A team member was struggling in her current work environment
She was transitioning from one role to another
She turned it around in a few weeks and here is HOW she did it
We met one evening, and she broke down, she was anxious, sleep-deprived and on the verge of losing her self-belief; the biggest question on her mind was ‘Will I be ever able to work this out?’
We explored a bit deeper and I asked her 2 simple questions
– Do you know how your peers are adding value at work/projects? What role do they play and how a leader enables them?
– Do you know what to expect from your leader; given your context
Not to my surprise, she answered NO to both questions
That’s where her quest to find the answers started, we identified a set of peers and other managers she should learn from; she found the following insights
1. Good managers ADAPT to their team members’ needs, and stage of the journey – expecting every team member to deliver the same way is sub-optimal
2. Good managers stretch you to set new limits BUT they truly EMPATHIZE with your journey AND DON’T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED
3. Her peers were defining their role AND a semblance of ‘what good looks like?’ on a constant basis with their leaders to avoid any mismatch in expectations
She is actively solving for #3 through periodic problem solving, alignment on deliverables which is also helping her address #1 (her manager’s behavior is also shifting)
We met again, she told me that she found her peers also went through similar phases, she believes she has a direction on how can she solve, feels engaged, and is determined to deliver her best. I am so proud of her – it indeed is not an easy task
If you are struggling at work, find out how others are solving it; you will get solutions around you
Many times, we don’t know what we should expect from our leaders
#yesyoucan #leadership #inclusiveleadership #adaptiveleadership #mentalhealth