How to Implement Democratic Leadership as a Manager

When I started leading a high-powered recruiting team, I had the traits of the TYRANT leaders I now call out. Here's why: Despite my degrees, certificates, and ongoing professional development, nothing prepared me to transition into leading. I still had an individual contributor (IC) mindset, which unintentionally led me to compete with my very capable team. At the time, I engaged in behaviors like: Taking over projects instead of developing my team. Working long hours, thinking it showed commitment. Making unilateral decisions vs collaborating. Giving orders instead of providing clarity and context. Hoarding information instead of communicating transparently. Prioritizing my metrics over team goals. A month in, my boss at the time sat down with me and told me to own my transition and to stop taking over work when someone asked for help. (she's one of the best Leader's I've ever had) To transform my mindset, I sought out a few internal sponsors and observed how they managed their teams. I also asked my team for feedback on where I could do better. Once I made the changes: mindset and action, I began demonstrating new leadership behaviors: Coaching my team and developing their problem-solving skills. ↳Created an authorization matrix to empower them to make decisions. Promoting work-life balance through prioritization and delegation. ↳I stopped working on vacation to set a better example. Making collaborative decisions to increase buy-in. ↳They worked on the reqs, so I asked for their ideas and where I could implement them. Painting a vision and equipping the team to get there themselves. ↳I translated the organization's vision down to how it affected our team goals. Openly communicating to build trust and transparency. ↳I promoted democratic decision-making and explained when it needed to be autocratic. Aligning on and championing team goals over my individual metrics. ↳I held weekly reviews where I celebrated their success because it was OUR success. Here's what I want you to take from this: 1. Develop your team's skills rather than trying to be the expert. 2. Delegate decisions to increase buy-in and leverage diverse perspectives. 3. Openly share information rather than hoarding knowledge and insight. 4. Recognize and elevate your team's contributions rather than taking individual credit. #aLITTLEadvice #leadership

Managers, this is the way: 1) Learn about yourself. DISC, Strengths, User Manuals are great tools. 2) Learn about your people. Have them use the same tools. Discuss the results. 3) Define responsibilities. Get input from your people. Avoid listing tasks. Focus on value created. 4) Define employee authority. Specify what actions don’t need your input. 5) Delegate effectively. Explain what (management), why (leadership), how (coaching). Check-in regularly. Offer support. 6) Define quarterly goals. 3-6 SMART team goals. Review and finalize with team. Publish where everyone can see them. 7)     Help employees define individual goals. 3-6 SMART goals. Review and offer feedback. Publish to entire team. 8)     Hold weekly team meetings. 30 minutes. Same time each week. Review team goals. 9) Hold 1-on-1’s. Weekly with each employee. Prepare questions. Record development goals. Hold accountability for achievement. 10) Conduct Business-Relevant Reviews. End of quarter. 45 minutes with each employee. Send a short summary of their goal performance 1-2 days before. Rate their performance: A, B, or C.

The most effective leaders make team members feel decisions are made WITH them instead of FOR them. Here's how (in 4 simple steps): 1. Bring team members into the decision-making room. You can’t always ask hundreds (or thousands) of employees for their opinions. You can, however, communicate the process used to make a decision so your team feels like they were in the room as the decision was being made. When possible, do your best to gather input from the people whom the decision might affect. 2. Communicate the mechanisms used to make the decision. What things were considered? What questions were asked? What impacts were evaluated? What were the main criteria used to evaluate solutions? The more your team understands HOW the decision was made, the more they feel involved. 3. Communicate the entire scope of the decision. Describe what is happening. Describe why it is happening. Describe the benefit of making this change (especially for them). Describe the impact the change will have on everyone (including you). 4. Allow space for people to not like the decision. Often, the most effective thing you can do as a leader is acknowledge it’s expected and accepted for your team to not like a decision being made. "You might not like this, but I ask you to respect it." People can dislike a decision and respect why it was made at the same time. In summary: 1. Bring team members into the decision-making room. 2. Communicate the mechanisms used to make the decision. 3. Communicate the entire scope of the decision. 4. Allow space for people to not like the decision. What would you add? #leadership #communication