Dec 1, 2023
Summary
Leadership is about achieving results through people.
With the demands of managing people, it can be easy to lose sight
of results we need to achieve and deliver. In this episode we
explore how to drive for results.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to episode 212 of the Leadership
Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve
your leadership. This week we explore how to drive for results.
Leadership is about achieving results through people.
With the demands of managing people, it can be easy to lose sight
of results we need to achieve and deliver. We can become distracted
or even become unaware of the key outcomes expected, and therefore
not provide the direction, feedback and support our people need to
achieve the right results. We have all seen leaders that fail to
deliver. People are left wondering what they’re spending their time
on, given the shortfalls in performance for them and their team.
But there are practical things we can do to help us and our teams
to drive for results.
- Determine what results matter. There are many
potential things you and your team could focus on, so it’s crucial
to uncover the fewest most crucial results. This should involve
consultation with your manager and other key stakeholders. Try to
arrive at results that reflect a range of aspects of your work. For
example, rather than just focusing on financial returns, you might
also include customer satisfaction metrics. Otherwise we can risk
chasing short-term results that lead to longer-term issues.
- Link results to purpose. Results by themselves
don’t provide meaning. Take the time to link results to a broader
purpose. This will likely include the vision and purpose of your
organisation. It’s also worth helping individuals and teams link
the results of their work to things that matter to them personally.
Your team members might engage with their work for very different
reasons to you and your manager.
- Communicate clear measures and targets. These
should be shared and discussed with your team, but also with others
within the organisation including your manager. You may need your
manager to sign these targets off first so you should factor this
additional time into your planning. It’s best to capture these in
writing to ensure clarity and agreement.
- Talk about the “how” not just the “what”. There’s
no point chasing after results and causing damage to others and the
business along the way. How we achieve results is just as important
as the results themselves. You should encourage people to reflect
on the organisation’s values and team commitments that encourage
people to work collectively towards shared outcomes.
- Undertake regular updates and check-ins. Research
suggests that making results visible and freely available helps
people to drive towards these metrics. A literal scoreboard can
help, particularly where people can see the change in results from
week to week. For dispersed teams, there are plenty of tools that
allow you to share results through the collaboration platforms you
already use.
- Focus on continuous improvement. If we use a
driving analogy, a car has a number of forces operating on it
including acceleration, momentum and friction. We want to find ways
to gradually accelerate our performance, adding to our momentum and
reducing the friction of things that hold us back. It can help to
frame a discussion with your team in these terms - what’s taking us
forward, what’s keeping us stable, and what’s holding us back.
- Celebrate efforts and outcomes. Some people prefer
to be recognised for their efforts, while others prefer to be
praised for their outcomes. It’s helpful to see both areas of
recognition as important. Sometimes people do all the right things
but the results just don’t come together for reasons outside of
their control - we should celebrate this. Equally, we shouldn’t be
shy about celebrating great outcomes when people have reached or
exceed the targets that we have set.
Achievement drive is a common feature of effective
teams and individuals. We can help our teams to establish and chase
after purpose-filled results, providing feedback, support and
encouragement along the way.
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