Monday, August 24, 2015

The Seven C’s (and one D) of Leading and Managing Professionals

Forty years of management and membership in professional teams has allowed me to observe valuable leadership skills and characteristics in diverse environments including Banking, Sales, IT, Community Services, and Academia. A hoped-for "C"-based mnemonic for those qualities was dashed by my great favour for "delegation".  So, it’s seven C’s and one D to describe these skills and for what it’s worth, here are my thoughts.

Consideration – appreciating individuals as professionals is critical to managing them; recognizing their technical proficiency, appreciating and leveraging those “smarts”, but also treating them with respect - e.g. allowing a reasonable level of self-management and autonomy in their working conditions. Most professionals do not need to be harassed to produce quality results.

Consensus-building – If you bring a number of very smart people together, there are bound to be differences of opinion. Building consensus means getting folks to agree first to the definition of the problem and then building agreement on characteristics of a successful solution. At times, consensus building may be more acquiescence than agreement, but it's important that once selected, everyone gets behind the chosen solution.

Conflict Resolution – work conflict is not limited to the work of professionals. Conflict comes from many sources including personality, authority, resources, seniority, social and cultural influence, etc. For individual conflicts, isolating the source of the conflict and creating opportunities to either avoid or mend conflicts is a strategic skill.  Recognizing stages of team formation and facilitating the team through those transitions are important skills to manage overall team conflict.

Conciliation –  While including the ability to diplomatically resolve issues between individuals, this skill also refers to the leader’s own ability to give in to subordinates at times, especially when the outcome is not obvious or when potential failure may be instructive – in a safe and respectful way.

Collaboration – many hands may make light the load and the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts. Building a collaborative mindset benefits from providing the opportunity for positive reinforcement  of outstanding success that comes from working together. Mentorship and a focus on team learning can be an effective way to promote effective collaboration.

Collegiality – developing and maintaining healthy and productive relationships among your team will make collaborative success a common outcome. Reinforcing strong team norms is important but also recognizing that while you may be a manager or leader, you are also a colleague. Management by walking around (MBWA) and active (selective) project membership can be effective strategies as long as you are not seen as lurking or micro-managing.

Consultation – employing a consultative approach starts with understanding that work is personal; when change must happen, people want to be aware of the possible impact as early as possible. Consultation can go too far – especially when the need for timely and responsive action is critical – but insufficient consultation with stakeholders in a process or structure that has to change can lead to disaster.

Delegation – as a manager, you are accountable for the success and failure of your team toward meeting organizational goals. But that doesn't mean you are responsible for every task and project. Delegating responsibility can get you great results while freeing up your time to focus on key tasks. It requires a critical balance between giving autonomy to others and maintaining ownership of the overall project result. Effective delegation as a skill depends a great deal on ensuring clarity on the task and expectations for quality, scope of authority, timelines, and the schedule for regular check-ins and reports.

Another important delegation skill is to manage the overall project portfolio in such a way as to ensure that those who have interest (and appropriate qualifications and ability) in leading a project have the opportunity to apply for the assignment and then to delegate “favoured” projects fairly.