Asked to take a leadership position with no directives

[silencedogood]

Hello

I have been asked to take a leadership position at another branch for my company. When I ask my boss about objectives they want me to accomplish, I get told that they want me to just lead. Any advice on how to deliver with no clear objectives?

[mynewunit]

Even if you were given directives, I would recommend these same things. New leader, new team, start by learning your team. Shadow employees. Learn how they do their job. Learn their individual skills and ambitions. What are they good at? What do they like to do? Give them little tests. See how their answers are different. Something like "Email me by Friday with the answer to these 2 questions. 1. How does our team contribute to the company mission? 2. What is your next goal within the company?"
You will see who follows through and who doesn't. The difference between the answers will let you know how they see their work, and if they are looking up, forward, or just here to do the job and go home. None of these answers are wrong. They help you see what they are thinking and what you can expect of them.

Next, communicate regularly, once a week at least. Keep the time of the meeting constant and tight, half hour give or take. While the team is new or the mission is changing talking once a day can even be helpful. Let them ask questions. Use it as a chance to get information for you to follow up on, communicate up the food chain, or stop.

Look at how the group works. A typical task I recommend is "master the deliverable". Learn what goes to the client. Is is a product, report, thing, service. Learn what they ask for, and what you give them. Why is your product better? Cheaper? Faster? What is a task your company does that doesn't change the thing the buyer sees? Can it be done faster? would it be of value to the buyer?
This is a way to get understanding of your company mission, how they make money, what your client wants.

When they tell you "Just Lead", they typically mean they want a single point of contact. Worst case is they know that group has problems and they don't want to tell you about them. If the group has problems, first make them a team. You make them a team by doing hard things together. Once they are a team, work on the problems. Work on the problems by letting the team know the problem and have them give you the solution. If their fix doesn't work, try to move it toward the right answer.

As Jocko talked about in 162 focus on training. Train them for ever situation they should face. Not all in one day. Train the team for presentations at an hour a week for 3 months, powerpoint, public speaking, how to prep. Then teach them how to sell, review others work, interact with clients, teach them each other's job, teach them your job, teach them your bosses job. Don't think you have to produce all of this training your self. Grab "specialists" and trainers from within your company to teach your team. Buy books, listen to podcasts, Let the team teach their own tasks.

[silencedogood]

Thanks for the response. All good stuff.

The branch DEFINATELY has some problems. At the moment, I am the highest performer, at the highest performing branch. So I believe management is thinking to put the best guy in the worst spot and see if he can turn it around. I'm confident that I can. The team that is already there is extremely good. They are just floundering a bit due to lacking strong leadership. I would appreciate your input on a couple of specifics, if you wouldn't mind.

1. The individual currently in charge is going to be demoted, rather than fired. This injects poison into my team and gives me a hyper-critic to deal with from the get-go. Management is reluctant to fire him because he has been with the company for over 20 years. Any advice on how to help move that relationship to the positive when it will start out on a big negative? My plan so far is to not coach him so much as just listening to him. My hope is that if I show him that I respect his decades of experience and value his input, I can gain his trust.

2. I have 2 absolute bad ass super stars on the team. They just don't know it yet. The untapped potential of these 2 guys is enormous.  How can I give these guys the attention and training they need to be the rockstars they are capable of being, without alienating the rest of the team? Thoughts on that would be appreciated. The plan right now is to go ahead and give these 2 the extra attention, let them explode, then use them as trainers for the others. I'm just not sure if that's the best plan.

3. The mindset of their leadership up to this point has been, "Don't take risks. Stay in your lane. Don't try anything new because you might mess it up". My mindset is 180° from that. Any thoughts on how to break that repression and get these guys thinking more creatively and unconventionally?

Again, I appreciate your time and wisdom.

Thanks

[mynewunit]

You are well into your plan.

1. Old Gun - You are totally correct. Don't act like you are above him. Use his experiences, and if you ever have to go against his suggestion, make sure you talk it though with him first. Make sure you give him all the benefits of being a worker bee, not asking him to be a leader without the pay or title. This is your thought, I am just trying to stretch it in you mind.

2. There are commonly 2 things that hold people back. The first is lack of ability, which you see is not the problem for your 2 guys. The second is permission. People don't do things because they have been punished before, it caused conflict, too risky, or it isn't the normal thing. You give them permission to color outside the lines. Give them some freedom as you take ownership by staying involved. As they prove their ability, you give them more ownership. As for the rest of the team, don't ignore them. Let them know how you will use them and what part they play in the team. Ask what they want to do and where they want to go? Give them honest criticism on the ability and permission. That leads to training, trial opportunities, and the difference between giving a task to someone who can do it and hates it and someone who will struggle but wants to do it. As the leader you balance both.

3. Changing mindset is a progression. Leaders talk about vision casting. Let them know your vision. Then give them small steps toward your vision. Milestones, goals, and changes to the plan should be reported regularly.

You are on the right path, these are just a few tweaks that might help you see blind spots and communicate your intent.

[silencedogood]

Thanks bro. Much appreciated.