Leadership isn't about dictation or direction, it's about challenging people and empowering them to rise to the challenge.
I’ve managed teams for the past 10 years and for most of that time thought things were going ok, I had success, got good feedback from my teams, won a few awards but in my last role I began to get burnt out and disillusioned with management so decided to fall back to an individual contributor role for a break. For a while, I was really happy with a more sedate pace of work and less responsibilities but then I got a new manager who challenged me and helped me realise that not only did I really miss leadership but that I had never really been a great design leader. I was like an engineer on a steam train, stoking the fire, keeping the train going maybe even making it go faster but unable to set direction effectively, simply following the path the organisation needed.
The manager who inspired me was a really strategic player who through clever engagement with senior leadership was able to carve out a space for the team and transition us from a service to a practice and integrate us into the product development process by demonstrating the value we brought. This elevated design to become an integral part of how things got done and a highly respected capability. Through smart engagement, good practise and demonstrating value we became more trusted and more exposed to the leaders within the business resulting in us eventually helping set direction and able to influence at a strategic level. My manager protected us, set us challenges and gave us room to grow, increasing the range of capabilities the team was capable of and encouraging us to learn and grow.
My manager inspired me and made me reflect on my leadership history. I realised that I hadn’t led effectively and that my style of management was more like administration. I ran teams, I didn’t lead them. I could report on all the metrics but I couldn’t inspire my teammates.
Since then, I’ve spent a while learning about leadership and trying to define my flavour and style. I’ve now managed to define what I think are my three leadership principles:
I’ve set up multiple UX practices and I’ve learnt that dictating how things should be done stifles creativity and retards evolution. I’ve learnt that encouraging a sense of ownership but establishing the boundaries encourages a team to devise their own frameworks and ways of working. There will be times when direction has to be given but these can grow to become the rare cases. One of my most productive learnings seems so simple, “grant permission and give time”. I’ve found that simply by setting the expectation that we (as a team) will regularly spend time managing our practice and that not only is this permitted but encouraged really unlocked my team members’ passions for trying new things out and being transparent about how our practice is performing and what could be improved.
One of the most important things I try to achieve is to give space and opportunity for growth whilst providing a safety net. I firmly believe that the best skills and experience are those earnt through practice so I create opportunities by setting challenges and being candid about my high expectations. Then I provide guidance, reassurance and mentorship to encourage each individual reach and exceed their targets. My absolute favourite things about leadership is forming those close relationships with teammates and helping them grow and mature. For example, if you define a framework for your team to utilise it will get used but without more of your energies won't flower and grow. However convince the team of the need for a framework then empower them to design one will result in a more organic process where teammates feel empowered to grow and evolve the framework. This isn't to say you should sit back and leave them to it, like a parent you challenge them, let them team explore, provide guidance if required and provide the safety net in case things don't work out. Most importantly you set high expectations so they know they have to raise their game.
In all the teams I’ve led and been a part of I’ve tried to nurture a community feel whilst also promoting a culture where team members are comfortable being a bit exposed and being challenged whilst giving and receiving candid feedback. This is the environment that I’ve found most likely to create a kind of safe zone where people can experiment and really evolve a design practice.
The best managers I’ve worked for made themselves the face of their team and the interface the business interacted with if changes were required thus shielding the team from excessive interference. I like the term an old project manager I worked with used, “running block” which is a term from american football meaning when someone runs in front of the ball carrier and deflects potential tackles allowing the ball carrier to run further. I always have my teammates' backs and will endeavour to work with stakeholders to provide that safety zone that builds creativity and confidence. This isn’t to say I recommend keeping teams isolated, I always encourage teammates to gain exposure to the business, users and the wider industry but I do see part of my role is to serve the team by filtering out the extraneous noise that can cause distractions.
When we moved to cross-functional squads, some of this protection was removed as the squads had more autonomy and were encouraged to become more self-managing but still there’s a need for me to offer support whilst intercepting the odd tackle to help them gain and maintain momentum.
As you’ve probably guessed I’m a big fan of the servant leader philosophy, my biggest priority is the needs of my teammates and my greatest success is the growth of my teammates. I’m a facilitator capable of unblocking things and providing guidance whilst encouraging people to self-serve where they can to gain those life experiences that eventually grow people into leaders.
I’ve now had the opportunity to begin the practice of these principles and am really pleased to say they really help me act as the type of leader I want to be but it’s most definitely a journey so I’ll revisit and refine them as I learn more and grow in confidence and capability.
Cover image by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
https://unsplash.com/photos/RwHv7LgeC7s
Contact
Jules Munford
Phone: 0431 414322
Email: julian.munford@googlemail.com
Twitter: @julesmunford
© Julian Munford 2020