WHEN I was interviewing someone over the phone for a graphics designer post some time ago, I was pleasantly surprised that he ticked all the boxes for what we were looking for. After weeks of interviewing candidates and browsing through their portfolio, I was set on getting this one. And when he turned up for a face-to-face panel interview, I was mildly shocked to see him. He had tattoos on both arms and some were peeking through his shirt collar, and he sported long hair which was combed neatly—which I thought at that time did not go well with everything. He turned out to be one of the most creative and innovative people in my team.
Seeing the best in people does not come naturally to most people managers. Being in a leadership position weighs heavily on them because management expects them to not just meet expectations but exceed them. And it takes a toll on people managers when results are not forthcoming, or when deadlines loom ahead. Ironically, it is during these times when your team instinctively looks to you for support and encouragement. And your attitude toward them will dictate whether they will push themselves harder to meet target goals, or just do the bare minimum of what they are told. Or, worse, leave you doing all the work.
So how do you break through what you see and inspire people to go beyond what is required? The answer lies in how willing you are to stop seeing the present and paint for them what could be.
First thing you need to do is to understand your people first. Know where they are at the moment and create a blueprint for a realistic future for them. Knowing your team members will help you appraise them so you know when to push or pull. Focus on what people can do well and use their strengths as the foundation building up to what they could possibly be. Empathy is the hallmark of a good leader. You have no business being a leader if you have no empathy. The bottomline is that you manage people and not statistics or numbers. So if you think your business comes first before the people, you will constantly find yourself struggling to get support or inspiring confidence.
Once you become familiar with individual members of your team, set parameters for success. Your team needs to know what success looks like so they know they have already achieved it. And when they do commit mistakes, which are bound to happen, suspend judgment. You have to try to understand why it happened and move beyond the mistake and trust they have learned their lesson. People need to believe someone believes in them. Be that person. People do change when you change your attitude toward them.
And to minimize mistakes, coach and give feedback as much and as frequently as you can without pushing the person up the wall. How much is too much will depend on the person you are talking to. This is not micromanaging. It becomes micromanaging when you constantly hover and tell them what to do exactly as you want it. No, this is to provide something of a scaffolding so they can build themselves up as you gradually let go and trust them. This also ensures they fully grasp what is expected of them, and that you have provided the needed tools and guidance in accomplishing their tasks. So, be as clear in your directions as you can, and give detailed instructions as you can.
As the team leader, provide a safe environment for people to take risks. Have their back. Do not be the first one to throw your own team under the bus. When your team commits a mistake in front of other people, do not reprimand them publicly just to save face. Do it in confidence. They already know they dropped the ball but they do not have to get the fifth degree from you. Chastise them but do not dwell on their mistakes. What they need from you right then is a game plan on how to get back up. Inspire confidence by trusting them to right what was wrong and proving they are better than themselves.
Move beyond your bias—talented people can come in different packages. People have their own life stories and are the products of their own experiences. This does not excuse bad behavior. It helps you understand where they are coming from and provides you an insight into their motivations. When that graphic designer became part of my team, his tattoos actually became an opening for a conversation which helped me know him better. Looking back, we were a bunch of different personalities and temperaments but we worked well as a team. It ultimately came down to valuing people’s contributions to the bottom line and the respect for each other’s personal expression.
Another way of bringing out the best in people is to encourage them and be present. Nothing inspires self-confidence more than a leader who is supportive, decisive, and with his team whenever he is needed. Praise publicly and do it whenever the team achieves a milestone. And if you work with other people from other departments, put in a good word to their supervisor. Just because they belong to another team does not mean you cannot inspire them. If they did a good job, tell them. You lose nothing but gain an ally later on when you need their help again.
And, most importantly, catch people doing good. People managers have the burden of ensuring their team works in tip-top shape all the time and can easily fall into the trap of pointing out every little mistake they see. This is counterproductive because people will be trapped in the mindset of doing only as instructed. This kills innovation and creative thinking. But when you applaud and publicly praise successful risks, people are more inclined to expend more discretionary effort to succeed. And when you acknowledge their efforts even if they do not succeed, you propagate a growth mindset where people are more resilient and tenacious in achieving the team’s goals.
An influential teacher by the name of Onofre R. Pagsanghan, fondly called Pagsi by those who know him, once spoke to us when I was still a teacher.
He told us that the most important thing students need to know about us is that we believe in their potential and their capacity for doing good. I guess I carried that when I moved to corporate and started handling people. The principles in teaching and leading are similar—if you do not believe in the potential and capacity of the people you are leading, they will invariably fail. Leading and teaching are about making people believe that they can be something better than what they can see right now. And as their leader, it all starts with believing the best in them.