Leading From Abundance Rather Than Scarcity

One of the hottest topics online right now is “the great resignation”. There are those who are for it and those that are against it. As leaders, we’ve found ourselves in a position where our actions will ultimately define what our team members do moving forward.

If you’ve read any of the articles online about the great resignation, you will find that there is a percentage of people who are happy they made a job switch. You will also find that there is a number of people who regret their decision and either return to their original employer or seek entirely new work. So, what’s the deal with all this turnover?

In my opinion, I don’t think it’s fully due to a lack of better-paying opportunities or job flexibility. I think it’s a lack of passionate leadership that is driving people away.

I read an article recently that highlighted how passionate people typically have a more positive outlook and feel strong levels of engagement with their day-to-day responsibilities.

From my own experience, I’ve seen that passionate leadership drives passionate team members.

Although most companies claim to be forward-thinking, digital forward, remote forward, or however they want to phrase their stance on implementing work-from-home, what’s clear is how unprepared most of the leadership community was in taking on this challenge.

While 100% remote work has been around for several years, the pandemic forced the hands of the majority of companies to implement sudden work-from-home structures to keep their employees on the payroll and to keep sales flowing. With how sudden the shift occurred, it’s no wonder that the leadership in these companies struggled. The management tactics that used to work in the office are no longer applicable in this new age, and what I’ve witnessed is leadership’s inability and unwillingness to adapt to change.

Companies started forcing their employees back to the office without consideration of the work-life balance most employees have been begging to have for years. Now, it’s forcing employees to make the hard decision to leave companies they’ve worked with for years in search of opportunities that give them the flexibility they’re looking for at a pay rate that matches if not exceeds expectations with our new normal.

What companies are doing to their employees comes from a place of scarcity. They’re afraid to implement long-term strategies that make the company successful in the digital forward landscape. They’re afraid to change. They’re afraid to give their employees minuscule amounts of freedom because they believe that will affect sales.

This fear is driving them to put the company first instead of their employees which most companies like to tout nowadays. And what leadership may or may not realize is this fearmongering and scarcity mindset is exactly what’s going to impact sales as their best people jump ship.

Let’s take a look at what leading from scarcity and leading from abundance does to your team.

Leading From a Scarcity Mindset

Unclear priorities

This is one of the first signs that a team is being led by scarcity. When a leader is unclear of the direction the team needs to go, then the team is unclear of how their role lines up with those priorities.

Unnecessary meetings

The classic “this could have been an email” meetings plague teams that are led by scarcity. This is a clear sign that leadership is unsure of what needs to be done to propel their team forward.

Additionally, any meetings that are added to your team’s calendar disguised as “helpful” are a waste of everyone’s time. You may think weekly one-on-ones are helping your team, but if all you’re doing is micromanaging without room for personal growth then your best people are going to take notice.

Uncertainty in job responsibilities

In my opinion, this is the number one killer of an otherwise great team dynamic. Not everyone on your team is going to be self-driven, and it’s unrealistic to expect them to be. When team members are unclear of the direction of the company or their job responsibilities (and how their role makes a difference for the company) they’re going to pursue other opportunities.

Not understanding your team member’s strengths and weaknesses

You need to understand your team members. You need to know them personally but in a professional way. Getting to know what’s positively affecting your team members outside of work will help you encourage them to pursue passion projects at work which help them to feel more fulfilled.

On the contrary, getting to know what’s negatively impacting them outside of work will help you empathize with them when they aren’t putting forth their best efforts. This can also help you mitigate the loss of interest by a team member. Once one of your team members loses interest in the work they’re doing, they’re more than likely going to find more fulfilling work elsewhere.

Leading From an Abundance Mindset

Clearly defined expectations and priorities

To get people motivated for the projects ahead, you must clearly define what your expectations are. You need to set clear deadlines, priorities, and individual responsibilities so everyone is on the same page.

When you can define these things for your team, you’re less likely to have people question the meaning of their role as well as the meaning of the role others play around them. It becomes less of a competition and more of a true teamwork environment when everyone understands their role has value in completing the project.

Meetings with purpose

Find time to meet with your people one-on-one in a meaningful way. Scheduling a weekly call “just because” you want to find out what they have on their plate for the week doesn’t help anyone.

Intentionally use that time to find out more about their needs at work. Where are you as a manager missing the mark? What do they need from you to feel fulfilled and successful during the week? Do they have any concerns or questions? Do they need additional guidance on projects?

Prompt them to do all the talking by utilizing this time to focus on the needs and personal goals of your team members. Don’t forget to give them the space and opportunity to speak openly about how your leadership impacts them.

Instilling passion through guidance

Managers I look up to are what I call “an advocate”. As great managers, they take the time to understand each team member’s strengths, weaknesses, and personal and professional goals.

By doing so, they are able to encourage team members in pursuing passion projects and growing beyond what they feel are their current limitations. They have learned how to play up team members’ strengths to motivate them, tone down their weaknesses to showcase their true value to the company and know each of them personally and what they desired most out of their professional journey.

For me, this type of advocacy truly defined what leadership was meant to look like. And seeing how much teams are able to grow through hard times together because of that kind of leadership really inspires me (and I hope it inspires you) to emulate those same core values within our own leadership capacity.