9 Brief Observations After Running a Team of 25

Half-baked observations because fully-baked commentary is boring and unhelpful (see: the curse of knowledge)

🔎 Your Actions are Magnified
People read into things. It’s easy to lose control.

🍌 Adapt Processes for Scale
Most every process I had before doesn’t scale based on my new time constraints. 25 people needing my time is different than 4 people needing my time, e.g.

🧩 Don’t Try to Own The Details
I’m not the one closest to the work in a lot of cases any more. Let the experts on the team be the experts and own the details. I own the outcomes of the team.

📶 Find The Signal, Ignore The Noise
There is a lot more noise. Identifying the actionable information is way more important now (and more difficult).

🎙️Narrowcasting > Broadcasting
Steering the team through a series of strategic 1:1 conversations is way more effective than sweeping announcements. 6/

🗣️ Know Your Influencers
Who does the team look to? (It may not be the most senior people).

💳 Credibility is the Ultimate Currency
If my team doesn’t have confidence in me, I’m toast.

🦧 Don’t Mimic Someone Else’s Leadership Style
Lead in a way that feels natural for me.

⚽️ Team is everything
Without my team I am nothing ❤️.

Thanks for reading.

Michael

Photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash