When it comes to running a team of any kind, the leader has to make a decision (either actively or passively) about how he or she will treat the team members. We've all probably heard a laundry list of ways to approach this; treat them the way you'd want to be treated, treat them the way they'd want to be treated, treat them all the same, treat them all like individuals or treat 'em mean - keep 'em keen (actually, that last one was just some terrible dating advice as I got as a young man and probably doesn't apply here!)
So if you had a blank slate and a brand new team, what approach would be best to take? It's my belief and experience that the very best leaders get to know their people, understand them and then lead them in the way that best suits that individual. There are many notable examples where leaders have taken a bespoke approach to each player, based on how that individual needed to be managed to get the best from them. Sports is littered with such stories. A couple of famous examples are Sir Alex Ferguson when he managed Manchester United and Jimmy Johnson when he was Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
At Man Utd, Fergie was known for ruling with an iron fist, particularly when it came to his young players. The legendary Class of '92, his group of youngsters who went on to achieve huge success with the club, including the treble win in 1999, tell stories of his turning up at house parties at their flats, kicking everyone out and telling them to go to bed. This approach wasn't universal, however. He recognised that they were young, impressionable and vulnerable to falling into the traps that await professional footballers who suddenly find themselves with fame and money and wanted to ensure that they stayed on the straight and narrow and didn't sacrifice the gifts they possessed. He even had networks of spies who knew all of the top nightspots in the city and would report back on players who had been over indulging in the nightlife and not taking care of themselves like he believed professionals should! But with other players of the same era, he took a different tack.
One of the most prominent players of the time was Eric Cantona who joined Manchester United in 1992 but was a seasoned professional and almost a decade older than the youngsters. Cantona was a maverick and a fiery personality and rather than attempting to manage him as he did with his group of teenagers, Ferguson gave him much more leeway and allowed him to express himself in a way that his teammates perhaps weren't allowed. A great example was the dress code of the team. There was an occasion when the squad met up at the town hall for an engagement and they'd been told to turn up in dinner suits. Lee Sharpe (a young player and one known for being a little light on discipline) had a black dinner suit on, but wore what he believed was a smart flowery white shirt with it rather than plain white. On arrival, Ferguson went ballistic at him, explaining that he was supposed to be representing Manchester United etc. A short time later, Cantona turned up wearing a blazer with jeans and a cap - not even close to the dress code. Sharpe pointed it out to Ferguson, expecting to see a similar response to the one he'd received. Fergie replied, "Yeah, but he looks fucking cool though doesn't he!"
Jimmy Johnson took over the Dallas Cowboys, having won a national championship at the collegiate level with the Miami Hurricanes, who had some extremely challenging personalities. One day a reporter asked him if he would treat Troy Aikman, his star quarterback, the same way as he would treat a third-string lineman if he caught them both sleeping in a team meeting. Johnson answered, “Absolutely not. If I found a third-string lineman sleeping in a team meeting I would cut him immediately. If I found Troy Aikman sleeping in a meeting, I would gently wake him and ask him if I could bring him a cup of coffee!” He was known for his humour and this, of course, was an exaggeration, but it underlined his philosophy for leadership. He recognised that each player was different, each had different gifts and needed a different approach in order to help them bring those gifts to bear on the team and its goals.
Both Ferguson and Jones had an eye for talent and the ability to bring the very best out of that talent, for the benefit of the team. Eric Cantona was a fan favourite who won 4 league titles in his five seasons at Man Utd and helped Ferguson secure his legacy as one of the very best managers of all time. Troy Aikman won three Super Bowls and Jones tenure saw him win back to back Super Bowls with the Cowboys. He's one of only three coaches in history to win national championships at both the college and NFL level and is in both the college football and the pro football halls of fame. These were guys who delivered high performance in a performance business and while at times their approach didn't hit the mark (both have a number of legendary bust-ups with players on their resume, alongside their success), they knew that they would ultimately be measured by results on the field and so were willing to break a few eggs along the way, to make some omelettes.
The challenge for leaders in business is that you don't get away with breaking eggs in the way you do in other disciplines such as sport and even those landscapes have changed dramatically since the 1990s when Aikman and Cantona were playing. Treating individuals differently to one another can create resentment or open up the suggestion of favouritism. If you're going to treat individuals like individuals (which is no bad thing) then communicating effectively and helping to understand what brings the best out of them as well as helping them to understand why you're managing them in the way you are, are fundamental to your success. You must get to know your people. Understand them not only on a technical but on a human level. What motivates them, what inspires them, what type of leadership brings the best of them? Do they thrive when left alone? Do they need closer support and supervision? More coaching? More mentoring? Find the things that work for each one and apply those so that they feel understood, heard and supported.
Of course, this is more time consuming than a blanket approach to leadership, but as a leader you need to decide what you want. If it's an easy life in the short term, take a blanket approach. If it's deeper relationships, helping to coax the best out of your people and delivering lasting results, it's time to put in the hard work.
Lead with questions. Ask your people how they like to be led, coached and developed. What brings the best out of them? How have they been led before when they've been at their best? Get feedback. What are you doing as a leader that's helping them to succeed, what are you doing that's not helping them to succeed and what else could you be doing as a leader that could help them succeed? And when they answer, listen and act. And if you think there'd be value in chatting this through with someone, reach out. I'm always here to help!
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