Hard lessons in leadership

This is what consistently got me into trouble in my career.

Sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong.

Let me explain.

I’m not good at following orders and sticking to my box. I never have been.

If I see a problem, I will solve it. What gets me into conflict is that the core problem is usually not mine, but its effects are.

Like a product team pushing a bad feature. Or marketing opening the floodgates without a heads-up. Or sales promising something that the tech team can’t commit to.

Two more things are going against me: I love learning new things, and I’m confident.

So, if someone’s not doing their job properly, guess who’s taking it?

I am.

If you’re a bit like me, you’ll have a hard time winning like that.

You’ll eventually push everyone around you out of a job. You’ll have way too much work on your hands. You’ll probably get many things wrong.

Learning that pushover leadership does not yield results took a long time.

Boundaries.

This was the toughest nut to crack. Before you can enforce your boundaries, you must know what they are.

But for that, you need to define your role (for yourself).

Not every problem is yours to solve.

That doesn’t mean doing nothing.

It means that you need to go to the source and tell John to fix his shit because it’s wreaking havoc downstream.

Guide, don’t take over.

You can either fix it yourself or guide someone else to do it.

If you guide, it will take longer. It will suck watching them stumble.

But it’s also the only way they will learn.

Be strategic.

You can’t fix everything, so focus on the things that can bring the most positive impact.

Use influence to nudge things in the right direction instead of taking direct control.

If everyone else is an idiot.

You’re either in a bad company, or it might be you. In either case, a role change will resolve either of those problems.

Best regards,

Taj