The well-known saying that people join organizations but leave bad managers raises the question, “How can one avoid being a bad leader?” A team leader becomes the organization’s representative, the team’s confidant, and the person responsible for the workflow. There are many strategies, practices, and opinions on what “good” management is. I asked some of the seasoned leaders at Clurgo about their tried-and-true methods.

Surprisingly, their answers have a lot in common. Most of them emphasize that leaders and project managers are humans, too. Their roles focus on working with people. Thus, quoting the words of one of the Clurgo PM’s: A leader must be a social being. That is one of the most important come-ups from my interviews. The other answers hovered around the points listed below:

 

1. Don’t be afraid!
2. Prioritize communication and listening to the team
3. Be open in collaboration
4. Be flexible in action
5. Stand in solidarity with your team
6. Be consistent in pursuing the goal
7. Let people do their job

And, last but not least, bonus advice: Don’t want to be a “leader” 😉

Let’s talk about these practices and approaches a bit more. What do they mean, exactly? I’ve asked PM’s and team leaders at Clurgo to explain their perspective. Join me to discover the answers!

Above all, embrace uncertainty

Do not fear showing weakness or asking for advice from experienced colleagues.

Fear is a natural human emotion, signaling potential dangers, yet it should not overshadow decision-making, especially in team interactions or feedback sessions.
What should a good leader do about it? Accept fear, but do not let it influence our attitude. In such moments, it is worth seeking advice from an experienced colleague in the industry and continuing the set goal together with the team and the client. As one of Project Managers at Clurgo puts it: At some point, you should use all available advice and external opinions to avoid project damage. It’s supposed to be your development. Don’t be afraid to ask experienced people. You don’t have to take it, but based on such a response, you can form your practice, your opinion. Take advantage of others’ advice.
Seeking advice is neither a sign of weakness nor does asking for it mean you must follow it. Our HR Leader Aleksandra Cieśla emphasizes that one should filter the information that comes in, and finding one’s work style and aligning with personal values helps appropriately adapt acquired tips: I try to filter the knowledge I receive or that is new to me. Adjust it to myself, my needs, and values. I keep what is in harmony with me.

I imagine that fear and uncertainty may also stem from a feeling of insufficient competence and knowledge. Known in psychology as the imposter syndrome (feeling uncertain, inadequate, and “fraudulent” in some areas despite achieving success), it can inhibit agency and lower the daily attitude of both newcomers and experienced individuals.

According to the advice of Kamil Korga, our longtime IT Team Leader and Lublin branch manager, it is then worthwhile to refer to the context and be open to others’ opinions:
If you don’t know something, don’t lie. Often, people who become leaders fear that team members may accuse them of incompetence. It seems to me that our field, programming, is broad enough that one cannot know everything very well and lead in every aspect. So, if you don’t know something but someone in the team does, you just have to accept it, and learn it later.

It’s all about listening

Prioritize communication and listening to the team.

The ability to listen is the soft skill that most leaders I spoke to talked about. It seems that a good leader must first and foremost be open to what the team has to say. While gathering advice from the Clurgo people, I also heard some important information 😉 You will find it below:

Above all, listen, that’s the most important.
Kamil Korga, IT Teams Leader and Lublin branch manager

First, entering a team that is already formed, one needs to get to know it. A team consists of personalities that are different from each other. Each person is motivated by different things, each has different goals. Therefore, it’s worth getting to know the team as a group, as well as individual members.
Aleksandra Cieśla, HR Team Leader

Daily communication is the key to success. You need to maintain this communication in the team through daily meetings or chat etc. I try to talk not only with the leaders but also with each team member individually.
Karol Lach, Project Manager at Clurgo

Communication is fundamental, but how to create and practice it daily without listening to each other? Creating a space for open communication, allowing mistakes, and the opportunity to share ideas makes team members feel heard and appreciated, and the realization of a common goal moves in the right direction.

