Leadership Development and Creating a Sense of Ownership with Alyssa Bloom
Episode 485: Show Notes
Today's guest, Alyssa Bloom, has spent the last 10 years working for one of the biggest companies in the world, being a manager for virtual teams. She manages over 120 people and has an incredible background in management and people leadership. In this episode, we are talking about creating a sense of ownership in your community and culture in your business. We have always been open about our struggles as leaders of our internal teams. We have had challenges with motivation, delegation, and just making sure that our staff is happy and that they like what they are doing.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
It has been something we have wanted to get better at ever since we hired our first VA. So, having someone we love and respect so much help us get organized and in shape was crucial, and we are sharing that process with you today, along with how you can replicate it. There are so many good takeaways that Alyssa shares. We hear how to get more organized, make good hires, and most importantly, how to create a sense of ownership within your team and have your staff be as happy as they can be.
Why Systems Are the Core of a Strong Team
As we have said before, we have not been the best leaders, not because we are not a great business to work for, but because we have not done much to create a cohesive system. Alyssa’s people-centric, systems-focused leadership style has already helped us so much, and we have seen shifts after only six weeks! Her work with creative entrepreneurs led her to find us, and we chat about what is at the core of creating a good team. She highlights the importance of systems to create clarity so people know the expectations they have to meet. By setting people up for success through effective structures, they can work independently rather than having to be constantly managed. When people have greater autonomy, they will be proactive and feel a greater sense of confidence in the work they are doing. Emylee reflects on the battle she faced as a leader and how she realized it was not her team at fault; they just didn’t know what to do because she had not told them! As Alyssa highlights, when you are busy handling the ins and outs of running a company, it can be hard to ensure you have efficient structures, so when possible, take time to pause and fine-tune what is already working for you.
The Power of Defining Roles, Responsibilities, and Outcomes to Your Team
Not everyone has over 20 contractors like us, so how can you make a good first hire when you are just getting started? Alyssa explains the importance of clarifying your expectations and what you want your new hire to take off your plate. This means you have to identify the roles and responsibilities of individual team members in your business so there is transparency. But, it’s not enough to just outline baseline expectations for a role; you have to communicate the outcomes you expect and illustrate how they tie back into overall business goals. By communicating this extra layer on the front-end, team members will feel more empowered to take aligned action. Abagail then talks from her own experience about delegating and why you, as the owner, should not wait until you hate a task to assign it to someone else. If you want something off your plate as quickly as you can, you are less likely to train your hire correctly. When you do this, you are just treating your contractor as a taskmaster, thinking only about task completion and not quality expectations. Make sure you communicate how the tasks contribute to larger company outcomes and let them know just how valuable their position is. It is also a great idea to create a space where team members can make recommendations based on what they have seen in their roles. This empowers people to understand their role in the bigger picture rather than just the task at hand.
Why Clear Outcomes Enables Better Leadership and Strategy
Often, when you are not meeting your targets, it can be easy to get emotional and blame the individual for underperforming. So, how can defining clear outcomes help you understand team members' performance better? As Alyssa explains, by clearly establishing expected results, you can understand performance better. So, it might be that your social media manager is doing everything you have asked them to do, but maybe it’s just not the right strategy. When you can find the root cause easily, it makes intervention far more effective. If the contractor or team member is not doing their job, you can partner with them and help to find ways for them to meet the outcomes. It helps you be a better leader because you can have an effective coaching conversation if you understand if it's an expectation or outcome issue that causes an undesirable result.
How Systems Help Ownership
Before Alyssa came in and helped us, we had what we thought was an effective system. But while it worked for us, we found out that each of our contractors had private systems they used. None of us were collaborating in the same space and in the same way, which just wasn’t that great really. By having clear outcomes for each role, people can get on with the task at hand and free up so much of their mental energy for creativity and strategy. Alyssa talks about why having daily outcome expectations is so handy. Not only will everyone know what they are supposed to do that day, but it also helps with the bigger picture and understanding how the system can be refined and fine-tuned even further. Effective organization also helps you to be a better leader because you can affirm and create changes your team has suggested. But not everyone is going to get on board when you try to implement new systems, and that’s fine. You can use it as an opportunity to see if the system works or if it is perhaps time for the contractor to move on.
The Difference Between Systems and Micromanagement
Micromanagement is the fastest way to demotivate team members and crush morale, and it’s easy to feel like these systems are a way to micromanage things. But, as Alyssa points out, this micro-organization actually helps you avoid micromanaging. Because you are clear on expectations on the frontend, you will spend less time correcting after the fact. With this easy setup, everyone will be able to figure things out for themselves. If you have a lot of different teams in your organization, not everyone will be working in a hyper collaborative way, but it is still necessary to have a centralized system where everyone can go. Alyssa points out, the best way to ensure that your system works is to create it with your team. If you present your staff with an already-created system, they are probably doing to push back in some way. Be intentional about involving your team so that they are creating a system that they want. Like we said, having Alyssa come in has helped us so much already, and at a recent meeting we had, we saw so much more ownership from our team than we had before. It has been freeing for Abagail especially, who largely handles team management. We have learned that the shifts don’t necessarily have to be huge to get great results. As long as you create a culture of ownership with the right systems to support it, magical things will happen. We promise!
Quote This
Your people are the most valuable asset in your business. They are everything.
—Alyssa Bloom
Highlights
Why Systems Are the Core of a Strong Team. [0:07:05.1]
The Power of Defining Roles, Responsibilities, and Outcomes to Your Team. [0:10:14.1]
Why Clear Outcomes Enables Better Leadership and Strategy. [0:20:47.1]
How Systems Help Ownership. [0:22:43.1]
The Difference Between Systems and Micromanagement. [0:35:17.1]
#TalkStrategyToMe [0:43:26.6]
Develop a skill around positive reinforcement because this makes people want to do well.
Be intentional about bringing out the best in people.
Stay connected and engaged with your team on business and personal stuff.
Make a space for ‘real talk’ between you and your team to build trust.
Put a system in place and step back to think about the questions your team members might have.
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Alyssa Bloom
Website | Instagram
Alyssa Bloom is passionate about people-centric leadership and systems. She teaches creative entrepreneurs how to scale, organize and lead their teams with ease.
KEY TOPICS
Delegation, Systems, People-Centric Leadership, Empowerment, Ownership, Communication, Expectations, Defined Roles, Defined Outcomes, Positive Reinforcement, Organization
