Team leadership across the sea

Leadership is the key ingredient to success.

Of course there’s top-down focused leadership, but I adore leadership when a group takes responsibility to influence those around them.

Informal leadership helps plan and fast-track execution and allow for our company to pivot everyday. We don’t pivot off the strategy, but everyday decisions need to happen and people take charge.

In fact I can’t remember when there was an internal call to action and I didn’t have confidence the team would lead itself.

To do this we all need to avoid ego and let go of power. I hold my tongue when I want to give my opinion first and let others take control.

There’s no better example than the quarterly planning session I had with the marketing department today. At times I felt unimportant, or at best, a nice to have rather than a need. They are the experts and they lead.

Creating the environment where people feel empowered and embrace mistakes is tough though, and a cross-border team makes it tougher. We have three locations, with two main bases and one sales post, and some of the ways we beat the cross-border blues are:

• The communication rule of “2 overs” — if you’re over-seas, over-communicate. There’s nothing more deflating than feeling isolated from your team. But the reality is, when you’re in a different location and feel like you’re over-communicating, you’re probably still under-communicating. We have one team member who’s based in his own city and it’s way too easy for communication to dry up for a week. It’s on all of us to make sure we over-communicate and stay aligned.
• Feedback — we need to be comfortable giving feedback across our offices and take it how it’s intended. This means building trust and all contributing to the goals.
• Integrity — I feel like integrity is a cornerstone to most things but it’s definitely that to cross-border relationships. If we can’t trust each other then it’s never going to work.
• Fun — as I’ve gotten older I’ve realised being me is more important than I ever thought. If I’m not laughing I can struggle to motivate myself and there’s no better people to laugh with than the people you’re around with the most. We have fun, we enjoy life and it furthers trust.
• Buy in — there’s no two ways about it, but you need to surround yourself with people who believe in why you exist. Your company’s purpose is paramount. If you all buy in to that common goal, you’ll find a way no matter where you are located to align your culture.

If we’re aligned on purpose and we’re empowered individuals our curiosity and communication keep us informed so we can lead and enjoy in all our interactions.