Leadership can be overwhelming, responsibilities stack up and our natural inclination is to try and take it all on. This is particularly challenging in scaling teams, where the growth in responsibility is subtle but continual.
There is a great way to handle this, one that often requires a mindset shift and some solid leadership.
- #1 Change your mindset (if needed)
- #2 Create your leadership team
- #3 Work on your problem together
- #4 Cultivate your leadership team
#1 Change your mindset (if needed)
mindset #1: âI am responsible for all leadership activitiesâ
I suspect you have a list of things you consider your responsibility, covering everything from line management to project leadership. The default mindset here for managers is that if itâs leadership or management related, you need to do it. Here is my proposed shift:
I am responsible for all leadership or management activities- I am responsible for ensuring that all leadership or management activities are being handled by someone capable
This distinction is important. Whether you are a manager trying to handle all day-to-day project management, or a Director trying to build strategy, itâs important to recognise that (with the exception of certain lines of management) no activity is explicitly tied to your role. You simply need to ensure that its getting done, it can be distributed.
Donât fall into the trap of thinking âBut this would be me delegating âmyâ workâ. It is not âyourâ work, it is a team requirement that someone in the team needs to perform.
mindset #2: âMy teamâs work is more important than mineâ
I often see this mindset at the manager/IC level, where thereâs a clear distinction between code contribution and management.
Proposed shift:
I need to ensure my developers can focus 100% on producing code- I can have a greater leveraged impact on overall team output. I need the capacity to focus on managerial activities
Good leadership can dramatically increase the effectiveness of teams. A smart decision on scope/quality can save months of development. An exceptional hire can multiply overall team quality and output. If youâre currently handling all the day-to-day operational tasks, itâs worth asking what leveraged activities you arenât doing because of it.
Itâs worth noting that leadership activities can also deliver no value. Endless meetings can lead to nothing. Longwinded architectural documents can end up ignore in a Notion black hole. This can lead to a spiral in value perception, where managers minimise their impact and safeguard code contribution above all else. But donât let this cause you to revert, keep working towards more efficient, higher impact leadership.
#2 Create your leadership team
Whether youâre a manager leading one team, a Senior Manager with multiple teams or beyond, you need a leadership team. This is the collection of people who help you to lead and operate your group. I tend to define it as:
- The group of senior individuals who hold most influence on, and a shared responsibility for, the leadership of the team
That could be:
- Managers
- Senior/Staff/Principle Engineers
- Architects
- etc
Be sure to include the most senior IC engineers, they are highly influential. If they are aligned with a particular course of action, itâs significantly more likely that the broader developer team will also align.
This is now your team. They are there to help you problem solve, collaborate and share responsibility for the leadership of the team. You should make this clear, it should be an explicit part of their role and responsibility as a senior team member.
#3 Work on your problem together
Now you have your team and the right mindset, itâs time to work together on your problem.
- The Problem: âI am now taking on more team responsibilities than I can handle well, our current operating model is breakingâ
Importantly:
- It is team responsibilities you have been taking on, not your responsibilities (Ref. mindset #1)
- It is the operating model that is starting to fail, not you
- It is the Leadership Teamâs shared operating model, not yours
Maybe your operating model is starting to fail due to the team scaling, new responsibilities arising, a loss of a leader etc. Whatever the reason, it is on this leadership team to figure out a new operating model together, one that removes you as a bottleneck and creates a robust, sustainable setup that creates the capacity for your high leverage activities.
To hammer this home, any subsequent re-allocation of responsibilities is not the delegation of your work. It is the re-distribution of team responsibilities that you have (up till now) taken on by default. You may need to shift this mindset with the team, who have (up till now) enjoyed the freedom from those responsibilities.
#4 Cultivate your leadership team
This isnât the end of the story. The effectiveness of a group is heavily impacted by the effectiveness of its leadership team. Keep investing here to cultivate great leadership within your group. That means:
- Cultivating good communication
- Investing in team connection and bonding
- Pushing for openness and vulnerability
- Encouraging collaboration
- Defining clear roles and expectations
Some Engineers may find it jarring to suddenly sit inside two teams (their direct team and this new leadership team). That is the nature of a senior position, you become necessary glue between different levels of the organisation. You yourself almost certainly have two teams in the same light.
Its worth noting that inclusion in this team will create endless growth opportunities for those looking to take on more responsibility. It creates a sense of empowerment for those who want to have greater influence.