Leading the way!

In the corporate world, we see that managers are now called leaders. But what does it mean to be a leader or even a lead(team)? We see several workshops being conducted, numerous YouTube videos and self-help books on how to be a leader. Do they really help? Has one ever become a true leader by reading things and doing workshops?

Sometime back, I found myself leading a team as well. A totally new experience for me and one which I was very apprehensive about. The first thought that came to me was that now I was not only responsible for my own work but also of the work of my team. A very nerve-wracking thought for someone who constantly thought that things were going to go south!

Slowly I got the grips of it, and I learned that not only am I responsible for my team’s work, but also for their growth. This was the turning point for me. Having one-on-one sessions with each of them. Understanding their strengths and weaknesses. I will strive away from talking about the leads I had in my professional life, but I knew I wanted to have my own identity as a lead and not follow someone else’s template.

Working with each team member individually to set the expectations from them, their goals and they were going to achieve them. Watching them reach for those goals and then actually achieving them were the happiest moments of my professional life till then. Even more than cracking my first interview or joining a Big4.

Moving on from that setup was really saddening but that’s how life is, isn’t it!

The next team I became a part of was where I understood the real meaning of being pragmatic consciously! The situations were completely different and this time I had a very huge control over the decisions of my team’s career growth! Nerve-wracking moment revisited!  And this time it stayed for a longer time too.

I had to completely revisit my own way of working too. It took time. To help them on the path of achieving what each of them wanted. It was challenging as hell. A lot of “pravachan” sessions later, I would like to believe I have left them in a better place.

I look back to the last 18 odd months and feel I did a fairly decent job. I figured the best way to extract the best out of anyone is trust. You trust them to do the right thing and in the right way. Nudge them just a little if you see they are steering away from the planned path. This will develop not just a professional but a personal rapport which will help not just them but the whole team. Be available to them to offer your insights to any doubts they have. Never ever solve anything for them. Let them make their mistakes, learn from it, and develop further. Every person is different, and like I mentioned before, this is never going to be one template fits all. As a lead, one needs to be pragmatic enough to understand when something doesn’t work with someone and switch to a different way to handle the situation.

For better or for worse, but it seems I’m on my way to become a lead I always wanted to have!