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Extend Your Reach

Spend Time with Your Broader Team

SOMETIMES THE BEST WAY to sharpen your own leadership skills is to focus on others. Making a concerted effort to spend time with other people has a way of opening up new insights and opportunities for you; you learn things you didn’t know, experience things from other points of view, and open up possibilities for innovation. This sort of follows the logic of: “If you never get out of your office, how can you tell what’s really going on?” By the way, you are getting out of your office, right?

One of the best ways to “get out there” is to hold regular “skip level” meetings with members of your extended team. Your direct reports receive a lot of your attention, but what about their direct reports? How much time do you spend with them? And how much of that time is just one on one, without their boss in the picture? Spending time with your extended team members is a terrific way to let them experience your leadership; it provides them an opportunity to ask you unfiltered questions, share their ideas and projects, and learn how the organization works at your level. You get to learn, too—about the issues facing your employees, how they view the company, and so forth. In fact, you might be surprised just how much you can learn. Here are four ways to spend time with your extended team members, why it’s important to the team, and how each enhances your own growth as a leader.

Gain a Unique Perspective

The first way to skip your direct reports is to hold one-on-one meetings with members of their teams. These are key players on your team, people who do a lot of the real work and make things happen. Schedule individual meetings or lunches with each team member at least twice a year. Gather their perspectives by asking the following four questions:

1. What’s going well?

2. What could we be doing even better?

3. What can I do to make your job easier?

4. What are you doing for your own development, and how can I help?

The first two questions send a message that you’re willing to listen and are designed to get these team members talking about the organization or department’s strengths and opportunities from their perspective. These questions intentionally solicit their unique opinions and show that you are sincere about wanting to hear their specific work experiences. It’s important to start with the positive question, and don’t allow them to avoid an answer; it’s just as important to role-model the “search for what’s working” as it is to listen to constructive feedback about the organization. The second two questions demonstrate that you’re interested in helping them be productive while they grow and develop. Really listen to what they have to say in response to each question, and take notes.

If you spend the time to get them comfortable with you (be aware that they may be a little intimidated), you’ll probably get some new insights that otherwise might be filtered on the way up the chain of command. Alleviate the pressure by explaining exactly why you’re conducting these meetings, which is to get to know them, learn from them, and answer any questions they might have. Make sure to follow up on any commitments you make, and touch base with your direct report (their manager) on any specifics that you discussed that they should be aware of or act on.

What do you get out of this experience? Several benefits, but primarily it’s a chance to work on your mentoring or coaching skills. Practice asking questions and active listening (see Chapter 49), and take the opportunity to expand your knowledge of the business; there is an excellent chance they know things you don’t about how the business really works. Especially when discussing their development plans, switch to coaching mode to draw out their plans and commitment to working on their game. How do they benefit from spending time with you? First, they literally get to know you better, which is important for their continued commitment to you and the larger team. Second, they get the chance to be heard by someone more senior than their boss, and that’s huge for showcasing their thinking and ideas. Finally, they’ll feel more connected to the organization after they get a sense of the way you experience the company. It’s truly a win for both parties.

Make It All about Your People

The second way to spend time with your extended staff is to conduct “insight sessions” with several team members. These meetings are essentially focus groups with a specific purpose. Strive to lead one of these sessions each quarter; the meeting should last about ninety minutes (one hour will feel too rushed) and should have a single topic or question to explore. I used to do this with some of the larger teams I had the privilege of leading. In the spring, I would gather some of the team members together to get their input on our department’s strategy for the year; in the fall, I would do an exercise on what’s working well and what could be improved as far as employee engagement was concerned. No matter the topic, try to focus on a few themes only, to allow the group to really go deep in terms of their feedback. Don’t just ask, “How are things going?” Have an agenda, and make it a meaningful dialog. Your development here is all about listening and gathering insights. Part of the reason to conduct these sessions is to get to know these team members better, but the main purpose is to learn and gain an appreciation for the ways others experience the company, the strategy, and by extension, your leadership. The extended team members get to help shape a specific topic or question that’s important to the company. Again, both parties walk away with new perspectives and a feeling that they contributed to something meaningful.

Third, you should conduct “all-hands” meetings with your full team throughout the year. Depending on the pace of change, you might have several of these sessions to keep the group informed, aligned, and focused. Schedule these for sixty to ninety minutes, and leave plenty of time for Q&A. Your goal here is to clarify the vision, mission, and strategy and be a visible presence in leading change. What do you get out of this? There are plenty of benefits. First, you create the opportunity to polish your public speaking skills and become more comfortable leading a large meeting. Second, you gain practice in the art of developing a compelling meeting agenda. Third, you’re able to work on your leadership presence and the small details of showing up as a leader; it’s hard to overemphasize the overt and subtle messages of confidence that you send through your words and body language in these settings. What the team members take away, of course, is a better sense of what’s really going on in the company. Let them ask as many questions as possible to ensure that they’re clear on the main points of your message.

Finally, on a regular basis, extend your leadership team meetings to include another layer of the team. I used to hold weekly staff meetings with my direct reports, but once a month we would expand the group to include five additional members from their teams, so we could give more people exposure to our decision-making process and solicit their opinions and ideas directly. Although it wasn’t practical to add the entire next layer of management to these meetings, by rotating the invitation to five people each month, we were able to get every next-level manager to our staff meetings about twice a year. This is a great way to “demystify” what goes on in your team meetings, and it better aligns the entire department on purpose, process, and decisions.

While you’re pulling yourself up by your own leadership bootstraps (getting in touch with the fact that “it’s not about you”), spend more time with your extended team. Make this part of your regular routine and leadership style, and give away the gift of your time and attention. Don’t isolate yourself from the people farther down in your organization chart; they want to spend time with you. It’s important that they get to know you and personally experience your leadership. In terms of your own development, you’ll build more relationships, get in touch with what’s really going on, and gain valuable opportunities to influence and empower people across your entire department. What a great way to extend your leadership!

Bootstrap Takeaways

Spend Time with Your Broader Team

1. “Get out there” and spend quality time with your extended team—“skip over” your direct reports and go directly to the next level.

2. Be proactive and planful about this strategy—make these meetings part of your regular calendar and make them a priority.

3. Put your leadership development plan to work; practice your listening, speaking, and coaching skills.