How to Normalize Leading in All Directions
by Katie Edwards
For the last several years of my career, I have been in the middle tier of leadership at my church. As a student pastor, there were people who led me, people I led with, and people I led as well. So, every day, I had opportunities to lead up, out, and down.
Because of that, over the years, I have read many books and consumed a lot of content on leading up well or leading in culture well. However, a few years ago, I stepped into leading a larger team, which caused my perspective to shift in this area.
Immediately, I noticed something was off in the team culture. There didn’t seem to be much leading up or collaboration in how people led others. It just felt like there was something stifling everyone a little bit. Some people on the team were afraid to lead up out of fear of getting in trouble, which created this culture of fear. At the same time, those leading others were leading in a top-down way as they told others what they would do instead of inviting collaboration.
The culture did not allow people to lead in all directions.
So, I began to dig in a little bit and ask this question,
“What would it look like for everyone to feel like they could lead no matter where they were in our organization?”
I learned that the best and healthiest team cultures are created when everyone believes they contribute to the culture they exist in. So, it became essential to establish permission for everyone to lead whoever they were sitting in the room with.
As I lead and learn through this, I keep thinking about the Angels, the sports team I cheer for. While I haven’t been on the team, I imagine that when you join the team there are things you just do that are normal.
They get a uniform and wear it.
I imagine that they hit a poster before leaving the dugout.
There are probably traditions that are just a normal a part being on the team.
As I thought about team culture, I wondered what it would look like to normalize leading in all directions. I didn’t want it to feel like a practice we got from a book but instead a regular part of our culture.
So, the question was, “How do we normalize leading in all directions?”
To do that, there were a few other practices and ideas that we had to normalize first.
1. Normalize respect for every role.
My church (and most churches) has an org chart and a hierarchy. Everyone on staff has people they report to and people who report to them. But, I wanted everyone on the team to feel like they were part of the team and there was respect for their role no matter where they landed on the org chart. Everyone in the room needed to know their role was significant and their voice was unique.
Sometimes, as humans, we give higher respect to people depending on their role, but what if we tossed that out in our churches? What if no matter what role people played or where they landed on the org chart, they experienced respect for their role on the team and their obedience to what God was asking them to do?
When people feel significant and like their role is respected, they will feel more comfortable leading out, leading up, and leading down.
2. Normalize curiosity.
You know this. There is a difference between asking questions and questioning.
Questioning says, “Why did you do it like that?”
Curiosity says, “Can you tell me more about that? Can you help me understand where you were coming from?”
Curiosity helps us understand the why behind things while still believing the best about the other person. Curiosity says, “I trust you even if I still have questions.”
Curiosity is good and helps us believe questions are okay. More than that, a culture of curiosity gives everyone permission to lead up and lead down.
3. Normalize feedback.
Feedback is so helpful in the roles we play. I love feedback because I want to improve and be at my best. However, as a leader, some people are nervous about giving it to me. So, creating a culture where everyone feels comfortable asking for and giving feedback is essential.
However, to create a healthy culture around feedback, we also need to teach everyone to give feedback that is for the person receiving it, not for them. Often, we do the opposite and give others feedback that is more for ourselves than it is for them. So, flipping that narrative is crucial.
4. Normalize fun.
It can be tempting to think this is silly, but do not underestimate the power of fun and how it can transform team culture. As a senior leader, iyour team needs to see you having fun because it makes you seem more human. At the same time. there is something that happens when everyone is relaxed and having fun together. Fun leads to trust, and trust leads to depth. Fun also nudges open a door that allows people to share with you that they may not at other times.
5. Normalize “best idea wins.”
A room where the best idea wins has a really healthy team culture. When the best idea wins we invite collaboration from different roles and perspective. If you say that the best idea wins and you follow through it will create normalcy for leading up and leading down.
Then when people see that the mission and vision are most important thing and you will prioritize the idea that meets that goal instead of what person came up with the idea, everyone feels more permission to contribute.
Investing in the culture of your team will always be a worthwhile investment, because a healthy team will be one less task distracting you from the mission ahead, and it will determine how you live out your mission.
