3-Step Leadership: When the Team faces Challenges

There are several articles that have been written on Leadership, on topics like what defines leadership, habits of a good leader, how to reach there etc; that are insightful and helpful. Apart from various factors that define a person as a leader, organizations also define KRAs for them; however, we should also take into consideration what is ‘expected’ out of the leader. Amongst many other things, I would like to highlight a key function of a leader – that of understanding and help mitigating challenges for the team. A leader is as good as her/his team and vis-a-versa; for leaders, it is imperative to help your team achieve their goals. As a leader, individual goals diminish and teams take precedence over solo performances.

Here I am going to talk about tackling teams/members faced with a challenge. Consider this situation, when a team member comes to a leader citing a challenging situation during execution of a task, a true leader should hear the team member rather than just sticking the deadline on their faces. Listed is a simple 3-step guide on how you can improve the team’s performance in challenging situations.

Listen – It is imperative to listen to the challenge that the team member or the team is facing. This listening needs to be done impartially, you must not let any kind of prejudice cloud your judgement. Often bosses tend to react to any challenge that the teams share for various reasons like, judging the team’s intent, integrity, past performance, haste to catch a deadline etc. That is a complete no no. You must listen – unbiased.

Evaluate – After you have heard the challenge/s faced by the team member or the team, evaluate the situation and the gravity of the challenge. Do not go off-the-handle by pointing at the team to get the job done irrespective (the task must be completed for sure but respond calmly). You need to understand from the point of view of the team/member that is working on the task, if the challenge seems manageable or gargantuan. How it can influence the task’s deadline, quality, how do you overcome it and if there is a possible plan B.

Offer Help – Once you have done evaluating the challenge, offer help. Even if the team/member does not want you to personally work with them on the task, the offer of help in itself helps them build the faith in you as a leader immensely. Trust works both ways, you need to trust the team to deliver and they need to trust you to lead them. Give them options of working around the challenge, if they have not offered those to you already, and tell them that you are there to help them if needed. If they have offered you solutions and plan B, advise them on the best way forward. If the challenge is massive, and they need you to work with them, fold your sleeves, get to work and help them. That is what good leaders do.

For some people leadership comes naturally, some people have to make an effort. Being is leader is not at all easy; it takes immense hard work, trust and diligence in being one. People are looking up to you, constantly. Be patient. Just listening to your teams and standing beside them in challenging times would help you build a more open and viable relationship with the team/members. Listening, evaluating and helping are just the things they want you to do when faced with challenges.