We cannot exist in a vacuum, whether we would like to or not. At work, it is essential to successfully collaborate with our colleagues and other leaders in the middle to get the job done right. Now, while I acknowledge the resistance to collaborate between groups may at times not necessarily stem from us, we still have to be accountable by doing the right thing. This is why serving those beside you is important — it’s about being mindful about your actions and those of the people you coach.
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In my book, Serve Up, Coach Down, I write quite a bit about this topic. I even present a real-life case study on how to execute this strategy effectively. Let’s take a look.
Dueling With Those Beside You
Ken is the sales manager who faced constant push back from his counterpart on the design team. It was necessary for them to work together to better serve the needs of their clients, but man, oh man, did they clash. Sensing this fracture, their respective teams were also quick to view the other as the enemy and lines were drawn in the sand. What was the cause of the battle between these dueling kingdoms? Bad paperwork.
Things hit the fan during a meeting with his boss and the design manager as they discussed delays and mistakes with several customer orders. According to Ken, the design manager pointed fingers at his sales representatives as the source of the mistakes because their paperwork was often incomplete or inaccurate. So of course, Ken got angry and said that the designers weren’t doing what the customers wanted. He also argued that the design team was not willing to operate outside the box to meet the clients’ needs. Then came the knock-out punch — he said the team spent most of their time avoiding their responsibilities instead of getting the job done. Can you imagine the tension in that office? Yikes!
Forgetting to Serve Those Beside You
This Game of Thrones existence that turns you and your manager counterparts into warring factions can, unfortunately, be found in many organizations. However, this is untenable if you intend to manage a winning team. This is where I encourage you to look inward. In the box to the left, I’ve shared a few questions I asked Ken that helped him to reflect on his own behalf and that of his team. At the end of the day, it all boils down to accountability, even to the man in the mirror.
Grounding Questions
- Is there any truth to the design manager’s concerns?
- Are the sales representatives not completing the paperwork and submitting error-filled documents?
- Are you satisfied with your team’s current quality of work?
- Is this the operational standard that you want attached to your leadership brand?
- Is this the quality of output that you would like to serve up to your manager?
- Who is responsible for your team’s behavior?
- What can you do to improve it?
- What would happen if you asked the design manager what you and your team could do better to help the designers be happy and more successful?
- Don’t you think asking what could be done would start to bring the two departments together?
Regardless of how the design team was behaving, it was pretty obvious that Ken needed to get his team in order. The sales representatives simply were not doing their job correctly.
Truly Serving Those Beside You
“Clean your side of the street and then you can serve across and help others clean theirs.”
Ken eventually saw the light at the end of the tunnel. He spoke to his team and even met with the design manager. The outcome was improved production and a better overall quality of work from the company. Even more, he focused on sustainably maintaining this standard of procedures with his peer, so the work environment was no longer siloed and tense.
The Don’ts
To maintain your own sanity, here are a few don’ts to avoid when serving your colleagues:
Don’t think that:
- Others are threats to your leadership position.
- Serving others besides those above you is a sign of weakness.
- Anything or anyone that can’t help you get ahead is wasting your time.
- Collaboration and cooperation is a path to ruin.
- Sharing the reward and recognition will detract from your career goals.
The Dos
Instead, do recognize that you were hired to be a part of a team, so all the parts need to work together in order to be effective. A selfish and siloed approach will only detract from your ability to successfully lead your team. You have to maintain your team’s standard of excellence, even when it is under threat from others. You cannot expect others to play nice with you when you aren’t willing to do the same with them.
As I said in my book: “…haters gonna hate…Ignore them and break down the silos to connect with those who feel otherwise.”
Notice the do list was a lot shorter than the don’t? Yep, serving those beside you means living a simpler life and allows you to focus on what really counts, being a great leader in the middle.
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