This is a compilation of thoughts on leadership I've periodically updated over the last 5 years. It is by no means comprehensive. It started after lunch one day with a good friend and co-worker (thank you, Mr. Cardoza) and unfortunately only gets updated when I remember it exists and happen to be close to my PC.
It was about 5 years ago that I first had actual employees reporting to me. I previously had matrix-manager roles, where people were temporarily assigned to me for projects or whatever, but this was different. This was the whole enchilada. These were not production-line workers. They weren't flipping burgers, tending a bar, or working a cash register. They were top-level, highly educated, skilled and experienced professionals. Many had at least one masters degree, and none had less than a bachelors. These were the kind of employees I had to set annual goals for, write annual and mid-year reviews for, make salary and bonus decisions for, and unfortunately in a few cases, fire or let go due to business conditions. These were real, seasoned career veterans, some making over 100K per year, and one of them had over 40 years of programming and operations experience with the same company. Some were older than my parents. Intimidating to say the least, for a 31-year-old.
Additionally, these were true knowledge workers. Each had their own area of expertise. Many were left over from major software implementations over the years. Like building maintenance people, but better because they had actually built the building. No wonder they are viewed as high cost. Can you imagine if every house or building built retained the architect as their primary maintenance person?
5 years later, I have not crashed and burned. I haven’t been a superhero, but I’ve done well. At one point, when the economy was still booming, I had almost 50 people, employees and contractors, which I was responsible for. At the peak, 20 of those were actual company employees, and I had three other managers working for me with their own teams. I’ve had to make lots of hiring decisions, and on that, I’m batting about .800. The number of employees reporting to me has reduced, due to my company’s distaste for contractors, dead weight, and the cost-cutting that ensued after the economy crashed. A bad economy will change the climate pretty quickly, if your leadership knows what they are doing. Fortunately for my company, our leaders took action early. Fortunately for me, I was a top performer. If you’re not making money, you can’t spend money on anything but the essentials. That environment gave me the opportunity to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. It sucked, and it has been hard, and lots of hard discussions ensued…but then again, if the right thing to do was easy, everyone would be doing it.
Each one of the points below represents a deep personal understanding, not just something regurgitated from a textbook, MBA class, or HBR article. Each one could be its own blog entry, complete with personal anecdote. An expert is, after all, someone who has made all the mistakes, and I’ve made plenty.
• Those you lead are your subordinates first, friends second
• Lead by example…but remember that example has to be most relevant to the level you’re at. Eisenhower’s daily routine had little in common with the average GI. But front-line officers and NCO’s had a lot in common with the average GI. Don't act like Eisenhower unless you are, in fact, Eisenhower.
• Don’t dilute your authority by getting too close
• Recognize and make the tough decisions
• Don’t hesitate on the decisions that need to be made quickly, and know the difference
• Manage your own insecurities.
•A good mentor is like a good shrink.
• Be the first to the table with the plan
• Always have a plan (A, B, C, etc.)
• Good, honest, accurate feedback is priceless, and very rare. Very few people have the balls to be completely honest to your face. When they are, encourage it by listening and assessing, and not getting defensive. But if they are just being a-hole, don't waste your time, and let them know it. Constructive criticism is easy to identify, and should be welcomed, but pointless criticism is a waste of everyone's time and the learning experience should be re-directed back at the source.
• Don’t fear asking questions, lots of them – in the beginning
• Don’t ask questions late in the game that should have been understood earlier
• Stack the deck in your favor thru effective planning
• Don’t set yourself up for failure by not planning effectively
• Understand the difference between the time for planning and the time for execution
• If you can do something about it, why worry? If you can’t do something about it, why worry?
• Visualize the end early in the game, preferably before your competitors
• Take intelligent risks – work those angels
• Listen to good music – take a break
• Never lose sight of your value proposition. Reaffirm it every day
• Understand your input/value-add/output equation
• Understand the transactional nature of human relations
• You get what you pay for. Italian stucco is better than Mexican stucco just like American code is better than Indian code.
• Only pay for what you need.
• Use praise wisely – only after tangible results that are easy to identify. If results are not obvious than they are probably meaningless.
• Don’t just play the game – transcend it
• Manage to the simplicity on the far end of complexity; master your craft. Rely on the good people that work for you to work through the complexity. But be ready at a moment’s notice to jump into that complexity the minute you suspect something is wrong
• Focus on the critical few first
• Be courageous; Courage is the ability to follow your own principles, even when you are scared to death (see Honor)
• Make no assumptions. Stuff doesn’t happen unless you make it happen. Follow up on everything. Get it in writing.
• There is nothing more valuable than a well-written contract.
• Every meeting, either with subordinates or superiors, is a chance to set expectations. Don’t squander those opportunities, keep expectations high.
•Don't allow operational fiefdoms, unless you don't mind operations usurping creative.
•Don't allow operational fiefdoms, unless you don't mind operations usurping creative.
Like I said, this is just a partial list, but a pretty solid reflection of my current views on leadership. Management is a different story for me…complete with a whole list of good fundamentals, blocking/tackling, and other coaching analogies, and will eventually become another blog entry. Please comment freely on the points/thoughts above. One of them mentions the value of good feedback…
Update, 5/30/2013:
•Sweat the details
•Have Honor. Having Honor means doing the right thing, despite the personal consequences.
•Master the fundamentals first. Then have an opinion.
•Once you've found yourself, live so that others may have the same joy. In other words, give them the luxury of being themselves in a protected environment. Just don't remove the reality of someday having to leave that environment.
•Remember the rule of three: Never strike first. Use words and ideas until you've been struck 3 times and protocol has been followed 3 times. Have 3 documented cases where you followed the rules designed to protect you. Then, pound them into submission. Even if you lose, it's a powerful message.
Update, 5/30/2013:
•Sweat the details
•Have Honor. Having Honor means doing the right thing, despite the personal consequences.
•Master the fundamentals first. Then have an opinion.
•Once you've found yourself, live so that others may have the same joy. In other words, give them the luxury of being themselves in a protected environment. Just don't remove the reality of someday having to leave that environment.
•Remember the rule of three: Never strike first. Use words and ideas until you've been struck 3 times and protocol has been followed 3 times. Have 3 documented cases where you followed the rules designed to protect you. Then, pound them into submission. Even if you lose, it's a powerful message.
