Archives: leadership

“You should know better”. Maybe.

Maybe I’ve made the mistake before and should have learned.

Maybe I haven’t.

In which case now, post-mistake, not only should I know better, I must know better.

If I’m a leader, I’m also duty-bound to try to pass on to others the things I know better, based on my own mistakes.

That won’t always mean they know better.

But they will once they’ve made the mistake.

This post first appeared on my Linkedin profile.

Maybe it’s my British blood. I find it really hard to write job applications focused on my achievements. Thing is, I wouldn’t have achieved any of it without my teams. It our achievement, not mine.

When Sean McVay became the youngest head coach in NFL history, he brought a simple focus with him to the LA Rams: “We, not me.” That’s the basis of how I’ve built the teams I’ve been part of over the last decade in the charity sector.

The work we’ve done, the results we’ve achieved, the impact we’ve had has only been possible because we’re a team. If everyone is working only for themselves, it achieves nothing but confusion, disagreements and resentment.

The best teams are the ones that recognise that “greater than the sum of its parts” is only a cliché because it’s true.

Alastair Campbell talks about a culture of “maximum openness for maximum trust” during his time at No 10. Whatever you think of his politics, he’s right. And it relies on creating safe spaces to be open in.

As leaders, we have to ask ourselves whether we’re enabling our people to be open with us.

• Do they feel trusted enough to challenge our views and ideas?
• Are we willing to listen, or will we shut them down?
• Do they trust us enough that they can share things they’re struggling with?
• Can they share their concerns about their roles, their challenges outside of work, their hopes, fears, dreams for the future?

From our side, are we being open enough about what we’re doing? About our priorities, our reasoning, our plans. Open enough for our teams to trust us in return? To trust that we have their backs when they need us to?

Trust goes both ways and so does openness. It’s vital to make sure we all contribute to a culture that enables everyone to feel supported and safe enough to tell the truth about anything they feel the need to. It’s not just good practice, it’s good humanity.

This post first appeared on my Linkedin profile.