“To actually get something done inside an organization means working across it effectively with low friction,” says Taylor Griffin, Chief Operating Officer of The Miles Group/TMG in a new episode of C-Suite Intelligence released today.
In the new episode – “Low Friction Leadership” – Griffin joins Stephen Miles, Founder and CEO of TMG, to explain how reducing “behavioral friction” and being a more effective follower can dramatically improve your career.
“Most people work in some form of complex organizational network, or matrix. There are intersections between you and others you have to work with to get stuff done. And if you can figure out how to align with the preferences of several different stakeholders, your role will be exponentially easier to execute,” explains Miles.
“People are usually better about this when they’re managing upwards,” says Griffin. “Where we see a lot more friction is probably in the horizontal landscape,” where lateral friction between colleagues and peers accumulates.
“Avoid making the mistake of thinking that your upward stakeholder is the only stakeholder that matters,” says Griffin. “Horizontal stakeholders and peers talk about whether or not you’re easy to work with, and that becomes your brand as a leader.”
This isn’t about compromising your values or changing your personality; it’s about your ability to adapt to the person in front of you. Griffin explains that early pain points in the onboarding process “become a potential point of derailment, if employees don’t quickly pivot and figure out where they have to reduce friction in the system.”
Miles adds: “What’s fascinating about onboarding is you derail in the first 14 days, and you just find out about it nine months later.”
“Part of joining a company is just going through layers and layers of matching,” Miles
explains, so that you weave seamlessly into the culture and establish a persona that builds trust. When there’s less friction in your interactions, you’re afforded more “degrees of freedom to get so much more stuff done better, faster, smarter.”
“Low Friction Leadership” is out now on Apple, Google, and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.