Jim Holmes gave a very nice presentation on leadership at the last Columbus Architecture Group meeting. He has covered much of the same material in a series of posts which you can read on his blog. Maybe it’s just the way that I think, but as I listened to him speak, I thought about the question of what I do most poorly in the area of leadership. Or, to put a more positive spin on it, the thing which I could change that would most improve my leadership skills.
I think I know what the answer is. Very often, someone will suggest an approach to a problem which strikes me as technically wrong or otherwise misguided. Like a lot of geeks, I have an almost compulsive desire to do things correctly, especially in areas where (to me, anyway) there is a clear-cut difference between "the right way" and "the wrong way" of doing it. Over and over again, I have said "no" in a way which ranged somewhere between insufficiently respectful and inappropriate.
I think I can explain why I do this (and I’ll do so below, for anyone who actually cares), but the important part is this: I need to teach myself to say "No" in a much more constructive way.
When I hear (what I feel is) a bad idea, I think I have this little moment of panic about the bad idea getting into our code, and having to maintain it for 10 years, because goodness knows I have a lot of bad ideas to maintain in our VCS. It’s like I’m worried that simply mentioning the idea will doom it (or us) to implementation, so I went to put the barrier in front of it before it can go any further.
This may accomplish the technical goal, but saying "No" in an unconstructive way is poor leadership. I don’t want to create a climate where people hesitate to suggest solutions to a problem, because they might be incorrect. Indeed, I learned as least as much, if not more, from my mistakes is from my successes, so discussing a bad idea may contribute as much to a project is discussing a good idea. Rather than just saying, "That won’t work because…" I need to help the person who suggested the idea explore its implications and work out the ups and downs on their own.
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Congratulations! You just took your first step into a larger world. That which you describe in your last paragraph is the very essence of *true* leadership - "growing" your subordinates and focusing on truly creating a TEAM. Granted, listening to the idea and gently herding the engineer in the right direction takes more time but the growth attained by said herded engineer is usually worth it. And, on occasion, you will find out that your initial "no" was not only inappropriate, but wrong and should have been "yes" instead.
It’s a tough row to hoe, this leadership thing, as it requires an individual to be capable of putting his or her own ego in their pocket and not be interested in demonstrating their own (hopefully) superior knowledge and really *listen* to an idea not their own. You also need to be secure enough in your own self to listen to criticism and respond positively to it.
Those of us in the military discover this early on as job #1 is to figure out "how to not die - today". EVERYTHING else is a very distant second to job 1. The byproduct of that mindset is a leadership (as opposed to "management" which I’ll get to in a minute) style that promotes input from all individuals and encourages them to put out their maximum effort at all times, knowing full well that even if they are wrong or make a mistake, the TEAM will support them - ’cause it’s all about TEAM. If you don’t have the TEAM, you die - simple as that.
One need only observe civilian "managers" at work. Most are politically (job, not government) motivated, are not interested in helping subordinates grow (actively discourage it as a matter of fact, thus reducing the perceived threat to their own job) and attempt to take the credit for others work. They actively derail productivity by insisting on unnecessary paperwork, meetings, "team building" exercises (hoo-boy aren’t THOSE fun!), etc.
If you want a good touchstone as to whether you are being a leader or a manager (despised creature, manager) check to see if you are placing obstacles in a co-workers path or removing them. If you are placing, you’re doing the management thing, if removing - leadership. I once had a Master Chief Petty Officer distill down the job of a senior leader like this: He said "find yourself an open spot on the bulkhead (wall for you civilian types), grab a cup of coffee and go lean on that spot. If, during the entire work day you leave that spot only to refill your cup, you’ve done your job". I looked at him in puzzlement and he clarified by saying "if you don’t move, your people recognize that you have placed no obstacles in their path and that they have been well trained enough and are confidant enough in themselves such that they don’t need you anymore - THAT is the real essence of leadership - they come to you only when they have a BIG problem and they know that you will work with them to fix it".
Something for you to think about…
Yep, leadership is not about control but about influencing, motivating and inspiring.
Too often "leadership" is mistaken for "management".
Not all managers make good leaders, and not all good leaders make good managers (and you don’t and in many cases *shouldn’t* put a good leader into a management position because that can actually reduce their ability to lead effectively).
Nice post Craig, I can very much relate. I can think of times where I was guilty of this, for much the same reasons you mention. Thankfully, someone I respected took me aside and told me I was being a dick, then I realised the negative impact I was having. Discussing an idea is not some tacit approval of it and there are very few downsides to exploring an idea, even one that turns out to be bad.
Yeap. A little bit of sugar.
Gentle questioning and proding are what is needed.
I have to fight my ‘direct’ instincts all the way.
But if I’m successful things go so much more smoothly.
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