Feeling stressed but want to up my game
The situation
I am a Senior Associate with a team of five individuals who all report into me and all of whom I get on well with. Our combined fee income isn’t too bad, although we rarely hit our team targets, and the positive feedback from clients outweighs the negative.
The problem
It is leaving me feeling stressed and frustrated in my role and I feel the need to ‘up my game’ in order to progress to partnership but don’t know how I can create the time to do it.
The impact
I am struggling to fit everything into each day and week. This means:
less time on my chargeable work, which is a higher charge out rate that team members; so less revenue for the team and a negative impact on my future prospects;
less of my time on business development and strategy; so reduced clients and future development for the team;
less opportunities to develop the team so reduced future progression and income for the team as a whole and each individual in it, including me; and
working longer hours, which is impacting home life.
The solution
Juggling your own case load, fee earning duties and regulatory responsibilities can keep you busy enough but when you also have a team of five reporting into you, your time can easily disappear.
Some leaders tend to take the ‘sink or swim’ approach with their team to enable them to get on with their own work. Although this approach is enjoyed by some team members who love the high challenge of learning in this way, it can be quite stressful for many. After time, it can even be highly stressful for those who enjoyed it to begin, as the stress from such challenge can become unsustainable.
This leadership style doesn’t just impact on the stress levels of the team but it can also impact the financial performance and development of a business. By learning in this way, high performance is not sustainable long-term meaning achievement might be inconsistent and development random. Team members are likely to adopt bad habits that can affect future performance and efficiencies.
On the other hand, leaders who tend to give team members a lot of support through continued close supervision without giving sufficient challenge can create an environment of comfort. This will also affect achievement and development and not create the high performance that we want for ourselves and our business.
As you and your team are all struggling to meet targets (assuming that the targets are reachable in the first place!) and your time is being disproportionately impacted by supervising the team, it may be that your leadership style is skewed towards the low challenge and high support.
Score yourself on the following:
Do you believe that:
A: It is best to always give people the benefit of the doubt
B: People generally will always do their best if treated reasonably
C: You get what you give
D: I’m seen as tough but fair
E: Many people will try to take advantage of a situation for their own benefit and need to be kept on track.
When leading a team it pays to:
A: Build friendships with all the team members
B: Encourage participation and good relationships
C: Accept that you won’t always be popular when you do what you think and feel is right
D: Talk to people readily but keep the conversation task focused
E: Let people know who the boss is
If you have answered A or B in each question then it is likely that we have diagnosed your situation accurately. You are recording high on giving team members support and not enough challenge. This is what is likely to be contributing to the drain on your time and creating the problem you describe.
If we work on your leadership style so that the support you give your team members equals the challenges in front of them, this is likely to positively change your situation.
If you have answered D or E in each question then you are scoring high on the challenge but low on the support. Accordingly, your team’s performance may be impacting on your time and financial success due to it being a high stress environment.
If we equip you with some leadership techniques so that you can see where and how to balance the high challenge environment with some appropriate and relevant support, your team’s performance and the impact on your performance will improve.
If you would like to find out more about your leadership style and how it might be impacting the performance of your team then book a FREE 40 minute Discovery Call with me now by visiting the website!
The StressLess Clinic
This is a monthly column, which is part of the StressLess Clinic that supports leaders in professional practice. I answer a scenario based on real life events so that we can all learn and improve our leadership techniques. All scenarios are anonymised so it’s just coincidence if they remind you of a colleague; we all experience similar issues!
If you’d like to submit a ‘situation’ to be considered and (if you’re the chosen one!) responded to, please do so via the Contact page on my website! Subscribe to the Skylark Post to ensure you get this monthly column and other news delivered directly to your inbox!