I’ve asked for you.

A friend of mine is fond of saying, “What is less important is your understanding of the practice of leadership. What matters most is practicing that understanding of leadership.” Your people don’t respond to what you know, they respond to what you do. Trust me, they aren’t always aware of what you might be thinking, but they are keenly tuned in to your behavioral patterns. What you know affects you. What you do influences how others respond to you. Last year, we asked what your people want you to do as their leader.

In my blog on January 10, I told you about the study we conducted with employees around the world. We asked four very simple questions:

• If you could tell your boss just one thing about his or her leadership of you, what would you say?
• In leading you, what do you want your boss to start doing?
• In leading you, what do you want your boss to stop doing?
• In leading you, what do you want your boss to continue doing?

Within that blog I discussed the global feedback they provided on the first question – “what they want you to know.” The simple truth revealed was that your people aren’t angry; they are waiting … waiting for you to engage them.

Now, let’s see if we can’t articulate a second simple truth from what they want you to start, stop and continue doing in leading them.

2^nd Simple Truth – there is power in protocol.

You can define “protocol” as an accepted code of behavior, a prescribed approach for correct conduct or action, or a set of conventional principles and expectations. A living example would be a physician’s protocol when interacting with patients with compromised immune systems. The protocol calls for disinfectant, gloves and masks before any contact with a patient. These actions are universally accepted in preventing or avoiding infection and complication. What then are the accepted principles and expectations for a leader’s conduct or action?

Our study revealed a triad of expectations. Your people want three things, and following this leader’s protocol is key to preventing disengagement in your team.

Communication – Feedback – Autonomy

Communication…feedback…autonomy – these are the expectations of your team members. We asked employees from Singapore to Syracuse about what they want from their boss. Using text analytics on hundreds of thousands of words, we’ve uncovered new rules of engagement in a no-normal world. Let’s take a little closer look at how each of them comes alive.

Communication

Your first consideration when someone knocks on your office door and asks, “Got a minute?” lies in understanding and responding to the communication needs that exist at that moment with that particular person. Two questions might help you do just that:

• What is the purpose of your communication? There are really only three reasons to communicate; relate (to establish or maintain association), influence (to sway or have a desired effect), or inform (to transfer knowledge or provoke awareness). Try setting a target for the purpose of your communication before you speak.
• What style of communication would be most effective? The easiest taxonomy to use is that of simply extrovert versus introvert. If you’re talking to an introvert, try being a little quieter yourself. If that person is an extrovert, try to open up just a bit. The rules of engagement are simple. Understand your purpose, adapt to their style.

Feedback

Their voice is clear – they want to know how they’re doing! They want to know what you think. They want feedback, and they want it from you.

Don’t forget that feedback can take on two forms; both process and praise, and they’re both important.

• Process – When you’re addressing process, three words are relevant in the moment: quality, quantity and time. Quality means, are they meeting your specification as to how well it needs to be done? Quantity invokes a number, a metric. Are their numbers made or missed? And, time is a reflection of performance with respect to deadline. Are they first or last, early or late?

• Praise – When offering praise, three words are also relevant: effort, contribution, and growth. When offering praise, target your words. Effort is about energy, intensity, and exertion. Contribution is about either personal output or impact on of others. And, finally, praise centered on growth is about improvement. You know your people. You know their work. Is a given moment best spent on process or praise – or both?

Autonomy

This last element a follower needs in a leader’s protocol is autonomy. Followers care about independence, responsibility and the freedom to make decisions (and even mistakes). Indicators of autonomy weigh heavily on the minds of your team members. They think about it, a lot. In response, you should be thinking about ownership and exit.

• Ownership – The central question is, should their efforts be self-directed or by you, and what is your own degree of reluctance to let go? Key to making this call is clarity around the nature of the task involved, and the authority to act. Strangely enough, their autonomy is in your hands. Remember that. Act on that (or allow them to).

• Exit – the second consideration in letting go is having a conscious exit strategy to get you out of their work. To do this, understand two concepts; data and delta. Data has to do with facts, statistics or information used as your basis for decision-making. What data do you need to see to be able to let go? The word “delta” signifies change. Look for change in their performance that demonstrates a new level of mastery. We can almost always spot growth – but only if we’re looking for it. Let your exit strategy accelerate along the curve of their competence.

There is power in protocol. Our challenge in leading in a no-normal world will be adopting – practicing – a powerful new leader’s protocol. Doing, not just knowing.