Participant wearing captain's hat and glasses at a Business Simulations facilitated event, smiling at team gathering.

Team leader check

Seven things a team leader should be paying attention to, scored by you and then by your team, with the gap between the two views as the result.

7 areas

How are you doing this?

The point of this check is the gap between how you see your own attention and how the people you lead see it. There are two ways to get at that, and neither sends anything anywhere.

The seven areas

Three lenses on each person, then four things about the team as a whole.

The individuals

Three different lenses on the same person. Most leaders are strong on one of them and have not noticed the other two are missing.

  1. As a person

    I know what is going on for each of them outside the work

    As a person: how consistently is this true?

  2. As a professional

    I know where each of them wants to get to, and I help them get there

    As a professional: how consistently is this true?

  3. As a colleague

    I know how each of them works with the rest of the team

    As a colleague: how consistently is this true?

The team

Whether you are across the team’s operating reality, rather than only its output.

  1. Workload

    I know how much is on each of them right now

    Workload: how consistently is this true?

  2. Energy levels

    I notice when the team is running out of steam, and do something about it

    Energy levels: how consistently is this true?

  3. Customers

    I keep the team close to the people it serves

    Customers: how consistently is this true?

  4. Practices

    I keep how we work under review, not just what we deliver

    Practices: how consistently is this true?

Pass it on

Where your attention goes

Only used as the heading on your report and in the download's filename. Like the answers it stays in this browser: we never receive it, and it is not used for marketing.

    The seven areas of a leader's attention

    A team leader's attention is finite and unevenly spread, and it is hard to see the shape of it from the inside. These seven areas divide into two halves: how you attend to the individuals, and how you attend to the team as a whole.

    The individuals

    Three different lenses on the same person. Most leaders are strong on one of them and have not noticed that the other two are missing.

    • As a person: 'I know what is going on for each of them outside the work'
    • As a professional: 'I know where each of them wants to get to, and I help them get there'
    • As a colleague: 'I know how each of them works with the rest of the team'

    The team

    Whether you are across the team's operating reality, rather than only its output.

    • Workload: 'I know how much is on each of them right now'
    • Energy levels: 'I notice when the team is running out of steam, and do something about it'
    • Customers: 'I keep the team close to the people it serves'
    • Practices: 'I keep how we work under review, not just what we deliver'

    How the gap works

    Score yourself across the seven first. Then pass the device round your team so that each person scores you without seeing anyone else's answers, and the two views are laid over each other.

    The result is the gap, not the score. A leader who rates themselves five on 'as a person' while the team rates them two has a more useful piece of information than either number alone. Where your view and theirs agree, you can trust it and move on.

    Nothing is sent anywhere, and the report shows only the team's average and range, so no individual can be picked out of it. That anonymity is what makes the honest answers possible, and it is worth saying so to the team before you hand the device over.

    Using the check well

    Run it when you can act on the result, not at the end of a cycle. Share what you learned with the team afterwards, including the uncomfortable parts, because a feedback exercise that disappears teaches people not to bother with the next one.

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