Every situation is a dialogue. The most important thing is to listen and understand the other side. This is always the key to success. One should approach from a partnership position.
Bartosz Manicki, Gdynia Branch Manager

Stay Open to Other’s Perspective

Stay open to people, to various solutions. Simply stay open.

Krzysztof Dekarz, Team Leader and Branch Manager in Białystok

Curiosity about another person, respect for different opinions, and the opportunity to share one’s view. This is how Clurgo leaders and project managers implement the aforementioned good practice. Karol highlights the importance of being approachable and fostering relationships: Such a person must be easy in making contacts. You can’t lock yourself in your own desk. The Project Manager must reach out to people. This is also a person who very quickly adopts these acquaintances, that is, establishes relationships.

The adopted strategy of openness can also be understood as an attitude towards collaboration and flexible response to emerging problems. At Clurgo, we focus on teamwork, but we also value an individual approach to people in the group.

I think that a difficult element in the role of a Leader is dealing with various expectations. You have to be able to approach this during teamwork. Then you adjust different methods, for example, motivating. In my work, I understand that sometimes it’s a matter of changing the project, sometimes adjusting working hours or pointing out a new task. You need to pay attention to this and try to adjust –  explains Krzysztof.

Karol seconds him: There are plenty of staffing, team, technical, etc., problems in the project. The person in this position must solve them. It starts with conversation, getting to know people, and arranging cooperation with each of them individually to reach them. It’s worth getting to know their needs and expectations. Answer the question whether the team knows why we are doing this? Do they know where the success is when we achieve the goal?

Stand in Solidarity with Your Team

 Stand behind your team. People appreciate that.

A leader or a project manager also combines individual employees’ goals with the organization’s goals in their work. This does not mean that such a person is not a full-fledged member of the group, quite the contrary! Often, they present the team’s joint work in front of, for example, a client. In such situations, it’s important to remember to stand in solidarity with your team, as Kamil remarks: Stand behind your team. People appreciate that. As Karol puts it, teamwork is also a shared responsibility: The Project Manager is a person who looks for a solution. However, he does not look alone, but looks with people. We are a team. He explains: The flexibility of the Leader is manifested in solving problems, and these can appear at different levels. Proper communication, cooperation with the team, and being consistent in action become important.

Let People Do Their Job

Micromanagement ends badly

We all know cases related to excessive control at work, micro-managing, and meetings that were supposed to be “just a moment.” The conclusions from such practices for our leaders and project managers are clear: it ends badly. So, at Clurgo, we allow for autonomy in action and clearly define team roles and goals. As Karol highlights: Show the team the goal, the benefits we have from the project. Because working, performing tasks, for specific money – that’s not everything. We as people need a goal. We need to know what we are aiming for. It also affects the good atmosphere in the team and communication.

IT team leaders are looking at the subject from a similar perspective: The IT leader’s job is about listening to the team members. Asking them for a proposal to solve the problem, and then allowing it to be implemented. I believe that we just need people to do their job. – says Grzegorz Futa, Team Leader in IT. Also Michał Chmielarz highlights the role of autonomy at work: After achieving a high level of team harmony, it is necessary to allow people autonomy in action. It is good to help, explain, clarify, but at the same time give space for their own work and stand aside.

Why do you want to be a leader?

Chasing the next career rungs is not good for everyone, and beware of becoming a living example of the Peter Principle! At Clurgo we have a rather flat structure, and although the leader stands at the forefront of the group, they are also part of it. As they Michał admits:

I am not a machine for making and assigning tasks, evaluating, checking. I am also a team member, I am a human.

First, ask yourself why do you want to be a leader? What does it add to you? That someone will call you a leader? – concludes Grzegorz.

Let us remember to be guided by curiosity and passion in our professional lives 🙂

If you are looking for a new team that works in the spirit described in the text, check our career section and make sure to come back next week for a new article from the series!