Taking an Active Role with Your People

This blog is part of a series I am writing about different leadership styles that lend themselves well to leading for well-being. They’re just as good as this one. I suggest you read them here! 

 We’ve all worked for a leader who prides themselves on being laid back. They don’t want to step on your toes, they are loose when it comes to enforcing policies, they want to be your friend. While trusting your employees to excel in their roles and being as flexible as you can are important to a healthy workplace, what if I were to tell you that taking an active role when it comes to your employees is important for their overall well-being? The research would dictate that this type of active leadership, where leaders have frequent check-ins with their team members, stay on top of individual and team communication, and lead by example have a positive impact on employees, compared to their more laissez-faire counterparts (Barling & Frone, 2017).  

But I don’t want to micromanage! 

 I don’t want you to micromanage either, trust me! Active leadership and micromanaging are two entirely different things. Micromanagers assert their dominance over their employees by becoming hyper-focused on trivial components of work. Workflow seldom moves forward without the approval of a micromanager. Active leaders, on the other hand, frequently check in and communicate with their employees. Questions an active leader may ask are “How are you doing with this project?” or “You had mentioned you were having some challenges; how are those coming along and how can I support?” The focus with an active leader is on the person and not on the work. Let’s dig in more on what active leadership looks like. 

How do I lead actively? 

1. Lead by example. One of the best ways to partake in active leadership is to lead by example, especially in the well-being space. If you want to be a flexible leader, here’s where you can be. Make it okay to be healthy at work. Take movement breaks, don’t send emails out of hours, let it be known that you’re picking up your kids from practice and you’re stepping away. If you want your employees to know their well-being is prioritized, demonstrate these healthy leader behaviours yourself, and others will follow (Kaluza et al., 2020).  
2. Schedule check-ins. Whether they are part of a 1:1 meeting, or more informal over Teams or email, check in to see how your employees are doing. Ideally, you know what is going on with them, at the very least from a portfolio perspective. You know when their busy weeks are, if they’re having challenges with a project, or trying to balance many competing priorities. Show you care by checking in, seeing how they’re doing, and, most importantly, be ready to ask how they would like to be supported.  
3. Take a proactive approach to workload. If you know when an employee is far too busy, has too many priorities, or is struggling in balancing their tasks, work together with them to come up with solutions so it doesn’t happen again. Workload smoothing, for example, takes a proactive approach in looking at workload peaks and valleys, and looks at redistributing work to ensure it is more even throughout the year. Are there tasks you can shift during their peak periods in October, and have them be more focused on them in March, when they are less busy? This level of proactivity not only demonstrates to your employees that you care for their well-being, but also want to work collaboratively to manage their workload! 

In my other blog posts, I talk about a care-based approach, as well as leading with humility. If leading for well-being interests you and you would like to learn more, you are in luck. I would love to see you join us for our Leading for Well-being Leadership certification, starting in February. If you would like to learn more, don’t hesitate in reaching out to me.