Leading Teams in Business
According to entrepreneur Alexander Djerassi, in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, people often feel rushed from one project to the next. They’re also facing more and more pressure to deliver results as fast as possible.
Commitment
Part of the importance of committing to something comes from the fact that you have to want to do it in the first place. If you don’t want to do something, it will not happen. It’s easy to get bogged down at the moment and forget about the long-term. If you don’t want to lead a certain way, don’t. It might feel counterintuitive, but it’s true. When it comes to taking on leadership roles, there is a fine line between wanting to lead and having the skills to lead. If you have the skills to lead, but don’t want the responsibility, then there’s no sense in trying to lead. However, if you have the skills to lead, but don’t want the responsibility, then there’s a good chance you have what it takes to be a great manager.
Flexibility and adaptability
Being flexible and adaptable is an important trait for any leader. As a manager, you’re likely to be dealing with a wide range of situations every day. You may have to deal with inflexible people, impatient customers, and tight timelines. Flexibility is key when managing teams because it allows leaders to respond flexibly to any situation. It also allows managers to step back and look at the big picture rather than get bogged down in each project’s nitty-gritty.
Effective relationship-building
One of the most important skills a leader has is building relationships with their team members. This is perhaps the most important skill for managers, as relationships drive success in business. If you don’t know how to build relationships with your team members, you will likely deal with unresponsive, stubborn, and argumentative people.
Managers need to establish strong relationships with their team members, and these need to be based on mutual respect and a “we’re in this together” mentality.
Distinguishing between leader and manager
Some people will tell you that the only difference between a leader and a manager is that the latter leads. While this may be true in some situations, the fact remains that leaders require managers. You need to lead the team’s day-to-day operations if you’re a manager. They need to be able to make quick and easy decisions, set expectations for their team members, and keep the team on track with its goals. They also need to delegate responsibilities effectively and maintain strong control over their team.
Privilege-based role-relevance
Most teams have at least one leader who is vastly more experienced than the rest of the team members. This may be the owner, the marketing person, the engineer, the designer, or a product owner. If the team comprises people with different roles, team members will likely do the best and most creative work without direct intervention.
This might sound great in theory, but in reality, most teams will have a leader who doesn’t know how to delegate effectively and is dealing with burnout. If the owner has to micromanage every aspect of the business, then the marketing team may never produce the types of results that the business wants to see. Similarly, if the engineer is spending all his time playing around with new tech ideas rather than implementing the ones the company is working on, then the overall product won’t be as good as it could be.
Be a role model
As a manager, you have the opportunity to set an example for your team members and the organization as a whole. You can show them how things should be done and model the behaviors you expect from yourself.
You can do this by being careful and deliberate with your decisions. Make sure you have the facts straight before making a decision. Ask others who have experience in the field about their experiences and take notes. Pick a project or two that you’re excited about and look to lead by example.
According to entrepreneur Alexander Djerassi, to be successful in business, you must find a way to be a better leader and manager.