Starting new conversations and changing the way things are where you work can seem daunting at first. Often we have a sense of what’s needed but we don’t have the right words to put it in motion. Ben from Wildcats Hockey has you covered. This is the email he sent to his team in his first week with us that’s led to some major openings in his culture. It’s a great example of how one executive got things rolling.
In staying true to our company culture of continually working on ourselves and being better leaders and experts in our field, I’ve been doing some study on effective management and leadership of high-level organizations, and more than a little self-reflection on my own areas of improvement. I’ve decided to make the following changes going forward:
1. Out of respect for everyone’s time, our weekly one-on-one meetings will now be 30 minutes and start and end on time. I feel that our week has become long meeting after long meeting and I often do not keep to my agreements of starting and ending on time. That’s not fair to you as you try and balance all of your busy work schedules and life priorities.
2. The focus of these development meetings going forward will be for me to support YOU in your personal career development, NOT for me to micromanage you and go through your task list. (There can be other meetings scheduled to work on specific projects or other needs).
3. I’m committed to showing you more trust and respect by focusing these meetings on big picture themes and priorities, and trusting that you have everything you need to accomplish the results your position requires and that you are clear on what those results are.
4. I will also trust everyone to let me know anytime you do not have what you need to achieve your goals or can’t solve a problem on your own or with another team member. In that case, what I ask is that you book a separate meeting on my calendar for that, or send me an email outlining what it is you’re struggling with that you need support on.
5. I am going to pull myself out of our weekly “directors calls”, and let you run those calls as you see fit based on what each of you needs in terms of logistics and support from each other. I’ll be there for the first 10 minutes of this next one just to talk a bit more about this new format and to be there for any questions and/or concerns.
6. I will be scheduling some additional brainstorming or launch meetings on specific projects, but these will not be a regular weekly requirement, and I’ll send you an outline of the specific focus and agenda in advance.
7. Finally, I’d like to discuss this new format with each of you individually to get your thoughts on it in our next development meetings.Please let me know you got this.
Thanks,
Ben
