Give Your Teams the Resources They Need

The better you’re able to get your teams what they need to succeed and communicate clearly the incentives and the metrics that you’re measuring, the higher the likelihood that your team is going to be successful.

Leaders are accountable to a lot of people, including the members of their team. They need to make sure that they provide the team the resources they need to deliver on their own goals. Those resources include time, money, approval of initiatives, visibility with senior management, support for whatever the initiative is, and knocking down obstacles.

A leader’s job is to help the team be successful, and it’s unfair for that leader to ask for results without giving the team the resources they need to succeed. Leaders must also be held accountable for setting their teams up to succeed. Leaders need to face the same consequences if they fail to deliver. If the team fails, the leader has failed, and incentives should follow. Now, if the team succeeds, the leader has succeeded, and everybody should get the right bonus and reward that goes along with that performance. Ultimately, a leader is going to build trust between themselves and the members of the team by showing that everyone is in it together.

When I worked for a large financial services firm, we made sure that incentives were aligned at all levels. My boss, one year, was signed up for a $500 million goal. My part of that goal was $100 million. Then we broke that down on my team, and different teams had 30 million or 10 million or 20 million, and it all added up to my 100, which contributed to my boss’s 500. We were all very clear on what we had to deliver. We also understood what the consequences were if we failed and what the rewards were if we exceeded. Fortunately, we had a great year and everyone on the team got a great bonus because we hit our accountabilities.

So, for you as a leader, assess what your team is accountable for and ask them what resources they need to be successful. Then ensure that they have it. If they need budget, go get them budget. If they need you to knock down an obstacle, get to it, because the more you’re able to give them what they need, the higher the likelihood that they’re going to be successful. Next, review the goals and incentives, and make sure they roll up. Everybody’s goals should drive toward the same set of outcomes, and everyone should know, “If we hit our goals, here’s the reward, and if we miss, here are the consequences.”

The better you’re able to get your teams what they need to succeed and communicate clearly the incentives and the metrics that you’re measuring, the higher the likelihood that your team is going to be successful.

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