Ever have the feeling that you are making it up as you go along when it comes to leading your team? Getting everyone on the same page and working to their potential usually isn’t as simple as it should be. You’ve learned a lot along the way and done a great job of filling the gaps, training your people. But you’ve been more reactive than deliberate in the way you’ve managed things so far.
You have likely had sleepless nights because of people problems, such as
- performance issues;
- team conflict;
- people who don’t want to get on board with new ideas;
- personal issues you want to support but need to balance with what the business needs; Or
- those issues you can put your finger on….people are just not working out quite like you thought and you’re not sure where to go from here.
You know there are things you could probably deal with better, but you’re busy. You may put off uncomfortable or difficult conversations because you are worried about what will come from them. Sometimes it’s just easier to come up with work arounds or do things yourself.
Even where you do invest time in training, coaching and developing your people, sometimes they just don’t seem to get it. You spend so much of your time solving problems, making decisions and answering questions, which creates multiple interruptions in your day.
You find yourself in a situation where you have a team of people but the business couldn’t run without you. You’re still carrying a big mental load and you’re being pulled into the business more than you want to.
You may feel the issue is that your team don’t do what you tell them to do. But actually, you know deep down that what would really make the difference is if you’re people knew what you wanted them to do without you having to tell them.
This is not a utopian vision. Having a People Plan in place which gives you a structured way of supporting and working with your team can help you make that shift you’re looking for towards engaged and empowered team members who are actively contributing to your business.
