Balancing Empowerment & Direction

It’s critical to be transparent about what you expect of your teammates, and what they can expect of you. In this talk, Lara Hogan talks about how to balance being empowering and being directive as a leader, and how to know when to switch up your approach. She covers:

- Tactical strategies for giving strong direction (without being a jerk)
- A deeper understanding of the risks and tradeoffs of being too empowering, and too directive
- Practice choosing empowerment or directive skills in different contexts
- A template for framing difficult conversations

Transcript

1. Lara Hogan @lara@xoxo.zone OR: THE THING I SCREWED UP FOR A DECADE AS AN ENGINEERING MANAGER
2. THE EARLY 2000’S WERE A HELLISH LANDSCAPE FOR ENG MANAGEMENT
3. We learned from our managers what to do what not to do and
4. We learned to prioritize the people side of the work
5. 2015 WAS A GOLDEN ERA OF ENG MANAGEMENT
6. I’M PROUD OF WHAT I DID
7. but it was only half of the job
8. 2020 WAS A NIGHTMARE
9. The business had become the bad guy. “marching orders don’t leave room for empathy or empowerment.”
10. The role changed back to what it always had been. (we had just never talked about it)
12. “None of this matters if the business doesn’t succeed.”
13. Options STICK WITH EMPATHY AND EMPOWERMENT TOOLS SWING TO 100% MARCHING ORDERS-TYPE LEADERSHIP ZONE OUT AND LET THE WAVES WASH OVER YOU FIND A BALANCE/SWAP THE TOOLS BASED ON THE CONTEXT A. B. C. D.
14. Giving strong direction WITHOUT BEING A JERK
15. Identify what you’re optimizing for. This is your “why.” e.g. MAKING FORWARD PROGRESS
16. MAKING FORWARD PROGRESS → DELIVERING ON BUSINESS NEEDS
17. Identify the who/what/when/how. STOP ASKING “WHAT IF”, START MAKING DECISIONS
18. Identify the who/what/when/how. Couple it with your “why.” STOP ASKING “WHAT IF”, START MAKING DECISIONS MAKING FORWARD PROGRESS → DELIVERING ON BUSINESS NEEDS
19. Bottom-line it.
20. IT’S CRITICAL THAT WE START MAKING PROGRESS ON THIS PROJECT. I NEED YOU TO STOP ASKING “WHAT IF”S, AND START MAKING DECISIONS, SO THAT WE CAN DELIVER . START MAKING PROGRESS STOP START DELIVER
21. I NEED YOU TO STOP ASKING “WHAT IF”S, AND START MAKING DECISIONS, SO THAT WE CAN DELIVER . STOP START IT’S CRITICAL THAT WE START MAKING PROGRESS ON THIS PROJECT. START MAKING PROGRESS DELIVER
22. Acknowledge concerns. I KNOW YOU’RE CONCERNED WE WILL MISS SOMETHING BIG.
23. Acknowledge concerns. Stay forward-facing. LET’S DECIDE WHAT FIRES WE ARE GOING TO LET BURN. I KNOW YOU’RE CONCERNED WE WILL MISS SOMETHING BIG.
24. This will feel uncomfortable.
25. Empowerment vs Direction
26. Empowerment Direction Coaching teammates to connect their own dots Sponsoring teammates for visible/stretch assignments Group brainstorming to create roadmaps Choosing project deadlines Scheduling oncall rotations Assigning work to each teammate Writing job descriptions
27. Empowerment Direction Good when: • People crave clarity • When someone’s new to the team/company • There’s big risks afoot • There’s urgency Good when: • Gathering buy-in • You need more creative ideas • Teammates are developing new skills/career growth • There’s lots of time
28. Risks and tradeoffs
29. Moving along the spectrum More Empowering More Directive
30. Draw a star on the spectrum: your default approach. More Empowering More Directive
31. Your product manager isn’t doing their job. 1
32. Your teammate wants to be promoted, but you’re not sure if they’re ready. 2
33. Your teammate has come to you with a competing job offer at 2x their current salary. 3
34. One of your teammates has yelled at their colleague when you’re not around. 4
35. When a new request comes in for your team, no one jumps in to triage or address it. 5
36. 6 A senior leader routinely interrupts you in meetings.
37. Let’s debrief
38. Your approach will be informed by: • the team’s context, • the needs of your individual teammates, • who you are as a leader, and • what the organization needs.
39. Get comfy with each end of the spectrum, and the spots in between.