“You need to stop doing so much for us and let us try things.”
This was one of the comments in the performance review feedback from her team that made Renee pause. She led a team that had a lot of potentials, but they were more junior in experience. In her mind, she was helping them, but her team clearly didn’t see it that way.
Leaders who want to support their teams may jump into “help” when they see the team is stuck or not moving fast enough to get things done. This was definitely one of my challenges. I truly thought I was helping the team get things done faster, but instead, I sent a strong message that I didn’t trust them to do it themselves. I had to slow down, have more patience, and set an example for them.
I needed to make a shift in how I led my team so they could shine. I had kept the spotlight on me instead of giving it to them. They were going to be leaders of teams someday and they would follow my lead if I didn’t show them a better way. My role was to help them learn the skills they needed to succeed, not jump in to save them.
When Renee shared her feedback with me, I could definitely relate to her situation. As we coached, she realized that she was focused more on herself than her team and that she had an opportunity to change. We coached on ways that she could build more trust, play to her team’s strengths and use delegation to help them grow.
Renee’s plan coming out of our session was to build trust, be consistent with her actions and coach her team to success.
In her next session, Renee shared how excited she was to see her team step up and how well they responded to this new approach. It gave them a chance to develop and she could focus on adding value to support them. Renee and I coached on the ways she could continue to maintain her progress even when she may be under stress. She can also ask for feedback from her team to see how this change feels for them. These types of changes are habits that have been ingrained and will take time to shift permanently, so consistency is key.
Is there an opportunity to explore more ways to help your team grow and let them try new things?