Manager on an Island

Here I was again.

I was walking into a leadership position where the situation was a mess. The team was underperforming, the micro-culture was horrible, and there was a lot of finger-pointing on offer.

My brief was to improve performance.

I was the new guy — again. The feeling about the outgoing leader was reasonably positive, particularly among the high performers. They were receiving top pay and were concerned about maintaining their status.

I was the outsider — again. Sent from a far-away land. An outsider with “no clue” how things worked here. Everyone knew this teams’ work was very different from any other district. It was harder to be successful here. There were many reasons (aka excuses) to rationalize the poor performance.

I was a man on an island. The island was surrounded by sharks.

I’d been here before. Not on this particular island, but islands very similar to it.

The sharks were exactly the same.

Setting the Table

I read many books on leadership and queried many mentors about handling this problematic type of situation best. The books and the advice were all well-meaning and slightly helpful. Yet, early on, I struggled. After several uncomfortable engagements, I finally landed on a process that works best for me. Nothing is fool-proof, but this process has generated the best results for me.

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of the process, let's cover a couple of essential thoughts.

First, recognize that the biggest issue is trust. Great teams do not abide in a trust-less milieu. It’s like trying to find an engineer at a disco or hot yoga. It just ain’t gonna happen.

Second, understand that trust builds typically over time. Time is usually in short supply in these situations, and speedy improvement is required.

Third, you must be an inherently trustworthy person. This process will help build trust quickly, but only if your trustworthiness is authentic. This process accelerates the team's understanding that you are indeed a person who is deserving of their trust.

The Trust Building Process:

Day 1: As you introduce yourself, make sure that you share your personal Key Leadership Values. These are the qualities you would like to be remembered for when you retire. Fairness and honesty make an appearance on most lists, but these values must be important to you.

Keep the list small, 5–7 items max.

Day 1 -> 30: Schedule a weekly 1:1 with all your direct reports, peers, and other key individuals. Discuss your desire to support them, help the team perform well, and demonstrate your commitment to your leadership values. Ask for feedback on your performance. You might not receive many comments since you are still new, but the simple act of asking will set the stage for what comes next.

Day 30-45: Send out a brief survey asking the team to rate your performance on each of your Key Leadership Values. Ensure that the survey is anonymous and, as best you can, that 100% of those surveyed submit responses. Don’t be afraid to be a nudge. Reminders reinforce your desire for feedback.

Analyze the results and highlight the 2 or 3 values you scored lowest. Let the team know that you will be working to progress on those over the next 90 days.

Publish the results as soon as possible.

Day 45–90: Schedule a 1:1 with each of the respondents. Leave 10–15 minutes to discuss survey results. Referring only to the values you are working on, ask for their suggestion on what you can do to improve your performance.

For example:

“The survey results indicate I need to get better at being transparent. What do you suggest I do to be more transparent?”

Explain that your goal is to be the best manager possible. Please don’t talk about their individual survey responses. Don’t be defensive. Don’t interrupt.

Do take notes. Do be quiet; this is the time to work on your active listening skills!

When you have covered each of the values you are working on, say “Thank You.” Less is definitely more in this situation. Any additional discussion detracts from the moment.

After completing your 1:1’s, review your notes for themes. There will usually be a couple. Again, do not feel defensive. Low marks may result from baggage leftover from previous managers or situations that occurred before your arrival. The evaluation may not be fair, but you need to know how the team feels. How they feel is real. Whether it was caused by you or not, it is your job to fix it.

Select two or three suggestions intended to improve your performance on your lowest scoring values. This is your Leadership Improvement Action Plan.

Day 90-ish: During a meeting when the entire team is assembled (Off-sites work well), Review your Leadership Improvement Action Plan with the team. A humble posture works best. Remind all that the team informed this plan and commit to following it.

Thank the team.

Share monthly progress reports and do what you said you were going to do! This should be a brief email specific to the Leadership Improvement Action Plan. Don’t digress, don’t elaborate, and certainly do not make excuses. Please keep it simple. I committed to doing X, and I have completed Y.

Reaping the Rewards

Faithfully following the process above will make you the proud recipient of the following benefits:

You will build trust: Your team will appreciate that their input into your performance was valued and acted upon. You are demonstrating that it is safe to give and receive feedback in your organization. Feedback is a gift for those that want to improve.

You will set the stage for productive performance discussions: Humility is the most endearing leadership quality. You can be pretty confident that since the team performs poorly, there will be some challenging discussions on your calendar. By demonstrating that you can handle negative feedback with grace, you can anticipate others a similar response from most others.

You will build leadership credibility: It is unlikely that a poor-performing team won’t need some adjustments. There may be great employees sitting in the wrong seat. There may be a culture killer or two. Regardless of the results of your fact finding, changes will make some uncomfortable. Leading a team through change is difficult in the best of situations. The trust and credibility you have just earned will significantly increase your probability of success.

My suggestion is to repeat this process once or twice a year.

Remember that highly effective leaders are less concerned about crossing the finish line and more concerned about who they bring with them.

If you want to bring your team across the finish line (and you should), take the time to earn their trust and build leadership credibility.

You can do it!

I hope this is helpful. If you would like to continue the discussion, please reach out to me at chris@ajito.io.