Note - this is still a work in progress
Intro: Being a Muliplier
Working as both IC and a team lead, I hold myself accountable for creating solutions that enable myself, those around me, and my team to fall into the pit of success. I believe a team is only as good as its leader, and the leader must own everything in his or her world. In other words, there are no bad teams, only bad leaders.
Being an effective leader means having the awareness and humility to step out of the mindset of "10x engineer" and into "10x multiplier". The term "10x Engineer" gets thrown around a lot in the industry, but what does it actually mean? To me, this means you are a single engineer with either the expertise or productivity of 10 engineers, and can do the work of 10 engineers. This is great, and good for this engineer that they are so great at what they do they can assume this "title". But is this really a good thing, and would you want this person on your team?
In my opinion and experience, being "10x engineer" is not something to necessarily be proud of. I would rather move away from looking inward at your own personal expertise and productivity, and look at how you effect the environment around you. As such, I believe this label should not be "10x engineer", but rather "10x multiplier". With this small mindset shift, the perspecive is moved outward, and describes how you effect those around you. As a multiplier to a team, this means you make everyone around you better. You bring out the best in those in your surrounding environment, elevating the likelyhood of your team to fall into the pit of success. In my opinion and experience, these are the characteristics of a true effective leader.
The "Tortured Genius" Mindset accepts zero responsiblity for mistakes, makes excuses, and blames everyine else or thier failings (and those on thier team). In their mind, the rest of the world just cant see or appreciate the genius in what they are doing. An individual with Tortured Genius mindset can have catastrophic impact on a team's performance. They can be extremely difficult to work with, or give feedback to. They wil resist the concept of ownership and responsibilty at every turn.
Leadership is the most important thing on any team. It is the single greatest factor in whether a team succeeds or fails. A leader must find a way to become effective and drive high performance within his or her team in order to win. Whether in business, or in life, there are no bad teams. Only bad leaders.
Believe
You can be the best most productive and accomplished leader on the planet, but if your team you are in charge of does not believe in the mission or objective, then you have failed. It is of upmost importance that your team understands the strategic importance of "why" they are being directed to do something or taking on a project. They must understand the why in the mission. For if they understand the "why" they are doing it, then they can believe in the mission.
As a leader, this belief in the mission starts with you. If you don't believe in it, how are you going to convince your team of it and get them on board? If you express doubts or openly question wisdom of the plan in front of your team, their ridicule of it will increase exponentially. They will question it and never believe in in it. As a result, they will never commit to it and it will fail. However, once you as a leader understands fully the details of the mission, project, or goal, and believe in it, you can then pass that understating and belief on clearly and succinctly so that your team believes in it themselves.
Belief in the mission, project, or goal ties in closely with the later described principal of Decentralized Command. The leader must explain not just what to do, but why. It is the responsibility of the subordinate leader to then reach out and ask questions if they do not understand.
As a subordinate, or subordinate leader, if you don’t understand or believe in the decisions coming down from your leadership, it is up to you to ask questions and understand how and why those decisions are being made. Not knowing "why" prohibits you from believing in the mission. And when you are in a leadership position, that is a recipe for failure and it is unacceptable. As a leader you must believe.
In my experience, my subordinate leadership would often pick up the slack for me. And they wouldn’t hold it against me, nor did I think they were infringing on my "leadership turf". On the contrary, I thank them for covering for me. Leadership isn’t a one person team. It is a group of leaders working together, up-and-down the chain of command. If you are on your own - it doesn’t matter how good you are - you won’t be able to handle it. And as an effecive leader you understand this, as well as the enourmous difference between the capability of a poorly trained, ill-equipped, and unmotivated team, and that of a determined, well-equipped, and highly effecive team.
Check the Ego
Ego clouds and undermines everything the planning process, from the ability to take good advice to the ability to accept constructive criticism. Taken too far and tt can even stifle someone sense of self-sufficiency and self-reliance. What I have learned, is that often the most difficult ego to deal with is your own.
Everyone has an ego. Ego drives the most successful people in life. They want to win, and to be the best. And that is good. But when ego clouds are judgment and prevents us from seeing the world as it is, then ego becomes destructive. When personal agendas become more important than the team and the overarching task, objective, or mission's success, performance suffers and failure results. Many of the disruptive issues that arise within any team can be attributed directly to a problem with ego.
Being an effective leader and taking ownership requires checking your ego and operating with a high degree of humility. Admitting mistakes, taking ownership, and developing a plan to overcome challenges are integral to any successful team. Ego can prevent a leader from conducting an honest realistic assessment of his or her own performance and the performance of the team. Confidence is great, but we can’t ever think we are too good to fail or that others are eager to exploit our weaknesses. We must never get complacent, and that is why controlling the ego is most important.
It is critical that those underneath you and all of your front line leaders grasp how what they do connects to the bigger picture. As a leader, it is up to you to explain that whole picture, and ensure your front line leaders understand how to follow through. Dealing with peoples egos is a critical component of leadership, and part of that is dealing with your own. If something goes wrong, it isn’t anyone else’s fault - it is yours. You are in charge. So if someone didn't follow procedure, or someone on your team makes a mistake, put your own ego in check and you take the blame. For not only were you not clear enough in planning that lead to this break in procedure or mistake, but also if you're dealing with soomeone with an ego problem, it will allow them to see the actual problem without thier vision being clouded by ego, and without thier ego having to defend itself to cast blame on something else.
At the end of the day, it is about the task, objective, or mission and ho best to accomplish it. With the attitude of checking the ego exemplified in you and your team leaders, your team will succeed and win.
Prioritize and Execute
Plan
Decisiveness
Coming Soon
Keep Things Simple
Coming Soon
No Bad Teams, Only Bad Leaders
Coming Soon
Written April 06, 2024