“What’s On My #Windshield”? Traits of an #effective #leader!
Do you always have a clear view in the front?
And can you see out far, without having a blurred vision?
If the answer is yes to both above, you are on the right path otherwise either you pull over to clean up the view or should not drive.
“To be an effective leader, who matters the most” is to have a clear vision, especially in the current fast-moving world and our approach to become one would enable us and our teams to be at the top of the game! The key is to know “what’s on my windshield”. In order to have a clear vision, in principle requires to maintain the guide that is both “stable” (defined/fixed, more like sovereign) and “on-demand” (variable/needs definition).
Ensure that “stable” work items are always ready to be served up on a schedule. For example, in a software development world, this can equate to having a CI/CD/CT [1] — a Trifecta such that the master code is always in a releasable state. On the other hand, “on-demand” may need dynamic data gathering & analysis, may not be final until they become stable and therefore can be disruptive and time consuming. If the “stable” follows a schedule than the “on-demand” needs to be prioritized, allocated and both needs to be balanced and adjusted.
Know which “on-demand” can trump the “stable” and review the cost and impact with the team in a continuous cadence. The higher you are in leadership the art of knowing what’s on your windshield would be extremely critical.
A scrum team working together can only be effective when they work together as ONE with a selfless mindset and know what’s on their windshield. This may not only include the work done to complete their individual assigned stories but also to enable & unblock other members on the team (that require everyone’s reviews, feedbacks, etc..) towards a successful agile sprint.
Do I have the right skills? Carrying a true and positive mindset is a big plus (optimism is half the battle won), besides the requirements of knowing the game, having the skillset, experience and credentials in the area. In addition these may include timed communications (Inbox Zero) and problem-solving through analysis.
Above all, can I lead? Don’t worry for lacking leadership talent…observe and practice — is the key! Often, we find ourselves in a state where we may not carry natural leadership talent. So, the question is can we still succeed? How much of leadership is natural vs. nurtured? The answer lies in how deliberate we are in our practice! It’s never too late to pick up a skill and master it.
Experience
How often to learn and apply? Probably not both and not all the times, but there is a good chance we can do right to avoid our past failures. Every product goes through a period when the team needs to be laser focused in progressing the planned innovation and simultaneously resolving the on-demand asks. How do we attain such balance without jeopardizing the work or even without impacting the team’s efficiencies? And how do we protect our teams from being thrashed, especially when they are virtual or geographically distributed or perhaps there are too many cooks (a very common theme we can find in an organization’s kitchen). All of these are common challenges that we have experienced. It would be worthwhile to share and review them with the teams and help come up with a clear approach to remove the pain points.
Balanced Communication
How much and how often to communicate? The basic rule is to keep the communication flowing, encourage documented discussions with visibility across the team. These can be more effective than sending a bunch of emails to a limited few. Not having a full transparency with the team adds to the confusion and mostly wasted time rehashing the same thing over and over. If we are not comfortable with sharing with all then it may not be worth sharing at all. Make the judgment call by keeping the team’s perspective in the front. Keep the communication balanced, know what to share and when, without thrashing or creating any undue bias or vibes. This will go long ways in building trust and confidence with the team and in establishing one to be a true and authentic leader.
Shared Vision
Efficient & empowered teams with a shared vision are more successful in their delivery and are a strength for any organization. This also enables buy-ins from the stakeholders across each product.
Authentic & Real leadership is the way to go!
In my recent conversations with industry leaders and experts, being Authentic is not something that can be self-judged, rather it’s a quality perceived by others around us. Authentic leadership is one thing that if practiced right can bring our true self and our natural leadership traits across. Staying authentic requires the leadership skills to be practiced in a progressive, iterative and a consistent manner.
Maintain focus by having “A Good Eye”…
Do I have a good eye? In the game of baseball there is a term used “good eye”. For leaders essentially means that you can see something before other leaders, that you are able to distinguish when it is a Yes (Play and Go for it) and a No (Refrain from taking a shot, its not your cup of tea), that you practice being good at knowing which ones to take a swing at, or that you can see something the other leaders simply do not see. In the game of cricket [2], it’s also known as “keeping your eye on the ball”. The ability to focus depends on your concentration and temperament as both goes hand in hand such that you don’t rush through a decision and as well don’t sit on them forever.
Build a Strong Culture — it’s not who we are but what we do as a team!
What is the culture in the organization?
Does the org leaders feel good about the org culture?
Are the value streams of the organization knitted well in the culture fabric?
Ensure that the leaders are empowered, and their decisions are trusted and supported. If leaders are getting overridden by leaders above then it makes the team become powerless, less effective, and adds toxicity to the culture.
How to traverse what’s in the Rearview?
Rearview mirror has everything that has just past us and what a better way to have a critical insight for our future, to better predict change and inspire to lead with purpose. Above all, one thing is certain that the rearview perspective makes us a better human being and teaches to be an effective leader — a leader that can carry the much-needed traits (below) to lead & engage with the new century of talent!
Bold
Humorous
Caring
Glossary
[1] CI/CD/CT — Continuous Integration, Continuous Deployment and Continuous Testing are a set of software development practices that enable application development teams to deliver code changes more frequently and reliably to achieve the velocity and quality needed for success in today’s rapidly transforming industry.
[2] Cricket — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket
