Starting up as a First-Time Leader
Advice for your initial journey in managing team dynamic.
Editor’s Note: Today, we hear tips for being a team leader by Phillip, one of the managers in Traveloka for Issuance and Post-Issuance (IPI) Team. His life long experience as both member and leader has gained him valuable insights in keeping the team harmony.
The IPI team in Traveloka is responsible in providing the needs of all product verticals of the company, particularly in the refund and reschedule field of Issuance and Post Issuance.
Up to this part of my career, I’ve had the opportunities to manage people for several years and faced many hardships along the way. In every opportunity that I encountered, I’m focusing on my personal growth as a leader. It was all to find a grasp of what makes a great leader. During the tremendous years of exploration, I’ve gathered some gems that made me stand firm as a leader.
Observe and Validate your journey
Usually, before we take part in becoming a leader, we would have to start as a team member first. Being a team member offers us the opportunity to take a closer look at how the managers actually manage. With this advantage in our hands, it would be awesome to sort out every positive trait from your past leader and leave out the bad ones. The tricky part is always on classifying each character as good or bad. You can validate it by discussing it with more experienced leaders, your friends or relations, and of course, your stakeholders.
Manage expectations
Your line manager and stakeholders will inevitably have expectations on you and your team, especially for each deliverable needed. Excellent communication works both ways, meaning not only you get to talk, but you also need to listen to things they expect from you as their leader. Then you could either live up to their expectations or inform them on expectations you cannot fulfill.
Know your team members
A fundamental thing to do. Many first-time leaders only know their members by their work or result. Though it might seem okay, your bond with the members will only appear transactional, and we will not grasp the actual condition of the team members. I’ve personally enjoyed a regular 1-on-1 session or coffee time with each of my team members. It’s where you get to know your team member better, and it will make them feel treated like a human.
Focus on your team growth
A lot of first-time leaders are focusing on achieving their goal upon becoming a leader. A good leader should always concentrate on his/her team members’ growth, not in numbers but personal growth. A simple way to do it is to evaluate how your team member was in handling a task or project. We can track their growth by comparing their first progress to their final result, and of course, how he or she tackles any incoming problems along the way. Take this moment to learn each other’s mistakes and triumphs on a project. When your team members grow, you will also grow as a leader. A grown team will be able to achieve your goal at any time.
Be fair, always
It’s simple relationship advice, appraise when your team members did something stellar, and r̶e̶p̶r̶i̶m̶a̶n̶d̶ give guidance when they did something wrong. Reprimanding is not the same as disgracing; you will need to provide encouragement and advice instead. Focus on how to improve the lacking part without giving a hurtful judgment.
Regularly evaluate your team condition
Due to tight deadlines, some of us might forget to check on our team’s state. You could focus on assessing each team member’s output, collaborative ability, and individual development. Evaluating your team’s status is part of knowing your current team stands in projects, work relationships, and technical skills. Having this done regularly will give you a better picture of your team growth and their work ethics.
Having a good mindset
Great leaders will have to balance a good proportion of keeping the members energized and respected, maintaining users’ happiness, as well as retaining the company’s profitability. Furthermore, the great leaders should set a mindset that team members that an employee is valued by how much positive impact he or she gives to the company. It will encourage your team members to provide a lot of positive results. Having a proper mindset will keep your team focusing on delivering a good result.
These gems are quite a handful, and focusing your team growth might be the most challenging of all. You must know your team well. And when you do, everything else will be less challenging for you.
This post is an introduction to the good leadership series. There will be more future posts to cover more hidden findings to continue your journey to become a good leader.
I myself is a manager in Traveloka, and I have been fortunate to be around various types of leaders and talented team members. If you are interested in taking part in working with awesome people of the company, check out Traveloka’s career page, we’ve got a full list of opportunities for you to consider.
