Freddie Guilmard.
A leader’s relationship with a team reflects every day, not just a decision on a single event such as the office end-of-year party, says Freddie Guilmard of leadership consultancy RTP.
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AS WE approach the end of another turbulent and busy year, almost everyone will start to look forward to the office Christmas party. Some leaders will have been pondering if they should go ahead with the expense. Some will not even question the importance and the need to recognise the team’s effort for the one day of the year.
In a recent coaching conversation with a leader of a fast-growing business, he talked to me about his dilemma of wanting to do the right thing but was conflicted because the business performance had not quite been achieved despite the best effort from everyone.
He recognised that a Christmas party was important to boost the morale of his employees but he was truly concerned about how he would personally be perceived as a leader for not agreeing to sign off the expense or be seen by his direct reports to be weak by spending the money despite narrowly missing target!.
He was so concerned to be seen as a great role model “especially at this time of the year” and yet he also quickly admitted that it had been a very challenging year for him, taking over from his father. A year where he had not always been supportive of the team, been too focused on the wrong things and had often ended up spinning too many plates and struggling to find time to solve everyone’s problems.
I think that ultimately, he was trying too hard to please everyone and make his dad – who had been his role model – proud.
It reminded me of a recent conversation I was having with a group of senior execs whom I was preparing for change. I asked them who they looked up to inside and outside their business. Who inspired them and why? What was their perception of their leadership reputation and why would anyone should be led by them?
Many of them struggled to give me a simple answer, maybe citing some external “guru” they had listened to on Ted Talk or some sporting icon who had inspired them in some way.
But then one of them said to me: “Alex in the design team. She is one of our middle managers, always consistent in her behaviour, a great cross-collaborator, always willing to support others and has the most engaged and high-performing team in the business.”
I bet she would not think twice whether her team should have a Christmas party or not…
The American business author Jim Collins, in his research of what makes a great business, talks about the importance of having leadership at all levels to deliver sustainable performance. I think what he refers to in reality is individuals taking responsibility and being accountable for what they do.
Every day in the work I do, I come across many brilliant people – and not just in leadership roles – who truly inspire me. I also work with senior managers who have a deep desire to understand what they can do differently to build more human-centric businesses and be seen as great role models.
So, back to my client and his Christmas dilemma. What we ended up talking about was this:
- Your team and colleagues will not just notice what you do at Christmas but what you do every day, how you treat them and how you make them feel.
- Leadership is hard and can feel lonely. You do not always have to look up to find your role models.
- Look sideways, look down, look for those shining stars who can make a difference and start to recognise and celebrate what they do.
- No matter your role, seniority or status in life, what we do will impact someone somewhere, whether we like it or not.
Enjoy your turkey and a well-deserved rest over Christmas. Maybe start to think about next year’s Christmas party and ask yourself how your leadership role can make the next decision a no-brainer.
Merry Christmas.
Freddie Guilmard is the chief executive and a high-performance coach at RTP, a boutique consultancy that supports leaders in addressing their big issues by building human organisations.
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