Are you and your team hungry for the same thing?
It seems an obvious question. Sadly, it’s surprisingly common for leaders to have different objectives from their team members..
It’s useful to think of targets as prey. Something you want to catch. Something you’re hungry for.
An effective team works like a pack of hunters – cooperating and support each other to catch their prey. The same objective. Doing what each individual couldn’t do on their own.
An ineffective team doesn’t hunt as a pack but each individual hunts on their own. Not a team at all, maybe a coalition.
To hunt the same prey you have to hunger for the same things.
The leader’s job is to ensure everyone is hungry for the same thing, not just assume they’ll follow what the leader says. Hungry for what the leader knows the objective should be.
What makes you think that your team wants what you want? That they’re hungry for what you’re hungry for?
One common example is the illusion of numbers. For operating teams, numbers on a screen aren’t the real business they experience. In most organizations, numbers are an abstract representation of what’s really happening.
Setting numeric targets separated from the reality of what’s happening can be dangerous if the target setters are thinking in a different dimension to the target achievers. Even worse if they don’t understand or respect the achievers.
A team that has a task to achieve will, hopefully, immerse themselves in that task. Whilst the task of measuring them is valuable and important, those numbers don’t replace the task.
“think of targets.. as something you’re hungry for…”
Setting targets without connecting them to the tasks they represent is the no different from setting different targets…
Setting targets when you don’t understand some details of the team’s work is hierarchy, not effective leadership.
When a team fails to meet an unrealistic target – is it a team failure or a leadership failure?
How much time do you spend aligning targets?
How often do you override your team’s targets because they’re too soft? Or do you ever just decide for them without consulting?
How much time do you spend listening to their problems?
How often do you find your team isn’t as motivated as you’d like to reach the objectives you set them?
Remember it’s the leader’s job to make sure the team is aligned.
Teams can achieve great things when they’re hungry for the same things.
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