One of the most important shifts leaders make is also one of the easiest to overlook: As their responsibilities grow, their definition of “my team” must grow with them.
Early in their careers, leaders often think of “my team” as the individuals they directly manage. But as leaders move into roles with greater organizational influence, their scope must expand. By the time they sit around the executive table, their team is no longer simply their function. Their team is the organization.
Recent research from Harvard Business Review reinforces this idea, describing the transition to executive leadership as a shift from leading a function to stewarding the enterprise. As a leader’s role expands, so must their perspective — and, ultimately, their leadership identity. They begin to measure success less by the performance of their individual area and more by the success of the organization as a whole.
HR professionals can play an important role in helping leaders adopt this mindset. Because our work touches people, policies, and practices across the organization, we are often in a unique position to see how decisions in one area affect another. That gives us an opportunity to help developing leaders look beyond their own teams and think more broadly about what the organization needs to succeed.
Here are a few ways to help leaders make that transition:
Expand the questions they ask. Encourage leaders to look at decisions from more than their department’s point of view. How will this affect other teams, customers, organizational priorities, and long-term goals? What seems like the right answer for one function may not be the right answer for the organization. Asking these questions consistently helps leaders develop an enterprise perspective as they prepare for greater responsibilities.
Help them advocate differently. Leaders should bring the knowledge and perspective of their function to the conversation and help others understand the implications for their teams. But advocacy should not mean pursuing a “win” for one department at the expense of the larger organization. Sometimes the best decision for the company may mean directing resources or attention to another area. Mature leaders can support that decision while helping their teams understand the reasoning behind it.
Develop people, not dependence. As leaders grow, they should help others build the skills and confidence to take on more. That might mean giving someone the opportunity to work through a difficult problem instead of immediately stepping in. It could mean providing candid feedback, delegating an important responsibility, or inviting an employee into a conversation that stretches their thinking. Instead of creating dependence on the leader, they create capability and ownership within the team.
Help their teams see the bigger picture, too. As leaders begin to see the organization more holistically, encourage them to bring their teams with them. They can explain why decisions are being made, how their work connects to organizational priorities, and how other departments contribute to shared goals. The more employees understand the business beyond their own roles, the better prepared they are to collaborate, make thoughtful decisions, and grow into larger responsibilities themselves.
One of the defining expectations of higher-level leadership is this: Bring the perspective of your function. Make decisions on behalf of the enterprise. Develop people who can think the same way.
For HR professionals, the opportunity is to help leaders build this mindset early and reinforce it as their influence grows.
The greatest leaders do not simply build strong departments. They build stronger leaders, stronger partnerships, and ultimately, a stronger organization.n
Julie Tuggle-Nguyen is Chief Administrative Officer at Midwest BankCentre.