Jenni Field, Author, International Speaker and Business Communications Strategist at Redefining Communications.
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If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 100 times: No leader is an island.
Several years ago, I was working with a company to help it through a period of rapid growth, and this really hit home. As we moved into the “fix” phase, changes had to be made to some of the operational aspects. This is where behavior change comes in, and it’s often the most uncomfortable part of a change. One discussion went like this:
Me: "We need to change who attends this meeting so the right people are in the room to make decisions and assign tasks."
Leader: "I think it’s fine. I know what we need to do to get things done."
Me: "I understand that, but we need to make sure it’s not all in your head and all on your list."
Leader: "I’m the only one who can do what’s needed."
Me: "You cannot be an island inside your organization."
The leader was operating alone. And no great leader operates alone. For organizations to succeed, leaders must work together with others. Whether that’s as a leadership team or through the organization, a leader's ability to work with others, trust others and lead others is what helps everyone thrive.
What 'Unity' Means In A Leadership Team
When we talk about leadership, we often talk about individuals—the one person to the many. Increasingly though, especially as an organization grows, leadership is about a team. A group of leaders through a hierarchy—from line managers to the CEO—needs to be united. It’s about a group of people being looked at, or looked up to, for direction and clarity. If that direction of travel and the way to get there isn’t clear, it’s going to end in chaos.
I’m in no way advocating leaders leave their personalities at the door and become carbon cutouts or hide the characteristics that make them unique. We should all keep our own style and nurture our strengths. What I’m advocating for is alignment. If there isn’t alignment—however well-intentioned you are—your behaviors can have a negative impact and your team can become confused and disengaged by the inconsistencies.
When the leadership team isn’t aligned, it can lead to a lack of trust, as individuals might develop different agendas that don’t align with the organization's goals. There also might be different messaging, and if the cascade isn’t lined up, there’ll be inconsistent information sharing. Apathy—where leaders just don’t take part—is one of the worst outcomes, in my view.
Going back to the conversation above, I believe a lot of this comes down to ego. In the book Ego: Get Over Yourself and Lead, author Mary Gregory talks about the fact that leaders need to manage their egos to build trusting relationships. Gregory talks about the ego traps that can mean an over- or under-inflated sense of importance. I learned from this book that as leaders advance in a company, the privileges they receive also increase, which can lead to feeling superior. And when leaders aren't open to feedback, they can begin acting in isolation and lose a sense of what's happening in their companies.
With this in mind, I have a few tips on how leaders can stop functioning as an island and build unity within their leadership teams.
Five Ways To Reunite Your Leadership Team
1. Identify where a lack of unity exists. What’s really going on, and why aren't people aligned? The fear of being vulnerable with team members prevents the building of trust, so that needs to be addressed head-on.
2. Strengthen your team. This isn’t about everyone operating in the same way, which is boring and non-authentic. It’s about making sure that how you lead your team has some similarities to the way other leaders in your business lead their own teams. Different experiences lead to distrust, which creates a state of threat.
3. Close the say-do gap. This is the disconnect between what you say you’re going to do and what you actually do. Words and actions matter. This always comes up. If you say that your door is always open but you aren’t really available, that can have an effect on people.
4. Agree. By this, I mean to ensure you and your leadership team agree on what the words you use mean. Consider "collaboration," "connection" and "silo working," for example: What do these words mean in your organization? Get specific. A leadership team is full of different individuals with their own perceptions and beliefs, so make time to agree on what important keywords really mean.
5. Then, disagree. Make space for open debate, and hold respectful conversations that are constructive. Remember that people can disagree with you and have different opinions and you can still work together. You and the rest of your team must be able to have productive disagreements to move forward and make changes.
The Power Of The Group
Activist Loretta Ross is often attributed with saying, “When people think the same idea and move in the same direction, that’s a cult. When people think many different ideas and move in one direction, that’s a movement.”
Leaders often underestimate the power of a group. I've found many can get bored easily and think they need to always do things differently. But as a leader, you need to be consistent. You need to inspire, but importantly, you need to be trusted and credible. As a group, this means you and your team must work together to align on what you do. In turn, you can drive forward with intention. You can create change and take people with you on the journey.
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