How do Network Marketing Leaders Handle Struggling Teams?
The healthiest workplaces are full of leaders. In our mind, the best leaders are not just the ones that steer their marketing department – and business – to further success, but they are the ones that leave behind a team of leaders in their wake. They lead a team who naturally want to innovate and feel the confidence and support to be able to.
But, sometimes teams struggle. There is not a single workplace which has not suffered from a struggling department or individual. This is likely not due to a lack of talent – or expertise.
More often than not, struggling teams or individuals are suffering from the wrong type of leadership. Leading effectively is by no means easy, but as a marketing leader – building a team who are confident to innovate and pitch new ideas consistently is a must.
When a member of your marketing team comes to you with a problem, which type of leader are you?
The Overprotective Leader
This style of leadership is easy to fall into – especially with new team members. If someone is feeling overwhelmed, as if they are trying everything and are still coming up short, it is easy to take that pressure off of them. To say: “you know what, I will handle it”.
What you might consider being an act of kindness can have some adverse effects. Firstly, even if the team member initially feels relief, they may leave feeling incapable of achieving the initial task, therefore leading to a lack of self-belief. Conversely, it could lead to the team member leaning on you more regularly, whenever things do not seem to be going well.
It can lead to a team that has low confidence and the need to feel protected. Not to mention, your workload will be increasing every time the going gets tough.
It is easy to let someone know you will deal with their problems, but, ideally, it does not create characteristics that we see in successful leaders. And that is the end goal, being the marketing leader of a team of marketing leaders.
The Dispassionate Leader
If you live by the mantra “pick yourself up and get on with it”, you might think that you are instilling resilience within your team. To an extent, you might be. However, if your team is coming to you with struggles, that will have a knock-on effect on your department’s performance, telling them to dust off and carry on could end very badly.
Not only might this lead to continuing uncorrected mistakes, but it will also lead to a distant team. At its core, this style of leadership gives the impression of distance, a disconnect. While you might feel like you are trying to empower your team, you might just be leaving them in the dark, without confidence.
Ultimately this will lead to a quiet team who will stop sharing their struggles altogether; not the group of leaders we want to build.
The Fear-Based Leader
Leading by fear will have some rapid effects on your team. You might believe that a tough exterior at all times ensures nobody steps out of line and people will work harder – and while this might be the case in some instances, you might be missing out on your teams’ strengths here.
Thoughtful Leader points out that team members are likely to have the following fears in the workplace:
- Losing their job
- A damaged reputation
- Being made to look bad in front of colleagues
- Feeling worthless or inadequate at their jobs
It is imperative to ensure that neither you or your team are exhibiting behaviour that would make any member feel this way.
For struggling team members, the fear-based leader is going to have some adverse effects.
Leading by fear can lead to a lack of teamwork. Inspiring fear is much more likely to give people individual motivations – therefore, they are less likely to want to work in teams. This will lead to an element of workplace gang culture – where team members band together to do things their way, in the hopes of getting one-up on others.
People will less likely speak up, and ultimately confidence will be highly fragile.
Ultimately, fear is going to lead to you missing out on skillsets that could set your department or business apart. It certainly is not going to be building future leaders, and if it does, these leaders will likely lead in the same fashion.
The Empathetic Leader
The best middle ground between all the above. For a workplace that echoes our original sentiment, that the best team is a team of leaders, the marketing leader needs to have empathy.
This way, when a team member comes to you, and they are struggling you do not wrap them in cotton wool and take the pressure off of them; you do not tell them to pick themselves up and get on with it; you do not tell them if you do not see an improvement their job is on the line. What you do sounds simple, but it is hard to achieve.
You tell them that you know how they feel, you are in this together and they have your full backing to do the right thing.
You have to give them the chance to learn and expand, even when it might be you on the line. They need your belief and your support, but they need it without you taking away their struggle. The art of this style of leadership is giving your team the right balance of support. This will lead to them feeling empowered to make decisions and to solve their issues, knowing you back their ability to do that.
Elite Marketing Pro agrees that empathy will inspire leaders in teams. Greater collaboration and productivity comes from compassion and understanding. When everyone in your team displays empathy within their work, then your team will be united in their efforts.
So, next time a struggling team member comes to you, how will you pick them up?
Be sure you hire your marketing leaders wisely – tml Partners are here for your executive marketing recruitment needs. We know what it takes to be a great leader, which why we pre-approve all of our talent. Contact us today – we would love our next coffee to be with you.
