Leading a supportive, winning culture
Building a winning team is based on the foundation of a supportive work culture.
Leading successful teams now more than ever requires the right combination of proven work experience to be able to lead and help others in your field and more importantly, the right mindset and leadership skills to know how to challenge directly while caring personally as Kim Scott explains in one of my favourite career books from all time, “Radical Candor”.
As a digital leader navigating this dynamic and fast-paced space, I've learned from many other great product and people leaders who go above and beyond empowering others with transparency, clarity, open communication, regular performance feedback, kindness, and respect for all kinds of diversity. Let’s dive into key learnings of effective leadership that I’ve seen first-hand at the workplace.
The First Door to Success: Insights-Driven and Unbiased Decision Making.
As a leader, it's crucial to foster a culture where data-driven insights are not just valued but integrated into every aspect of the decision-making process. Regularly analyzing important data, market trends, and performance metrics to make informed decisions aligned with the goals of your product and organization is a sound recipe to avoid falling into the silent tramps of unconscious bias at work (e.g. anchoring, contrast effect, halo effect, confirmation, and intuition just to name a few!).
Consider a scenario where a digital product team is optimizing a digital journey. By leveraging KPIs and user research, the team identifies areas for improvement in user engagement to simplify the journey and accelerate funnel conversion. With the right data in hand, and user experience insights, the team is empowered to create a successful product without cutting corners, instead of driving decisions based on unverified hypothesis, or intuition bias.
Sound Strategy: Clarity from the Get-Go.
Now more than ever, digital teams are in dire need of clear strategic communication from their leadership team to use as the compass guiding their self-organized work and team effort. Leaders are responsible for establishing and communicating a clear vision, setting measurable goals, and aligning the action plan with the overarching objectives and goals of the organization. This type of leadership support in action is vital to knowing where to focus the team’s effort to avoid waste and contribute to the broader success of the organization through optimal digital customer experience.
Imagine leading a team through the launch of a new product feature. A well-defined strategy grounded in the understanding of real user needs can help ensure that the team's efforts are purposeful and effective. The strategic clarity from leadership minimizes any risk probability of silently going off course, especially in a fast-paced work environment.
The Fearless Leader: Genuine Human Interest in Developing Other Leaders.
In addition to focusing on the success of their portfolio, great leaders invest time and the right energy in further developing their team members. Fostering a culture of continuous learning while challenging directly with genuine interest and human empathy creates a rich atmosphere where people feel seen, heard, and appreciated. Great leaders know how to use their own life and work experience, or wisdom to better coach and mentor others for the collective benefit of all. Recognizing that each individual brings a unique set of strengths, experiences, and personal passions makes great teams have fun at work while staying efficient at delivering a stronger product, or customer experience with each Agile release.
Consider a scenario where a team member expresses interest in transitioning from a technical role into a more strategic position. As a leader, providing mentorship, relevant resources, and exposure of this person to strategic decision-making can help and empower that individual to grow and develop those areas needed to achieve new career goals and make valuable, exciting contributions to the team.
Culturally Diverse Workplaces: The “D” in DEI is Also for “Diligent”.
Effective collaboration is the cornerstone of successful teams, especially in large, culturally diverse workplaces. Foster an environment where open, respectful communication is lived and encouraged and you will see every team member feel heard, and valued. Embracing diverse perspectives, and recognizing that differences in thought, opinions, and beliefs can lead to innovation in the workplace is generally a good sign of strong leadership.
In a culturally diverse team, strong leaders help to build bridges of human understanding. Establishing clear communication channels and encouraging team members to express their thoughts within a safe work environment, creates a culture of transparent collaboration in which leaders not only harness the collective intelligence of a diverse team but foster an inclusive work environment to thrive as one unit.
The Mark of Strong Leadership: Selfless Human Connection.
Constructive direction, genuine conversations, and timely performance feedback delivered well through empathy, encourage team members to push boundaries and strive for operational excellence.
Picture a scenario where a team's performance is falling short of expectations. Instead of avoiding a hard conversation, strong leaders know how to properly challenge their team directly with empathy and address concerns constructively. This approach when used well helps address the issue(s) promptly setting a solid stage for collaborative human problem-solving.
Effective leaders know how to purposefully embrace data-driven decision-making, articulate clear strategy, prioritize coaching and career development support fostering transparent collaboration in a diverse workplace. They challenge directly with human kindness and respect demonstrating genuine interest in the growth of their team members. Integrate these principles into your leadership style and you are set to navigate the complexities of a modern world driven by technology with a humanized approach.
Until the next one!
Juanita