s going on in the office?
- What do you think people are frustrated about here at work?
These questions allow you, as a leader, to follow up on whatever topics arise. And you can do so delicately, without focusing on the individual employee who–even in sharing what “most people” think–has just displayed a great deal of vulnerability.
5. Your team members are different.
Remember that all of your new team members are different. You can’t follow the same template or timetable to create trust, every single time. There will always be differences in how long it takes–and the gestures it takes–to create that trust. All you can do is work toward a level of mutual trust, and move toward honesty.
So for you more experienced folks out there, can you share ho you have developed rapport in building teams, especially in Asia?