Respect for the Individual
About an 8-minute read
When I stepped into a management role and suddenly had leadership responsibility for team members with nearly twenty years more seniority than myself, one of my favorite lines to share with my management peers was, "I need an adult." This was meant to bring levity to a situation with a steep learning curve. It turns out, as a manager, I technically was the "adult" in most situations. While said in jest, this statement encapsulated my understanding of the growing I had yet to do and gave a key clue as to how my leadership style would evolve, a style that is successful and appreciated by my team members. The core tenet on which I worked to build a rich team culture that could expand across organizational layers is respect for the individual.
Utilizing and displaying respect for the individual, or a tailored approach for each person, is not a magic sauce; it's intended to put others in the position to best utilize their skills and find their excellence. This is accomplished through emotional intelligence, servant leadership, and empowerment - three personal features that are present in a positive organizational culture and some of the best leaders.
For some organizations, installing leaders with those qualities may be a departure from the traditional qualification of promotion based upon technical expertise. Possessing technical strength and exhibiting the aforementioned three personal features are not mutually exclusive, but it is apparent when a side of the equation is missing. In my personal experience, I was intentionally moved from one focus area to another and never felt I had the opportunity to develop the robust subject matter expertise seen in someone specializing in a singular topic or skill. So when it came time for me to lead a team with some of those experts, I had to rely on other qualities to be an effective leader and understand those on the team would always be the "smarter person in the room"; I was simply there to support them. My paramount responsibility as a manager, therefore, became understanding each team member's motivations, goals, and concerns, and then crafting a team culture that allowed for personal growth and independence within a respectful, supportive network. Along with this, I had to understand the work flowing through the team was not "my" work, it was "their" work, but I was responsible for ensuring the team members were set up to be successful.
Fulfilling such a responsibility can follow multiple paths that depend on your personal strengths and styles as well as those of the people you lead and the organization's culture. Something that worked for me, and that I saw be successful with other teams, was a heavy investment in building relationships that include trust and mutual understanding of what both parties are striving to achieve. For example, during daily, weekly, or monthly check-ins and one-on-ones, there could be several touchpoints upon career goals and assessing how those goals align with current responsibilities. As a leader, this is an opportunity to share vision for the individual and the steps you are taking to help them be successful in progressing toward or achieving their goals. Your roadmap, as their leader, should not be something of your own conjecture but rather a transparent plan to get them in the best position to be successful. This may include looking for placement on certain projects or opportunities to showcase abilities, and if learning or growth is required, the roadmap includes the necessary support structures and training. Having a roadmap, a plan, in place also provides a reference point during those one-on-one conversations to keep personal development top-of-mind and monitor progress. Best of all, and key to any strong relationship, showing investment in someone's development and concern for their success establishes trust. Having a high degree of trust in the relationship will pay dividends both ways.
Once the people are understood, there is a cascade of benefits. Having that thorough understanding of strengths and goals allows a manager or leader to empower and continue empowering to greater extents. If an organization does a good job of hiring, particularly around identifying the right talent and properly placing that talent, letting those individuals apply their skills, make decisions, and mentor others fosters diversity of thought and development while allowing leaders to better allocate their time. Sure, there is risk of having some bumpy learning moments and coaching conversations, but a healthy degree of empowerment and independence will build stronger team members long-term, which creates a more robust bench of talent that enriches the organization’s ability to meet the needs of an unknown future.
Empowering, as straightforward as it may sound, is not as simple as seeing how someone handles being tossed into the deep end or trial by fire - choose your cliché. There are specific leadership skills that are required for an empowering leader to find team and personal success. We have not specifically touched upon emotional intelligence or servant leadership yet, but this is where they earn their keep.
Harvard Business School defines emotional intelligence as: the ability to understand and manage your emotions, as well as recognize and influence the emotions of those around you. This definition also relates directly to the concept of servant leadership. Indeed.com defines servant leadership as: the management style in which you focus on your team's growth and well-being to put their needs first. Hopefully, you can already see the important interplay between emotional intelligence and servant leadership. Strong servant leaders are going to have a high degree of emotional intelligence, and leaning into servant leadership will continuously hone one's emotional intelligence. Now that emotional intelligence and servant leadership are defined, let's look at that relationship more closely.
Regularly recurring and ad-hoc touchpoints with team members are the best ways to stay engaged with their work experience. Here, they can provide a rundown of what their day-to-day looks like, status of work items, and discuss any potential coaching items. As a leader in these conversations, exercising strong emotional intelligence means listening first, identifying the individual's sentiment toward what was shared and their current situation (i.e., are they confident, in a good place, feeling overwhelmed, unsure) and then providing an empathetic approach. Acknowledge what the individual is feeling, whether positive or negative, and kick the servant leadership into gear to support them. If the individual is in a good place, perhaps you are looking for ways to celebrate any successes or reinforce the actions that helped get them to this level. Doubling-down on positives is just as important as coaching and uplifting during challenging times. If the individual is in a tough spot, you, as a servant leader, are helping them identify where they need support or where adjustments to their approach may flip the script. Despite knowing you may have taken another course, chose alternate actions, or had different conversations, at no time should you, the leader, become the focus of the conversation. Because you are a servant leader who empowered the individual, your responsibility now is to coach and support to a resolution, and even if that resolution may be different from what you envisioned with your own approach, it is the result that person and their support network produced. The learning and skills that come from the experience should be celebrated and seen as an investment for the future.
Empowered individuals will also need servant leadership support in dealing with other leaders, departments, teams, and the differing organizational cultures that come along with that. If your team and department has a certain approach with established expectations, there is the likelihood that other departments with whom you work will not have the same approach or expectations, and they especially may not hold the same values. Depending on a team member's experience level, they may have no issue navigating external personalities, styles, and politics. Typically, this is savvy that develops over time. Less-tenured team members may require you, as a leader, to provide insight and background that arms them with the knowledge to be successful in their interactions. Even with more-experienced team members, you may need to pave a path forward by engaging with other leaders and teams to establish uniform goals and an agreed upon approach. Providing this runway for the work that needs to move forward is a supportive, servant leader contribution.
So in the above content, what have we seen as it relates to respect for the individual? First, team members are treated as intelligent and capable individuals, not resources that are plug-and-play pieces to move around the board. Second, the focus is always on them. Without the team members' work, the team is unsuccessful, as is the leader, so the people are always the priority. Successes and missteps are equally discussed and coached. Three, team members are given the input into their growth and career direction. This helps them connect to a fulfilling purpose. Fulfilled people working with purpose do better work and, frankly, make the organization better. Four, team members can approach their day knowing they are not on an island, that there is a support system in place. This creates peopled who are willing to think independently and innovate. They care about their peers and become part of others' support networks. Again, this enriches organizational culture.
To me, having respect for the individual creates the type of team and culture I want to be part of, and I've seen others look on longingly at those that have it. A mindset and approach that strays from hardline focus on work and business will not appeal to everyone, and it may feel incongruous in some industries. For keeping quality people around and benefitting from the skills and knowledge from having a workforce with great longevity, however, it is hard to argue that respecting people and making them the cornerstone of organizational culture is a misstep.