Oftentimes I get frustrated that systems and people are not behaving the way they should. I sense that what is going on around me is not right and that it should be better. This is a gut instinct; when it gets triggered too often, I find myself disconcerted and perhaps even grumpy. So I push, then push harder. Here is a troubling question.
What happens when everyone responds, shows up, and starts working at or above the level that you expected?
This is when you get precisely what you asked for, and many times it is more than you bargained for. You find out that you were writing checks that you now have to cash. This is when you find out what you are really capable of. Were you all talk, or can you back up the blustery ego you were flashing about?
Having been in this situation many times, I can tell you a few things you should avoid, and one thing you can do to keep up the pace.
First, this is not a good time to cut people down or get mad at them for being autonomous and getting things done. Their heightened performance and aggressiveness means there are going to be more mistakes. Some managers will take these mistakes as an opportunity to swoop in and show their value by being critical. They will also get frustrated because the employees did not seek their approval first. This is absolutely the wrong thing to do. Teams that are learning to move faster and work at a high productivity level are learning the value of the constant push, and you do not want them looking over their shoulder. This is a valuable time in the genesis of a team. They start to go fast, decide fast, and win more than they lose; they are still going to lose now and then. That is okay. You do not need to be in control of every decision. Your attempts to control everything are simply a way to appear as if you are managing everything.
When you are leading a highly productive team, you are not managing much of anything anymore.
What has happened is that you have encouraged and built an ethos of productivity and work, and the last thing you should do now is slow everything down to make it appear as if you are in control. You are not in control; you should not be in control. Rather, assume the role you have created, the leader of a highly productive, efficient, and autonomous team that is built to get things done. The incompetent manager is the one who is yelling at everyone because he cannot stay on top of where everyone is and is constantly upset about being left out of the loop.
When I am out of the loop and the outcomes are being achieved, in fact exceeded, I know I have reached the first milestone in building an effective machine. They feel responsibility now; they own their piece of the process and are learning to take pride in being productive; they are seeing the results of their efforts. Most people have never worked in an environment like that. This might be their first taste of it. They are going to stumble and crawl through it; they are going to rise out of it and become successful, and ultimately leaders themselves.
Second, do not make a giant deal out of failure, and do not make a big deal out of small and non consequential successes. Failure is expected. Success is expected. Be wary of sending a message to the contrary. When you beat people up and are overly critical of failures, you highlight that risk is bad. In the push to be more productive as a team, you cannot allow a culture that fears failure. The opposite is true. Never reward the mediocre; that is obvious. Above all, do not reward normal. In your new culture, normal is success every day. Wins come every hour. Wins are constant, frequent, and happen too often to pause and celebrate what is normal. You can celebrate, but celebrate the extraordinary. Have them set targets that no one believes are possible. Have them create their own audacious, unreachable target that takes your breath away. When the team rises to the occasion and achieves that, reward it. When that happens, you have created a culture that celebrates exceptional achievements and not a participation prize for showing up today.
If you do one thing to keep up the pace, protect the cadence. Set clear weekly goals and a simple daily checkpoint that measures forward motion, keep the board visible, and be ruthless about priorities.
Of course you must remain vigilant, and you must learn constantly. You have to understand what is going on and what the challenges are. Each of these people will find themselves under strain now and then, and you will be needed to come in, clear obstacles, and build them back up. You will find that the more productive an environment gets, the more people run into each other. Welcome to real leadership, a full time counselor, a conflict negotiator, and captain of the glee club.
