Self.Serving

Expectations can be ‘selfish’

Expanding on Jon and his training team at Wolf securities, he gradually made a realization that it was selfish of him to live up to his expectation of leadership without consideration of others.

There were three incidents that made him realize that the success of his team was in his self-interest¹.

First was 3 months into his role when a team member presenting at town hall and had kept deferring numerous questions to him. That was then when he realized that he was in his interest to ensure that his team members were empowered to resolve their own work challenges and not constantly refer back to him.

Second. At 6 months when he use a reorganization to realign his team from Operations to Human Resources, and heard rumours that 1 or 2 team members were considering opportunities elsewhere, it made him reconsider the role he was playing him in bringing about his team members' success, and how he could be serving them better².

This make him see that if success of the leader is dependent on the success of the team, then it is in the self-interest of the leader to ensure that success.

Hit the Reset button

He quickly reset the relationship with the team so that he can focus on their success. When third incident occurred where a team member wanted a transfer to operation as a site manager, he was able to make that happen.

Contributing to the success of those who are tied to his success as a leader is essential. In helping his team member transfer over to operations, he was reading the situation and making changes along the way. There was no guarantee a suitable position would be available.

Importantly ensuring the success of those who are part of his self-interest also required Jon to serve them to varying degrees.

Here is another example of a first time leader who realized early on that serving others helped ensure his own success.

Happy as is

Clement have been working for Overseas Bank for last 5 years as part of the Audit and Compliance department of around 20. He enjoyed his work as an individual contributor, was well paid for it, did not actively pursue the idea of leadership.

He was downstairs with a few of his peers having their afternoon coffee break when he received a call from his big boss, Mary, to meet him in her office. Clement did not think much about it as everybody were routinely called up into her office for work matters now and then.

The department structure had 4 team leaders reporting directly to Mary, as the Head of Audit and Compliance. Once Clement got into her office, Mary dropped a bombshell on him.

Oops…

The audit and compliance team had failed an external audit, and Mary realized that with her current workload and responsibilities she did not have the time to address that external audit. In discussion with her own manager, a decision has been made to free up part of her responsibilities, and that meant Clement was going to become her second in charge, and have two of the team leaders report into him.

Even though Clement was not a team leader, he was actually among the most experienced team member with the entire department. While he had attended a talent program for potential leadership positions, he had turned down team leader positions in the past. Yet he worked very closely with all 4 leaders, supporting them to ensure their success.

As a result he was well-versed with the work that was done all cross the department by all 4 team leaders. The team leaders often joked that he was the unofficial department head when Mary was not around, and that it was only a matter of time before he leapfrogged over them.

Wearing the mantle of leadership

While apprehensive, Clement agreed to take on the role as second in charge for the entire department. He had worked with Mary for the past 5 years and was willing to support her in whatever way he could to ensure her success³.

Mary called the two team leaders whom were going to be reporting into Clement, into her office and told them the surprising news.

Clement knew that the relationship between him and the team leaders, along with the rest of the department, would change immediately. Although he felt very awkward about the entire situation, he knew he had to step up and lead for success.

Bringing out changes slow and steady

A reorganization of the entire Audit and Compliance Department was needed, as Clement's work as an individual contributor had to be delegated out to others. The two team leaders would also have to work out how they would actually report into him on a daily basis.

Things had to change gradually, impressions have to be managed, and conversations with stakeholders at all levels to have been had. It soon became a cycle for Clement of having conversations, figuring out what needs to be done, making those minor changes, and then having more compositions to ensure that things are where they should be.

All this while, Clement realized that he had to ensure that his team leaders and their teams, and even associated teams in other departments continued to be successful. So he focused on supporting and serving them to ensure their success⁴.

Self-talk takes time to change

It takes time for Clement to adjust his internal self-talk from being an individual contributor to the Second-in-charge. He did resist and initially stayed at his usual desk, even though as second in charge for the department, there was a specific desk for him. He only moved when he realize the impression to others that he was making by not doing so.

There were other mistakes that he had made as well when it came to supporting and serving others to ensure their success. He had to be reminded by Mary to mention his team leaders and their teams in projects that he was heading, so that they too could get recognition and credit.

It was not that he wanted to claim all the credit, it was that he was still stuck in his individual contributor way of thinking.

Grow to be comfortable

Clement would eventually grow to be comfortable in his leadership role, with a focus on results. Yet his team members would feedback to him that they knew that he cared for the team, and served them to ensure their success⁵.

He would eventually go on to take over Mary's position as Head of Audit and Compliance. His key to success was on himself serving others to ensure their success, which in turn ensured his.

Exercise

As an aspiring and first-time leader, what are you doing now to serve those who are part of your self-interest to ensure their success?

References

1 – Fitri Oktaviana, David Ronney, Bernard McKenna, and Hannes Zacher, (2015), Family, feudalism and selfishness: Looking at Indonesian Leadership, Leadership, pp 1-26

2 – Surabhi Verma, International Conference on Indian Society for Indic Studies (InSIS-2018) on Applied Ancient Wisdom for Transformational Leadership, University of Delhi, Delhi, India, 20 – 22 February, 2018

3 – Ahmed Mohammed, Sayed Mostafa, and Paul A. Bottomley (2018), Self-Sacrificial Leadership and Employee Behaviours: An Examination of the Role of Organizational Social Capital, Journal of Business Ethics, June

4 - Donna Chrobot-Mason, Alexandra Gerbasi, and Kristin L. Cullen-Lester (2016), Predicting leadership relationships: The importance of collective identity, The Leadership Quarterly, Volume 27, Issue 2, pp 298-311

 5 - Tamara L. Friedrich, Jennifer Griffith, and Michael D. Mumford, 2016), Collective leadership behaviors: Evaluating the leader, team network, and problem situation characteristics that influence their use, The Leadership Quarterly, Volume 27, Issue 2, Pages 312-333