Choose Your Team Wisely

“Choose your team wisely, it will make all the difference.” He left it at that, peering over his coffee mug at me as I mindlessly poked at my half-eaten omelet. “How am I supposed to do that?” Looking down at his coffee, he responded, almost to himself, “That is the question.”

As you can imagine, breakfast with one of my oldest and dearest mentors is a lot like breaking open a fortune cookie while asking for relationship advice. Despite the vague, “you’re on your own kid” response, his words stuck with me. I ran with the question and started to imagine my team as so much more than the one I was building at MySherri. I call them my home team and my away team.

My team at home and my team at work are paramount to my success. In fact, I am convinced (and the data supports) that without building my team at home first, there likely wouldn’t be a team at work. According to the 2022 McKinsey Women at Work report – as women progress in their careers to senior manager roles, the percentage of household labor they manage remains largely unchanged. Whereas, male counterparts see their contribution at home decrease by as much as 60%. Perhaps more importantly, women in management are citing a lack of balance between work and home as being a key factor in their decision to leave the workforce. 

So how do we effectively build teams both at home and at work that can execute meaningfully?

Here are the three steps I take when I work with someone on my team:

• Entrust: This part seems simple, right? Just delegate the task. Turns out that doing this well is key to your team being successful. For me, clear and concise communication on what I need and when I need it works.
• Empower: I find this is the most difficult part. If I have handed off a task with a clear expected outcome and timeline, I have to trust the process and let my team execute. If they hit a block or have questions, I am here. My job is not to micromanage their process.
• Evaluate: This part is so important for both parties! Feedback for growth is paramount to success. I always try to incorporate 360 feedback to provide how I think it went, but also open the opportunity for my team members to express what went well or what could be done differently in the future. 

I did not learn overnight to delegate, trust the process, and provide feedback for growth. It took time, patience, and a self-awareness of how I could be a better team player on my own team. I have learned a ton from Tiffany Sauder of Scared Confident (highly recommend you check out her podcast and resources).

Entrusting someone else with our needs while empowering them to execute is an exercise in personal growth, and providing feedback to strengthen the partnership is fundamental to success. By doing these three things, I have found it opens up time and opportunities for me to engage in the projects and with the people that matter most. 

At MySherri, it is our privilege to be one of those partners for you. Our mantra is, “Feedback is our love language,” because after 22 months and dozens of clients, we know without your feedback to help us grow we wouldn’t be here.  As part of your “Home Team,” we are hustling alongside you and are excited to see your success!