A chief of staff perspective is an essential component of effective team leadership. Let’s define this perspective as an independent view that is missile locked on doing what’s in the best interest of the company or the team in question.
All team members, including the team leader, generally operate from a self-centered perspective. What I mean by that is that our views and beliefs are principally conditioned from what has worked for each of us in the past. Therefore, we inevitably bring these views and beliefs into our meetings and think tanks. Any one of us can momentarily pop out of our self-centered view, and take a chief of staff perspective. However, it is very difficult to maintain this view for an extended period of time.
If you stop to think about when you’ve been part of a team that is operating very efficiently and effectively, then I think you’d have to agree that one, or many many, of the team members had that ability to go in and out of their own views and, likewise, allow the team to arrive at really good decisions. These experiences are also accompanied by a sense of positive participation for all the team members.
When we initially plan our team’s direction, it isn’t that difficult to get everyone in agreement with the intended outcomes; Good leaders do this all the time. The problem arises when we put our plans into action and encounter many changes. Navigating through the tactics as a leader is similar to the role of commercial pilots. With every flightpath being off-course 99% of the time, pilots are constantly adjusting and realigning towards destination. Staying true to their course through experience and coordinated efforts.
Therefore, this independent perspective is needed in our daily and weekly activities. So that we not only keep focused on our outcomes, but we effectively manage and communicate the changes we each encounter, while openly discussing these changes in the short-term, so that the team, or company, remains on course.
My experience has shown that there is little debate in the principle of having an independent view as a component of effective individual and team dynamics. However, the question is how do we continue to value and nurture that view.
In my travels, I have found two effective ways to accomplish this chief of staff perspective. The first, which can be readily hired, is that you bring on a third party, who’s goal is to play that role in many of the company’s team meetings. The second, is that some of the team member’s are actively engaged in self-development, where they are regularly challenged to step out of their own perspective and personal scripts and see their thoughts as processes, versus views and beliefs that are regularly held on to.
Consider reflecting on what I believe to be this tried and true component in effective team leadership. See if it makes sense, then observe it in practice to see if it improves the results of your team or business, as well as the engagement of your fellow co-workers.
– Buddy Fichera
How To Do This Today
