When Having Your Team's Back Means Speaking Up
My branch had just finished a fundraising campaign for our local food bank, and my team had done an incredible job. Every branch participated, but our branch raised more than any other branch in the bank. My team had put in the work, and they were proud of what they accomplished. Then the President of the bank sent an email congratulating teams for their fundraising efforts. Several branches were recognized. Ours wasn't.
My team noticed. Of course they did. They had worked hard, they knew what they had accomplished, and now they were watching other branches receive recognition while their contribution wasn't mentioned. It was most likely an oversight, but knowing that didn't make the disappointment disappear. I also knew I had a choice. I could tell them it wasn't a big deal and let it go or I could have a tough conversation.
Having Your Team's Back Isn't Always Comfortable
The President was two levels above me. I had very little interaction with him, he had never visited my branch, and I only saw him a couple of times a year during large meetings. I had never spoken to him personally. He probably didn't know my name or which branch I managed, so yes, I was nervous.
I also seriously considered doing nothing. This wasn't a policy violation. Nobody was in trouble. The fundraising had been successful, and the food bank still benefited from everything my team had accomplished. I could have easily decided it wasn't worth making an issue out of it. A part of me wanted to let it go because it would have been easier for me.
My team had done the work. They were the ones who had been overlooked. If I stayed quiet simply because I didn't want an uncomfortable conversation, I would have been protecting myself from discomfort instead of representing the people I was responsible for leading.
Having Your Team's Back Doesn't Require a Confrontation
We had a branch manager meeting shortly after the email went out, and I knew the President would be there. After the business of the meeting was finished, I walked up to him and introduced myself. I had rehearsed what I wanted to say in my head, but I wasn't preparing for a confrontation. I simply wanted to make sure I approached him respectfully while also making him aware of what had happened. I told him I wanted to talk about the food bank fundraiser. I explained that my team had seen the congratulatory email, that our branch hadn't been included, and then told him how much they had raised.
He couldn't have been kinder about it. He was impressed by what the team had accomplished, apologized, and asked me to follow up with an email so he could make it right.
And he did.
That was all I wanted. I didn't need him to admit he had made some terrible leadership mistake. I wasn't looking to prove a point or win an argument. I wanted my team represented, and once he had the information he needed, he had the opportunity to respond.
Sometimes we make speaking up harder than it needs to be. A title is still a title, but the person holding it is still a person. I approached him as one person talking to another about something that mattered to my team.
Having Your Team's Back Has Limits
I believe strongly that my team should know I have their back. That was true when I managed a bank branch, and it remains part of how I think about leadership today.
But having your team's back does not mean defending them regardless of what they do.
At that same branch, we didn't have a coin-counting machine, but bank policy required us to accept coin deposits from our customers. One of my bankers turned away a customer who wanted to make a large coin deposit. The customer complained to me. I knew the policy. The banker knew the policy. That time, having my employee's back wasn't my responsibility. Holding the employee accountable was. I enforced the policy, and the banker counted the coins and made the deposit.
That's an important distinction. If someone on my team is operating within the organization's policies and expectations, I will stand with them. If they're being overlooked unfairly, I'll advocate for them. But if their behavior falls outside those expectations, leadership requires something different from me. Support without accountability isn't the kind of leadership I want to practice.
Having Your Team's Back Builds Influence
I've always believed leadership works through influence. People work differently for leaders they trust. They work harder for someone who believes in them, supports them, holds them accountable, and pushes them to become better. That kind of influence isn't created by telling people you're on their side. It's built over time by what you actually do.
Sometimes that means standing beside your team when things get difficult. Sometimes it means advocating for them when their work has been overlooked. And sometimes it means telling one of your own people that they're wrong and holding them accountable.
Those actions may look different, but they're rooted in the same responsibility: do what is right for the team and the organization, not simply what is easiest for the leader.
I was nervous when I walked up to the President that day. I would have been much more comfortable letting the whole thing go, but my comfort wasn't really the point. My team had worked hard. They deserved to have someone speak up for them. And that day, that someone was me.
If you're working to build stronger relationships and greater influence with the people you lead, explore our Leadership Library for practical tools you can put to work with your team.
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