As a leader, when you think about who your team is, does the team of subordinates and you as their leader come first, or does your leader’s direct reports and you included come first?
When a manager identifies with the team of specialists below, it is very difficult to get out of the mindset of the specialist. When a leader identifies with the leadership team (even if less time is spent with the team), the organisation is driven forward, the connection of the team under him/her to the organisation increases. Because a leader is an “organisation” for a person, and if the leader doesn’t identify with the next or next level, the team member has nothing to identify with.
It’s not the time you physically spend with one team or another that matters, but the mental and emotional identification. Each manager has two teams – a subordinate team and a management team. Team No 1 should be the lead team, where they go to bring value to team No 2 and bring new value there.
