When you do your team’s work for them, rather than guiding them and allowing them to grow, no one wins.
Martin G. Moore, founder, Your CEO Mentor, author & podcast host
…Rather than growing as a leader, you will likely become trapped in a spiral of high workload and diminishing returns.
Takeaways of Note:
3 steps to set yourself, and your team, up for success
Don’t play the game, keep the score — you’re the coach, not the captain; set clear expectations, communicate who is accountable for them, and provide tools needed to succeed
Ask the right questions — When someone comes with a problem, ask searching questions to prompt solutions (What’s core issue? Alternative approaches? What could be sacrificed without detracting from project value?)
Think about your future — goal isn’t to make self indispensable to team, it’s to make self redundant; build a team that can function without you, then go to next level & build another one. …be a leader, not just a doer
Bonus Nuggets
“When someone on your team isn’t delivering the results you want to see, your role is to support, encourage, and motivate them to do their job — to ensure they have adequate resources, sufficient training, and that they’re protected from the vagaries of organizational politics that often derail good people. This work involves spending a significant amount of one-on-one time with each of your direct reports, teaching them, and reinforcing your expectations around behavior and performance standards…. If you think that sounds arduous, you’re right.”
“Being a hero by giving an extra 10% of your own effort is noble, but nowhere near as effective as working out how to get an extra 10% out of every individual you lead.”