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Topics: Leadership, PMO
Leading by Example: How Does It Impact Team Motivation and Performance?
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Ashwin Kumar H M
Community Champion
Consultant| Canarys Automation Ltd Bangalore, Karnataka, India

As leaders, we all have different ways of motivating our teams. One approach I’ve found effective is leading by example—building strong relationships and fostering ownership without imposing strict rules. This has often led to my team willingly putting in extra effort, even late at night or on weekends, without being asked.

While some of my peers feel I’m too lenient with my team and customers, I believe in being assertive only when necessary, rather than constantly imposing authority.

What leadership styles have you found most effective for motivating teams? How do you balance being part of the team while still providing direction and leadership? I’d love to hear your insights!

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Mike Frenette
Community Champion
Manager, IT PMO| Halifax Water Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Leading by example is paramount to success in any team. Leaders who put their feet up and watch others do the work will not succeed, and their team members will look for the fist opportunity to leave.

Many "Command and Control" leaders will see delegation and macro management as a weakness and instead will prefer micro-management, hovering, and approaches that kill creativity. These are team killers and will lead to no good in the end.

Manage through deliverables. Involve your team members in defining what is to be delivered, then let them "have at it". Success can then be measured by what was deliverd and when, not by the micro activities required get them there.

Some ways to motivate your team are sharing the big picture, providing opportunities for growth through apppropriate delegation of work that will help a team member progress in their career, mentoring/coaching to help understand the career goals of those who report to you, and providing information about what options might exist for those goals.

If you are not preparing your team members to evntually replace those they report to, even if that is you, you are not leading your team effectively.

Highly motivated teams perform and are happy to do so. They know which end is up, and how their performance impacts the bigger goals because you have ketp them aware, not in big scheduled sessions, but every day.

Be available, be emphathetic, be human. Help your team succeed and grow, and you will succeed and grow as a leader.

Servant leadership is what it is all about. Check out the articles from some of the graduates of PMI's Leadership Institute Master Class 2015 to get some more ideas:
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TAIWO POPOOLA
Community Champion
ICT Program Manager/Dir| LM Ericsson Nigeria Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria
I lead my team by getting involved with them and making them feel included in the team. We have more of peer-peer relationship than boss-peer relationship. I found myself being their safe space and go-to person but at the same time, they know when I am serious and we have to get the job done.

I will categorize my style and Transformational Leadership and also leading by example. I often do rotational leadership among the team where each one takes up my role while I watch them guide the team on what to do.

Consequently, it changed the perception of many of them from thinking that leaders are just over-demanding and somehow inspired few of them to change their career path to taking up leadership role.

In summary, I practice Servant and Transformational Leadership Style.
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Candice Shubbie
Community Champion
Consultant| PROJECT40 Consulting Ontario, Ca, USA
When managing innovative, creative projects with both technical and creative teams that don’t always understand each other, adopting a transformational leadership style tends to work best for me. It fosters collaboration and creates a unified vision that aligns diverse teams. As a transformational leader, I can help both creative and technical teams algin by doing my best to make them feel connected to the larger goal or purpose. It drives them to work harder and stay engaged through challenges.

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