Karman Hotchkiss
Last week I was chatting with my friend Dorothy about work things. Coworkers and bosses and getting stuff done. “My boss told me one day that I’m a Crockpot employee,” Dorothy said. When she had a skeptical reaction, he hurried to explain: “I can put something in your queue and walk away—confident that when I come back the project will be fully cooked and ready to go.”
Oh! That made sense. And Dorothy took the comment as the compliment it was intended to be. She’s earned a reputation for doing great work without needing a lot of intervention. In fact, she pioneered Work From Home with her department more than a decade ago. She was working remotely and independently long before most of us had ever attended a Zoom meeting or contemplated Slack messaging in our slippers.
But not every employee has worked their way up to Crockpot status. Some folks, Dorothy pointed out, are more like a stir-fry. Lots of prep. Lots of stirring. You can’t just throw some uncut carrots and a head of broccoli in a wok and walk away. Same with some employees. If you’re managing people who are new to a job or new to a particular task, you need to be an active cook—adding resources in bite-size pieces, monitoring the temperature, checking for doneness.
What’s the Right Leadership Approach?
In our coaching work at BecomeMore Group, we see a lot of leaders get these approaches mixed up. They get busy and walk away from a team that needs closer attention. Or they don’t trust an experienced team and insist on frequent updates and check-ins that—like lifting the lid on a Crockpot too often—dissipate the energy and progress.
The image we use to talk about this concept in our leadership classes is called the Leadership Ladder.
It’s a visual reminder that effective leaders are thoughtful and intentional about the type and amount of autonomy they give their teams.
4 Phases of Leadership
The process starts at the bottom of the ladder. At the Inform stage, a leader focuses on sharing information—steps for doing a task, clear expectations, who plays what roles, etc. This stage is mostly focused on tasks and tactics, and the employee is likely to be new to the role, the organization, or the assignment.
At the Explain phase, a leader describes more of the “why” behind the task, which expands understanding. The employee moves beyond just executing tasks, but wants to put them in context.
Moving up to the Ask phase, a leader starts to help their team reach their own conclusions. The leader will ask more questions, give more choices, and let an employee take the lead in problem-solving.
And ultimately, at the Let Go phase, the leader gets out of the way and provides feedback only as needed. This is pretty much the Crockpot phase. The team member has a proven track record and experience. They own it and do it while keeping the leader informed.
Leading With Intention
Whether you think of your leadership choices as a ladder or a recipe or some other visual, the important thing is that you’re intentional about your interactions with your team. Thinking about where they are in their individual development will help you make sure you’re giving your team the kind of input and resources they need to succeed.