The #1 way to protect your team ⏰
↩️UNFOLLOW University — August 11, 2023
Happy Friday!
In 2019, I was appointed to lead global marketing at Patrón Tequila, reporting to the CEO. Instantly, I was catapulted into a matrix of invisible expectations, conflicting priorities and seismic cultural change. It was my job to deal with overwhelming work without being overwhelmed.
As I onboarded into the new role, I hosted a series of meetings with senior leaders for feedback and guidance. One unanimous priority emerged: Protect the brand.
But then I had the same type of meetings with my peers and direct reports. When I talked to the people actually doing the work, another imperative became clear: Protect the team.
Protect the brand. Protect the team. Got it.
It meant saying “no” more than “yes.” It required being understood more than being liked. It demanded that I never sacrifice clarity for diplomacy. It was tough work.
As I limped towards the holiday season that first year, I found a book to read during winter vacation called It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work. In between my time on the Colorado slopes - where I paid good money to learn how to fall in the snow - I was convicted of a simple yet profound idea in the book.
An idea so simple, in fact, I started to implement it before I even finished the book.
I learned this: The best way to protect the brand was to protect the people who managed it.
But the only way to protect the people was to prioritize the very thing we treated as disposable. Our time.
🤯 Radical Truth
The #1 way to protect your team is to protect their time.
Workaholism is a choice, not a condition.
Protecting a brand or business means protecting the energy, focus and clarity of the people who run it. By respecting your team’s time and defending their autonomy, you create a culture where people can do the best work of their careers.
If protecting time is so essential to successful leadership, why isn’t it easier to do?
Because it feels more comfortable to be in control. When you approve, direct, measure and monitor all the team’s decisions, it feels like you’re making the right progress. By controlling the actions you have more confidence in the outcomes.
But all of this oversight, second-guessing and governance requires more of the one thing you can’t create: time. And people don’t execute strategies on a Powerpoint slide. They execute projects and initiatives that deliver results. By maximizing control we unknowingly minimize time.
The alternative is to protect time by leading with context. Instead of controlling individual roles, start clarifying important responsibilities:
👁 Clarify the vision of the team.
📣 Name the most important problem(s).
🔌 Empower the team to take responsibility.
What would it take to let your team build their own processes and decide how best to use their time?
For me, that meant redefining the word “productivity” beyond being busy or checking tasks off a list. I wanted my team to embrace Charles Duhigg’s brilliant definition of productivity: “Getting things done without sacrificing everything we care about along the way.”
I know what you’re doing. You’re listing all the employees and co-workers who this approach would never work on.
You’re right. There are many legitimate exceptions.
But the employees you have to control to get work done are not the right employees for your team. Mistake prevention is not a reliable way to grow your team’s capabilities. They are costing you time, not creating opportunities. You owe it to everyone to invite them to find a better fit elsewhere.
The lack of time to execute the right strategy is a bigger risk than executing the wrong one. With time, the right teams will learn faster and evolve into better versions of themselves than you could conceive on your own.
The only way to protect their innovation, motivation and communication is to empower them to invest their time in solving your biggest problems and pursuing your boldest opportunities.
Stop the stupid work. Know the difference between giving direction and being a distraction. Give them room to change their mind, and yours. Take care of your business and your team by protecting their time.
⚡️Courageous Question
What’s keeping me from letting my team decide the best use of their time? What am I afraid of losing?
🗣 Wonderful Words
“Workaholism is a contagious disease. You can't stop the spread if you're the one bringing it to the office.”
- Jason Friend & David Hansson
🙏🏽 Prayer Package
God, time can seem so quick and fleeting that I forget it’s a gift. I know my days are numbered. Teach me to direct each one along a path of eternal significance, especially when the weeks get grueling or mundane. Whether I’m leading people or projects, may I be mindful that every person is uniquely created to bring you glory in heaven and on earth. Since time itself has to submit to you, interrupt my artificial need for control and certainty so I can lean into full dependency on you. Amen.
🎵 Just As Sure - Tori Kelly ⏳
🛠 Practical Tool
The chaos, anxiety and stress of "normal" work isn't normal, it's stupid. It Doesn't Have To Be Crazy at Work asserts the difference between crazy busyness and focused productivity isn't longer hours but less waste, distraction and complexity.
Here are a few of my favorite takeaways from the book:
It's time for companies to stop asking their employees to breathlessly chase ever-higher, ever-more-artificial targets set by ego.
Hustlemania has captured a monopoly on entrepreneurial inspiration. It's time to snap out of it.
A great work ethic isn't about working whenever you're called upon. It's about doing what you say you're going to do, putting in a fair day's work, respecting the work, respecting the customer and respecting your coworkers.
Companies love to declare "we're all family here." No, you're not. The best companies aren't families. They're supporters of families. Allies of families. You don't have to pretend to be a family to be courteous.
The book includes great lessons for leaders who want to reset their relationship with control, time & results. In my recent roles, I’ve adapted these 2 tools:
Focus Fridays - Meeting-free time to plan or do deep work.
Ideal Week - We each create our perfect week and then share it with our teams as we test new schedules.
Try it out!
If you’re new to UNFOLLOW University you can learn more about me here or check out my previous posts.
See you next UNFOLLOW Friday!
Sign up for the ↩️Unfollow University newsletter
Every Friday I’ll send you 5 courageous ideas to help you redesign your work life by making better career decisions:
🤯 Radical Truth - A story from me
⚡️ Courageous Question - A challenge for you
🗣 Wonderful Words - A quote worth remembering
🙏🏽 Prayer Package - A moment of meditation
🛠 Practical Tool - An actionable resource
