Imagine for a moment that you have been directly tasked, by someone several levels above you, to complete a large project. As you are working, several questions arise that you would love to discuss with that senior manager.

The manager claimed to have an open door policy, but as you check the schedule, you see there is precious little time on it. So, you decide to go up and see if you can catch the manager in the office with the door open. To your surprise, the manager is there and welcomes you in without hesitation, even though it is another busy day.

As you talk you get answers to your questions, but the manager's own questions turn the meeting into a coaching session. The manager even makes a call to postpone the next meeting so you can keep talking.   

A few months later someone on your team pops into your cube for one clarifying question. Before they even ask their question you tell them, "I am super busy right now, can you check my calendar and find a time where we are both free?"  You then quickly turn back to your computer and ignore them until they leave.

What you don't know as you say this is that the senior manager who was so helpful to you was in the adjacent cube talking with someone else. You go to get a drink of water and see the manager in the hallway. You know your conversation was overheard, and feel palpable disappointment from your leader.

You may have one of these two bosses; you may be one of these two bosses. I am fortunate to work with several senior leaders who are very giving with their time, and have, in the past, had those who were not so giving. There are a lot of phrases out there for different types of leadership styles, but those leaders that I have most appreciated are the ones I would categorize as giving. Furthermore, the teams that I have been on with a giving leader are much stronger. Team building is extremely important and is one of the core competencies in the Leading People Executive Core Qualification for the Senior Executive Service.

Now being a giving leader can mean a lot of different things. As I began thinking about this topic, three main areas came to mind about what embodies a giving leader. These three are:

  • The Giving of Your Time
  • The Giving of Your Knowledge
  • The Giving of Your Defense

I want to briefly describe how I view these based on my experience and from talking with many members of Young Government Leaders (YGL).

Giving of Time

This one I believe is the hardest to do because going to either end of the spectrum is not helpful. On one end is the leader who gives no time, sending the occasional email and seeing direct reports only during official performance reviews. This leads to frustration and the probability of miscommunication dramatically increases. The other extreme is giving your time constantly, which leads to micro-managing. Finding a balance between these two is challenging, especially as different people work best at different parts of the spectrum. Self-reflection and having a true open door policy is a good start.

Giving of Knowledge

Many managers are promoted based on their technical expertise. However, there is the tendency to continue to be the technical expert once you are the manager. Another temptation is to hoard knowledge; if you are the only one who has it, you believe you are indispensable. Continually fight these temptations. I would recommend doing an inventory of your team’s tasks, see which ones where you are the only person assigned, bring in others to help with those, and look for tasks that can be coaching opportunities to share your knowledge.

Giving of Defense

I struggled with how to categorize this one, but what I mean here is that you are your employees’ champion, always ready to protect and promote them in both private and public conversations. A team without confidence that their boss will stand up for them will be much weaker than one led by a defender. Give the praise to your team and be willing to take the blame when things go awry.

Final Thoughts

A giving leader is one that I want to follow and one that I am striving to become. I would encourage you to give your time, knowledge and defense to the betterment of your team, your agency, and yourself.

Tyler Robinson is Chairman of Young Government Leaders, and Director of the Portfolio Risk & Reporting Division at the Export-Import Bank.

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