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Quick Lift: How to Stop Micromanaging and Help Your Team Grow · Loud & Lifted

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  Welcome to Loud and Lifted Quick Lift, where
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  we take the biggest takeaways from a full episode
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  and turn them into something practical you can
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  use this week, all in 10 minutes or less. I'm
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  your host, Betsy Hamm. I sat down with Lia Garvin,
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  author of the new manager playbook, to talk about
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  how we can become better managers, and specifically,
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  how we recognize the things we might be doing
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  that are making it harder for our teams to succeed.
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  because we have had plenty of conversations on
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  this podcast about bad bosses. And it's usually
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  pretty easy to think of someone who fits that
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  description. It gets a little bit more uncomfortable
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  when we ask what our own teams would say about
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  us. You might care about your people, have high
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  expectations, and work really hard to support
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  them, but still have habits that are getting
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  in their way. That's what made this conversation
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  so useful. Leah gave us specific things to look
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  for and changes we can actually make. So let's
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  walk through the key takeaways and what you can
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  do with them. The first takeaway is that being
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  good at your job and being good at managing people
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  are different skills. We talked about how often
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  someone gets promoted because they're great at
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  what they do. You're an amazing salesperson.
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  So now you get to manage the sales team. You
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  know the business inside and out. So suddenly
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  you have five people reporting to you. But nobody
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  necessarily teaches you how to coach someone,
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  address performance issues, or delegate without
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  taking everything back. I share that early in
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  my career, I wanted to keep moving up. I wanted
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  the title, the opportunity, the compensation,
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  all the things that come with growing your career.
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  But I don't think I fully understood the responsibility
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  that came with having people report to me. And
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  part of that responsibility is accepting that
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  your success now depends on how you help other
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  people succeed. You can't keep measuring your
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  value only by how much work you personally get
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  done. Your action item here is to identify one
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  management skill you need to develop. Be specific.
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  Maybe it's do you avoid difficult conversations
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  or you struggle to give useful feedback or you
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  don't know how to delegate clearly. Then decide
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  where you're going to get the support. whether
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  that's asking an experienced leader, working
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  with a coach, or finding a training you can put
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  into practice. You don't have to know everything
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  because you have the title. You just have to
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  be open to keep learning. The second takeaway
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  is that being involved in everything can prevent
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  your team from growing. Leah described three
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  patterns worth paying attention to. You're in
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  every meeting. You're making every decision,
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  and when someone asks for more responsibility,
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  you struggle to give them something meaningful.
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  And I can see easily how this happens. You know
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  the client, you know the history, and you can
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  probably answer the question faster. It feels
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  helpful to jump in. But if you're always there
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  to answer, decide, and solve, when does someone
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  else get to learn? This also affects your own
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  growth. If you want a bigger role, but everything
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  in your current role depends on you, you haven't
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  created much room to move forward. So your action
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  item here is to find one place where you can
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  give someone more ownership this week. It might
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  be leading a meeting, making a decision, or managing
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  a project you have been holding onto. Have a
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  conversation about what success looks like, what
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  they can decide, and when you'll check in. Then
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  give them enough a space to actually do it. And
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  the next time someone asks you what to do, try
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  asking, what do you recommend? Before offering
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  your answer. You may still need to coach them
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  through it, but you're giving them an opportunity
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  to build judgment instead of waiting for yours.
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  The third takeaway is that a lack of urgency
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  might actually be a lack of clarity. This one
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  is so practical because I think most of us have
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  experienced the frustration of asking for something
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  and wondering why it hasn't happened yet. Meanwhile,
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  the other person may have no idea you expected
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  it today. Leah suggested that when you hand something
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  off, give a deadline, explain why that timing
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  matters and check whether it's doable. So instead
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  of saying, hey, can you follow up with that client?
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  You might say, can you follow up by tomorrow
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  afternoon? We need their approval before we can
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  finalize the order on Friday. What else on your
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  plate might affect this? This gives the person
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  context and a chance to raise a concern before
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  you're both frustrated. And I added another piece
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  during our conversation because I have absolutely
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  learned this one by messing it up. Be clear about
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  who owns it. I've been in leadership meetings
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  where a project touched several departments and
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  I thought we had a good conversation about what
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  needed to happen next. Then we come back a week
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  later and nothing had moved because everyone
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  thought someone else was handling it. Collaboration
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  is great, but we still need one person accountable
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  for moving the project forward. Your action item
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  is to use the next assignment as a clarity check.
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  Does someone clearly own it? Have you agreed
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  on the deadline and explained why it matters?
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  Have you asked what might get in the way? That
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  conversation upfront can save a lot of follow
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  -up later. The next takeaway is that your leadership
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  needs to hold up when things get difficult. Leah
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  asked a question I really liked. What qualities
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  do you want to embody as a manager, especially
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  when you're under pressure? Because it's easy
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  to be encouraging and cheerleader -y when everything
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  is going well. It's harder when someone makes
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  a mistake, a deadline gets missed, or you're
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  getting pressure from your own boss. That's when
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  your team learns what they can expect from you.
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  If you want to be approachable, what happens
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  when someone brings you bad news? If you want
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  to be direct, can you clearly address a performance
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  issue with someone you really like? If you want
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  to be supportive, can you help someone work through
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  a mistake while still holding them accountable?
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  Your action item is to choose two qualities you
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  want people to experience in your leadership.
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  Then think about a recent difficult situation
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  and ask yourself whether those qualities showed
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  up in your behavior. You might even share what
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  you're working on with your team. But... If you
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  invite feedback, make sure you're prepared to
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  listen when someone gives it. How you respond
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  will affect whether they do it again. The last
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  takeaway is to make your existing conversations
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  more useful. This doesn't require adding another
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  meeting to everyone's calendar. It starts with
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  looking at what you're doing and the meetings
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  you already have. I mentioned in the interview
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  that I've had managers tell me, well, I have
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  weekly one -on -ones with my people. And my question
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  is, OK, but what are you talking about? Because
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  the meeting itself doesn't tell us whether someone
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  is getting what they need. If you spend the entire
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  conversation going through updates, you may never
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  learn where they're struggling, what they're
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  excited about, or what they want to do next.
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  Leah shared that she once asked a manager for
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  more responsibility and was offered the opportunity
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  to take notes in a meeting. She wanted a chance
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  to develop, and her manager hadn't understood
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  what she was even asking for. That's a useful
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  reminder to ask a follow -up question instead
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  of assuming we know. Your action item is to leave
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  room in your next one -on -one to ask, what would
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  you like more experience doing? Or where are
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  you getting stuck and what kind of support do
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  you need from me? Then connect what you hear
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  to something you can follow through on. Maybe
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  there's a project they can lead, an introduction
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  you can make, or a decision you need to clarify.
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  Those conversations help you understand your
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  people well enough to support their growth. So
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  as you think about all of this, It can feel overwhelming,
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  but just choose one place to start. You probably
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  recognize something that could use your attention,
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  whether that's holding on too tightly, being
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  unclear about expectations, or rushing through
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  conversations with your team. Pick one action
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  and try it this week. Then pay attention to what
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  changes. Leadership takes practice, and that
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  practice happens in these everyday moments. If
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  you haven't listened to the full conversation
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  with Leah, please do so and you'll find the links
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  for Leah's new manager playbook in the show notes.
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  And if you're getting something out of Latin
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  Lifted, please follow the show wherever you listen
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  and leave a review. It helps more women find
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  these conversations. Thanks for listening and
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  until next time, stay loud and keep lifting.