A leader's dilemma

October 20, 10:21 AMLeadership ExaminerSteve Arneson

Previous Next

3 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Leadership Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

This week I had the pleasure of wrapping up a year-long development program with a group of emerging leaders, and we had an interesting discussion about a realization they’ve discovered as a result of their journey. As they’ve learned what’s in store for them as leaders, they have begun to appreciate the inherent tension between treating their employees with a caring, nurturing approach and holding them to high standards for performance. Welcome to the leadership game, folks.

The particular topic was work stress, and we were talking about their accountability for ensuring that the proper balance was in place between high performance expectations and a manageable work load…how they needed to monitor unfair demands, deadlines and long hours, so as to protect their team from unnecessary mistakes, low morale and burnout. “But what about setting a high bar?” one participant asked. “Don’t I also have to hold them to high standards for output and project delivery?” The answer, of course is yes, you do. “Well, how do we do that?” was the natural question. The answer is – it’s not easy. If it was, leaders would never struggle with this one, and everyone would get an ‘A’ in this particular subject.

You start by assigning work that fits (or better yet – just exceeds) their skill level and experience. Stretching them to a point is good, but you’re risking disaster if you put goals in front of them that far exceed their capabilities. Then, be very clear with them about the objectives, timeframes and quality expectations. Monitor their progress, and if you see them struggling, step in to teach, coach, or fill in any resource gaps. If you’ve filled their backpacks with the right load, they should be able to hike the trail with your guidance.

Now, you also have to watch the big picture to ensure that your team is not being given unrealistic expectations from elsewhere in the company. This is your job as the leader, to protect them from others who would make unreasonable demands, pile on work, etc. Don’t get me wrong - a little work stress about hitting quality standards or making the deadline is good – it has a way of focusing the team. But allowing an avalanche to hit your team isn’t good leadership – you need to push back where appropriate to allow the group to perform and achieve optimal results.

Helping your employees manage their stress levels is not your responsibility alone – they need to take primary accountability for managing their own priorities, etc. But one of your roles is to ensure they have the tools, the budget, and the time to get quality work done. And since you’re also going to be setting a pretty high bar while ensuring that they have the opportunity to hit the target, it should be a win for everyone. They learn and develop, feel good about achieving the goal, and the team gets the job done. What do you get? The satisfaction of balancing “taking care of the team” with some terrific output. Now that’s doing your job as a leader!