GTP20: Leading teams to success

Curium Solutions

This blog post has been produced for the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce as part of the 2020 Growth Through People campaign.

Growth Through People is the Chamber’s annual campaign aiming to help local firms boost productivity and grow through improved leadership and people management skills. In 2020 this involves 8 free workshops taking place between 2^nd March and 27^th March, culminating in a full-day Growth Through People conference on 2^nd April. In addition, throughout the campaign the Chambers will be publishing thought leadership podcasts, videos and blog content such as this.

Thanks to our Headline Sponsors – Prime Accountants Group, Aston University, Curium Solutions and CIPD - all workshops are free to attend. Interested readers can find out more and register to attend Growth Through People workshops here, and the Growth Through People conference here.

Good leaders motivate teams, nurture talent and get results. They make people around them feel valued and they lead by example.

While some people seem like they are born to lead, for others it doesn’t come as naturally.  We now live in a world that changes faster than ever before, therefore leaders need the skills and mind-set to adapt quickly to change.  

The good news is that being an exceptional leader is something you can learn and practice along the way.

We have identified 3 core success factors for the modern leader, simply remembered by:

Me - We - You

ME (Personal Resilience)

As a Leader you need to put yourself first.  If you don’t take care of your health and well-being you won’t be able to take care of the people you lead.

• Learn how to truly disconnect. Living in a fast paced, digitally connected environment can take its toll and leaders often sacrifice the ability to step back and switch off.
• Build daily habits into your schedule to recharge your inner battery and emotional resilience. This may be simply going for a walk at lunch time.
• Get in FLOW. Understand what it feels like to be positively immersed in an activity. Take time to identify your Talents, Passions and find Opportunities to play to your strengths.

WE (team collaboration)

It takes great leadership to build the foundations for high performing teams.

3 Simple tips

• Create a culture of Psychological Safety and trust where everyone feels they can speak out without fear of retribution.
• Encourage team collaboration. Schedule time for weekly check ins and face to face meetings to share updates on projects and, seek help advice from others.
• Have fun… In teams people feed off each other all the time and when the team is feeling the strain and energy is low, find something fun to reset the team to a more resourceful state.

YOU (Inclusive Leadership)

This is about truly connecting with the individuals in your team.  Research has shown that employees are highly productive and driven to do their best work when they feel as if they’re making progress every day towards a meaningful goal

• Be aware of any unconscious bias. Do you have your “go to people?” Make sure everyone in the team has an equal opportunity to flourish.
• Take time to really get to know the individuals in your team. Be curious and spend time finding out what is central to their values and purpose
• Find time for regular 1:1s and coaching. One of the key factors of a successful leader is the time they dedicate to developing and empowering others

If you can master these simple skills, you will accelerate your ability to lead teams. Keep in mind that you won’t always get these skills right away. You’ll make mistakes. But that’s ok as long as you keep working at it and resolve that no matter what, you’ll be a better leader.

Anne Clews
Head of Performance Solutions
Curium Solutions

About Curium

A leader in people-led change. Our approach is to make people feel part of the journey, empowering their potential and creating a culture that supports change.

We have published reports looking at issues affecting organisations, including:

• Transformation – ‘Failure to transform: how business transformation can go wrong’
• Inclusive leadership – ‘Empowering inclusive leaders for a diverse world’
• Technology – ‘AI and robotics: from science fiction to business fact’

You can find them all and more about Curium on www.curiumsolutions.com, LinkedIn (Curium Solutions) or Twitter (@CuriumSolutions).