Leaders need multiple points of contact across the team, not just direct reports, to know…

Just like climbing a ladder, it’s important to have multiple points of contact to ensure your stability as a leader.

It’s easy as a leader to trust that you are getting the full story at all times from your direct reports, but it’s important to the health of your team if everyone has an opportunity to share information with you. I once worked with a leader that had an uncanny ability to know everything that was going on. It was ridiculously impressive. I asked him later how he was able to do it. He shared that he took the time to chat with everyone and it was incredible how much everyone wanted to share with him. If anything didn’t sound like it was going well, he would ask about it and see if there were opportunities for us to improve.

I’m a talker, so I would always make my way around to each member of my team to check in at least once a day. It allowed me to show some availability, help with any questions they may of had and sometimes to just hangout. The access to the team was great and built strong relationships, but it also allowed me to have multiple points of information throughout my team. That kept me informed, connected and appearing like I knew everything. Ha!

When you have limited sources of information or in some cases a singular source of information, then you are only getting that person’s version of the story and that can be dangerous. Without the proper information you can make mistakes. If you have a well rounded version of everything going on you can help people grow and improve.

Even in a remote setting you need to find ways to allow for open communication with your entire team and create multiple points of contact!

#WhatsYourCUENTO

#people #opportunity #team #health #communication #communication #leader #leadership