One of the keynote speeches I deliver is a message for the C-Suite to engage quicker, deeper and more effectively with their middle managers.
CEO’s tell me they want their middle managers to simply get on with it. They trust them, and obviously want them to triumph. As a CEO, I wanted the same for my middle management. “Because anything less than that is a waste of our time.”, so says Erin Brockovich!
But these wants won’t lead to productivity, performance or profit gains if they are not backed up with, amongst other things, explicit permission, feedback and clear expectations.
In the presentation – LIFT THEM TO LEAD – UNLEASHING THE POWER OF YOUR B-SUITE – I show how the C-Suite can truly engage their middle management so that together they work as one A-Team! But the lessons apply at all levels. When the C-Suite and the B-Suite work as one team they lead the organisation with clarity of purpose, conviction in the mission and vision, and strength in mutual support. A true A-Team.
As a middle manager, when you lift your team leaders and frontline they too will deliver more without jeopardising morale and turnover.
When a team doesn’t work as one, there’s a pull towards over complication and under communication that leaves the organisation slipping in its competitive advantage, low engagement scores and high unnecessary costs.
In the presentation I share how to unleash and leverage the best of your middle management team. Leading people and strengthening teams can be challenging at times, and there’s no magic trick, it takes effort and focus and the three Ts.
- Trust
- Try
- Triumph
Trust
Trust is fundamental for leading any team, so learning and applying the key elements of trust means the team is more cohesive and agile. When trust flows in all directions, change is less stressful and opportunities are more easily embraced and successful.
Try
Encouraging team members to step up, to have a go, to speak up, to delegate is only part the way there. Many people struggle with problem identification, problem solving and decision making; are not truly sure that encouragement equates to actual permission due to mixed messages; and in many environments failure is simply not tolerated and therefore trialing, creating, innovating, ideating is stifled.
When your team are truly equipped to make quality agile decisions, you and other executives no longer have to feel like they are wading in the weeds, suffer decision fatigue, or lack time to be a strategic thinker.
Triumph
With Gallup’s reporting of the lowest engagement scores and worker’s stress being at a global all-time high, it’s critical to define what success looks like; prioritise core business to eliminate the shiny squirrel chasing; and genuinely celebrate the wins.
In a recent 4 month self-leadership program, every participant calculated the return on investment (ROI) of their own participation. While the unprecedented results of a 260+ to 1 return demonstrates the value of the program, each participant gained much greater confidence in their capability, increased productivity and engagement as well as.
Celebrating triumphs with clear ROIs and moments of acknowledgement and recognition yield huge tangible and intangible returns.
When the leader and their team have trust, permission to try and a culture of celebrating triumphs they lead their organisation as one invincible team.
I’d love to know what you think.
I appreciate you
