By: Ann Logan, Director of Executive Development at Edward Jones Recently I came to an inflection point in my career. Opportunities and new roles were revealed that led me to deep reflection on the role that being a formal leader has on my identity. I began to question. “How would it feel to not have formal leadership responsibilities?” While I envisioned some pluses (maybe aligned to year end processes), ultimately it led me to a powerful conclusion: Leading others is a passion and I wasn’t willing to give it up. The question is WHY? Leadership is hard. In my almost 20 years of leading others, I have had some wins, losses and conversations I’d like to take back to do over. But to me the hard doesn’t come close to the joys and celebrations in seeing others grow, reach their potential and be better colleagues, leaders and people. Through this reflection, I started to think about my biggest lessons (as a leader and by being led by some great leaders). These three lessons have made me the leader I am today and the leader I will be tomorrow, as we are always evolving. Vulnerability is Strength: I pride myself in being composed. I don’t easily get rattled and stay pretty even-keeled. As I started my leadership journey 20 years ago, I thought this was a good thing. As I grew in my career, I started to receive feedback that my even-keeled composure at times had a negative impact on my directs. I initially was perplexed by this feedback. What about the “never let them see you sweat” mantra? After reflecting on the feedback and asking some questions, I learned it was because my team wanted to see my emotional range— what made me frustrated and what got me excited. It allowed them to connect with me and know it’s ok to show emotion. It was a pivotal point in helping me see that vulnerability is a strength in leadership. It wasn’t easy as I had to change some of my natural tendencies but I pushed myself to learn from the feedback. “Clear is Kind. Unclear is Unkind.” I think Brené Brown has said it best. Some of the best leaders I have had set clear expectations, gave candid, honest feedback and were transparent in ways that other leaders had not been. It’s easy, or atleast it was for me early in my leadership journey, to get caught up in not wanting to hurt feelings, to want my team to like me or want to keep the peace on a team. I’ve learned there is an AND. You can be honest, provide candid feedback, set clear expectations AND not hurt feelings AND create a safe, engaging environment. Articulating the behavior you observed, the impact it has had on a situation and what success could look like is clear and kind. I have found that even when some of the tough messages are hard to hear, the individuals value the clarity, especially when it is consistent. We all have our own journeys. Our journeys will only be a growth-journeys if we spend the time learning. A few tips to get started: Reflect: At the end of the week or month, ask yourself: How have I helped my team move forward this week? What specific actions did I take that drove this impact? How might I have gotten in their way? What feedback could I provide that could positively impact someone’s growth? Ask your team for feedback: What is something you want me to start doing to be a better leader for you? What is something you want me to stop doing? What is something I should continue to do as your leader? I know not everyone will be honest. In my career, I’ve had a few leaders where I guarantee I would not have been honest because I didn’t think it was safe to be honest. This is where my final lesson comes in: Psychologically Safe Teams Drive Results: So much of what I mentioned above requires psychological safety, a concept identified by Amy Edmondson. It’s when teams feel it’s ok to speak up, admit mistakes and take risks. It’s our role as leaders to create the environment where our teams can answer the above questions without worry or risk of negative impact. As a leader, we play a critical part in role-modeling and setting expectations of behavior that drives this safety. In order to drive psychological safety, we need to truly listen to what is being said, ask questions and be curious to understand perspectives, thank individuals for their honesty and most importantly, through our actions show we are listening and considering their voice. We all will make mistakes on our journey. It’s these mistakes that will catapult our learning and it’s our vulnerability in sharing our own mistakes where you and others will grow.
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