The Importance of Leadership - My Leadership Style

A lot of people have asked me why I decided to make the leap into management.  I was a fairly successful programmer having working my way up through the ranks from Junior Developer to Solutions Architect.  I prided myself on being a quick study and having an ability to contribute to a project almost immediately and continuing to be a go-to resource for years to come.  Unfortunately, I often saw that the leadership of the company lacking.  I felt the focus was often on the wrong things at the wrong times.  And the saying that people are promoted to incompetence had a ringing of truth to it.  There are lots of different types of leadership and they all have their place.  However, if the leaders don't do some of the basics, problems can quickly arise.

Here are some items that I consider extremely important for a leader:

1. Have a vision
2. Be future thinking.
3. Set the direction to meet the vision
4. Stay out of the weeds (50,000 foot view)
5. Balance the needs of customers with the needs of employees.
6. Recognize that change may be needed.
7. Keep Finger on the Pulse
8. Support the Team
9. Assess Self

Have a vision
Having a vision and effectively communicating it is one of the most important aspects of effective leadership.  It is arguably the single most important job of leaders.  Without it, the rest of the organization cannot execute effectively.  It is also important to note that Vision should remain relatively stable.  It takes time to execute on a vision, so if it is constantly changing/shifting it will lead to frustration and an inability to execute effectively on.

Be Future Thinking
It is easy to be focused on the here and now, but a good leader is also preparing for what comes next.  Products need to be developed, tested, deployed and to be successful you need to able to do that regularly.  By no means should a leader lose sight of the day-to-day activities required to execute.  However, true leaders should empower and trust the people under them to do the job they were hired to do.  It is important to spend the significant amount of time needed to prepare for the future so the organization can operate with a cadence that allows for a timely release to market.

Set the direction to meet the vision
Understanding what is comes next to execute on the vision is just as important as understanding the vision in the first place.  There are almost always multiple steps or milestones to meet in order to achieve the goals of the vision.  Effective leadership provides the focus for the teams to meet those goals by eliminating distractions and keeping the team moving forward.

Stay out of the weeds
The higher up the on the totem pole the leader is the more they should trust in the people beneath them to execute.  However, first line manager's also need to trust in the individual contributors that make up the team.  The goal should be to empower the team to effectively tackle whatever problems they are facing.

Balance the needs of customers with the needs of employees
These 2 groups are the most important for any leader to focus on.  However, often one side or the other can be neglected.  The goal is to provide customers with a compelling product or service and at the same time entrust the employees to build it.  When problems arise, it is important to balance the impact to these 2 groups.  Without customers you don't have a business and the same goes with employees.  If both groups are happy, life is much easier.

Recognize that change may be needed
In the book "The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries, he talks about the goal being to find engines of growth.  This is ultimately the goal of the company as it is responsible for driving revenue.  However, overtime the market changes and what once was driving growth may not longer be effective.  This is extremely important in the technology sector which seems to be changing all of the time.  These changes often must be adapted to.  It is an effective leader that can predict when to change and when to stay the course.

Keep finger on the pulse
Understanding the environment, whether customers, employees, or the market.  Often the information on when change or decisions are needed is available before the decision is critical.  By keeping your finger on the pulse and listening to feedback openly you will be able to head off problems before they become too disrupting.

Support the Team
You are the team's champion and there is a good chance that you will need to fight for them.  A leader represents the team and needs to be able to support them effectively.  Listening to the team and understanding their needs is a critical role.  Removing obstacles is an important part of the job for leaders.  Leaders are there to serve those under them while providing value to those above them.  Often these 2 roles can seem to be at odds with each other, but the reality if the team is executing on the things it needs to execute on, value will be provided up hill.

Assess One's Self
No one is perfect, at least I haven't met anyone that is.  It is important to constantly measure yourself and get feedback in order to improve.  This is often one of the most difficult parts of leadership.  Addressing your weaknesses is difficult, but without recognizing your short comings you cannot improve.  Leadership is a skill and needs to be honed through practice and effort.