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30 years of learning. My 5 maxims of people leadership.
30 years of learning… my 5 maxims of people leadership.
My consulting business is 10 years old this year. Which seems almost inexplicable given how quickly that time has gone… With this milestone comes a lot of rewarding experiences, some struggles, many challenges and much (much!) learning.
Celebrating this anniversary makes me acutely aware (and proud/incredulous) that these ten years add on to a further near twenty years experience working in the world of people matters.
Nigh on thirty years!
Of course I’m hopeful for more successful years ahead, but it strikes me as a unmissable opportunity to reflect on, connect up and share my learnings from this journey.
Over the years I’ve built up my own maxims about leading and managing people that I find have become my oft quoted mantras.
I don’t profess that they’re rocket science, nor wholly unique (I’m a firm believer in doing a lot of listening, reading, considering, understanding and giving credit to the thinking and practice of others).
But I’ve found them to be consistently valueable in helping bust some myths around people management and build others confidence in becoming strong people leaders.
Leaders can be people experts. And people experts can be leaders.
We’ve come a long way, in my view, in recognising that work is relational. It’s how effectively we engage, interact, trust, inspire and collaborate together which dictates the depth of our impact and successes.
The ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’ debate was won a few decades ago. We’ve learnt It doesn’t matter how brilliant your product, systems or ideas are if you haven’t got the right people in the right place doing the right thing at the right time to turn your plans into reality. So being people focused/centric/led etc has become common language in systems working.
But I’d challenge that sometimes we still see people leadership and management as an add-on to a role. Or a line in a job description. Or even a function. Or specialism.
I don’t believe it is. It isn’t about HR functions, workforce teams or people leads. Because shaping how the organisation values it’s people is not the responsibility of any one function or person, it is shared across all.
It’s about seeing everything we do through the lens of people. From how we create our strategies, to how we manage risk, how we market ourselves and the systems and governance we put in place to ensure effectiveness.
When people have commented throughout my career that I ‘left’ working in HR, people, learning or development to take on a strategy role or commercial project I was always frustrated that it was viewed so narrowly. For me I wasn’t ‘moving away’ from people matters. More just widening my lens.
People planning isn’t just an activity it’s a mindset. And leaders who think and act in this way can work in any role.
So that makes us all people experts!
As Stanley Huffy aptly said “it’s not the position that makes the leader. It’s the leader that makes the position”.
Its not about fit but belonging.
I often hear organisations cite being ‘fit focused’ as a demonstration of their strong people first approach.
But ‘fit based’ practices like recruitment or performance review processes can make me squirm when I hear them described in this way.
Even more so when the organisation links being ‘fit based’ to a core value of inclusiveness, diversity or authenticity.
Surely saying someone has to fit-in with who we are or how we act is the opposite of enabling someone to be their true authentic self? Its about conforming. About being like everyone else to be accepted.
Don’t get me wrong. I would always advocate for the value of aligning common principles and behaviours as a cultural golden thread. But this isn’t ‘fit’.
It’s more about enabling people to feel a sense of belonging. Of being a part of something. Of being celebrated for who you are and what you bring.
So I always advise you change a fit mindset to a belonging mindset. And ensure your people practices reflect it.
Treat People how they need to be treated.
It’s a common leadership phrase –‘treat people how you would want to be treated’. Often referred to as the universal golden rule.
And in my experience a common leadership myth.
We often talk about our work as systems. A linked-up group of partners with commonly shared purposes seeking to collectively make a difference on some of our biggest societal challenges. But systems aren’t inorganic objects. They are made up of people. And our people are individuals. Made up of their own values, histories, experiences, preferences and needs. And that’s before you layer on personal skills, competencies and behaviours. We are all unique. And our differences matter.
So naturally what you need isn’t necessarily what the next person needs. Needs aren’t universally the same.
The golden rule premise obviously has good intentions. It means you’re more likely to show respect, be empathetic and be respectful to people. But it doesn’t necessarily mean you will connect with them.
Being a leader means looking through the lens of what your people need and acting upon that. People planning therefore isn’t just about what does your organisation need from its people, but what do your people need from the organisation? It’s about getting to grips with and responding to what makes each other tick. It’s a relationship which, when fully understood, helps everyone become more connected, engaged and effective.
Talent does not outweigh everything else.
I’ve often heard leaders say about people in their organisation ‘oh they’re a nightmare with people but brilliant at their job”. Wait… hang on !?! Isn’t being at the very least good at working with people is a fundamental of everyone’s job? Not a cherry on the cake?
We can probably think of people we’ve worked with whose poor attitude to team members or weak leadership skills is overlooked if they are brilliant at sales or ideas generation or, or, or…
Netflix call them ‘brilliant jerks’. The New Zealand All Blacks simply refer to them as ‘D***heads’. But they are both good examples of teams saying we don’t want them.
Because good behaviours trumps skill every time.
(Of course, having no skill but good behaviours doesn’t work either but that one is easier to deal with!).
The willing and able matrix helps here.
Hershey and Blanchard’s work and situational leadership model emphasised a need to adapt people leadership approaches to the needs of the individual.
I use this adapted matrix frequently to ensure leaders understand the people matters they are dealing with and manage them accordingly.
A brilliant jerk – someone who is very able but not willing – needs to be inspired to understand why their skillset is not alone enough. If inspiring them doesn’t work they quickly shift into the not willing and not able quadrant and require direct management – no matter how senior they are or critical their role is.
It’s a bold call to remove a high performer but it can be like switching a light on, or turning off the pressure value, for others who can feel happier, more connected, motivated and able to shine.
And importantly it reinforces how you committed you are to your people plans and core values.
And finally…
People leadership is a lot like gardening.
Slightly left field I know.
But since my early days of supporting developing managers I’ve often used analogies of people as plants to build understanding. And its stuck with me.
There are the obvious parallels like they’re both about growth and planting seeds to see results.
But I’ve stuck with the analogy because I think it helps dispel a common myth about people leadership.
I hear often that someone made a wrong recruitment decision. Or someone just didn’t ‘fit’.
My challenge back is this – if you have a plant that dies in your garden or house you didn’t buy it like that. No one ever buys a dying plant. You buy the healthy, green, watered kind. And you take it home with every best intention (no matter how un-green fingered you are) to nurture it to live a long, healthy life in your care.
If it then wilts or dies it’s does so for a reason. Either its not getting enough sunlight. Or it’s getting too much. Or it isn’t being fed and watered properly. Or needs re-potting. Or moved away from other plants. Or it isn’t being pruned. Or maybe isn’t being talked to!
You get the point.
For me the same applies to people.
Every recruitment decision is based on a belief they are right for the role at the time. So when it isn’t working out, or someone isn’t thriving the same thinking
can be applied.
Did we use the right processes? Were we clear with our needs? Are they in the right role? With the right team? Have they had sufficient training and development? Have they outgrown their role? Are they getting sufficient attention? Do they need poor behaviours to be removed? Are they being praised? Are we responding to their needs?
Of course, it doesn’t mean that some relationships aren’t salvable. Sometimes that repotting process might need to take place elsewhere! But looking at it through this lens can help ensure we don’t ignore needs.
Someone once responded to my analogy with the line ‘great leaders carry a watering can at all times’ which I liked !