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Help! My top presenter is not here! What now?
15 minutes earlier...
Sam arrived at the venue for the presentation. She was confident that her top presenter would have already set everything up. But she was instead greeted by a nonchalant team member who casually mentioned that Sharon hadn't shown up.
Sam momentarily felt her like heart stopped. Panic crept in and she lashed out at her team. "Why didn't you call me? Has anyone called Sharon? The presentation is about to start, what am I supposed to do now? Aaaaaaah!!!"
This is a classic symptom of putting all your eggs in one basket as a team leader.
To start off with, Sam's laissez-faire approach can be seen by her arriving 15 minutes before. But surely she's the leader and her team members should have been there before her! Oh yes, and they were. but instead of preparing for the presentation they sat and waited, unconcerned about the impending disaster.
Why? Because Sam had elevated one of them to the position of top presenter, probably thinking it would create healthy competition within the team. But it likely caused discouragement and apathy instead.
It's no wonder they sat back and watched this drama unfold. They had no sense of ownership of the challenge. It wasn't their challenge, it belonged to Sam and her top presenter!
What can you do if you find yourself in this predicament? Let's look at what Sam could have done differently to mitigate this disaster:
Checked in with Sharon an hour before to make sure she was ready. Then she could have asked another team member to step in or prepared to present herself.
Arrived at least 30 minutes beforehand to make sure her team was setting up as planned and fill in any preparation gaps to ensure that the presentation started on time.
Taken a moment to calm down and then engaged her team to find a quick solution instead of lashing out at them.
So what can you do to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket? Don't direct all your efforts, resources and opportunities towards one team member.
Encourage everyone to participate, learn and grow by exposing them to different aspects of an assignment or project. For example, taking turns to create, consolidate and make a presentation.
That way you will be able to see where their strengths and weaknesses lie, then support them to develop individually and accordingly. It also empowers team members to easily step in and help or step up and take over when a colleague is absent.
As team members get used to this way of doing things, not only will it bond them in times of success but it will also bond them in challenging times. This shared sense of ownership will be a huge disincentive for apathy and finger pointing.
Encourage team members specialised in certain skills or with with extensive institutional memory to teach and share their expertise with colleagues. Schedule specific times for these sessions, get everyone a coffee or ice cream (virtual if need be), and make sure you attend! You'll be surprised what you learn and will model the importance of continuous learning and upskilling (no matter your qualifications, experience or position) to your team.
The best part about this approach is that you get to develop a team of confident top presenters and performers.
P.S. if you are in Sam's shoes right now don't worry, it's not too late to turn things around. If you need my help, let me know.
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