Leading from the middle (Functionality)

Have you ever been at work and you felt like you were stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand you have a boss that you wanna make sure you do everything he’s asking you to do and then on the other hand you have a team of people who are frustrated with what you are asked to do. And so you’re trying to navigate leadership and team members to make sure that the work is done properly. And there are moments that you agree with your team that you’re leading but recognize that you still have to follow authority. Then there are times the team doesn't have a full understanding of why you are working the way you are for their benefit. O let me give you a few suggestions that I think will help you to navigate this space very very well.

The first thing you need to do is be very clear about what both parties need done. Now I know what you're thinking, the boss is the one who wants everything done so we should just follow what he says. But you need to take into account that work can actually still get done but you may have to make adjustments for the betterment of your team. The goal here is not for anyone to be right but to make sure the work gets done right. And sometimes that can come in different methods. So take the time to ask clarifying questions with your boss about how he wants the work done and what areas that you can change that would be beneficial to the team to take less of a burden off of them. 

The second thing you need to do is clearly communicate to your team why you do work a certain way. There will be the occasional person who will just say I just don't like it to do it that way and you can easily just let them go because they just want to be right. Those are the type of people you don't need on your team. But for the rest of the people on the team, be so clear and encouraging that they don't mind doing the work because they know what the benefit of it is for them , accomplishing the goal with the least amount of frustration possible. And I'm going to say something that a lot of people don't do enough to be redundant with your team so that they can really get it in their thought process why we are doing it this way. Because saying it once is not enough. 

And the last thing you need to do is make sure when the work is done that you spend a lot of time encouraging your team and relaying it to the boss about a job well done. Too many times when we work a job people do not encourage everyone on the team and when you're in the middle your main responsibility is to make sure that there is cohesiveness in that team. Your job is to bring alignment that means that everybody is on the same page, going in the right direction, and being properly rewarded for the work that's being done. 

Now let me be clear there is way more information I could give you from being in the middle but let's just start there. The biggest thing we want to focus right now on is the mindset of how we lead. So let me reiterate the goal is to get what the boss wants done but open enough communication with him or her that you are able to make adjustments that fit the needs of the team. And with your team you want to make sure you have constant communication and encouragement so they don't feel like they're doing work that is meaningless and not encouraging to them. Because whether we like it or not, this generation of employees today or team members today will not work with you just because you're giving them a paycheck. They have to be able to buy into the vision and you have to be willing to love them well as they help you fulfill it.