How Not to Be a Shitty Leader, Chapter 1
One of the deepest beliefs I have formed over my career is that the "goodness" of any job is limited to the quality of leadership above me. In early jobs I focused almost entirely on my direct manager, but I’ve come to realize that we cannot escape the impact of shitty leadership if it shows up anywhere in our leadership chain, from our direct manager through middle managers all the way to the CEO. [1]
No one sets out to be a shitty leader, and yet I’d bet we've all experienced them. (In fact, I welcome you to send me some examples of your bad leaders and leadership, and I can tackle them in future editions of this series.) It can be fun to vent about how bad they are and bond over war stories, to curse them and laugh at their incompetence. I mean, what the hell, right?!
But how did they end up there? How can we identify their blind spots to make sure we don't share them? I have always felt a vague sense of terror that I might be doing something crappy myself that I am somehow unaware of. This fear has driven me to pay close attention as I’ve experienced many different flavors of shittiness in my career, and I have formed some very strong opinions about what we should be doing (or not doing) which I would like to share with you.
(It’s important to note that I do not think being a shitty leader means being a shitty person. I’ve known some lovely humans who were nevertheless aggravating beyond belief inside of a leadership context. I also know that I have shown up as a shitty leader myself on more than one occasion.)
No one sets out to be a shitty leader, and yet I’d bet we have all experienced them.
And so, welcome to part one of this series! First of all, thank you for caring enough to even read leadership material, which is already a good sign that you are open to feedback and learning, probably the most necessary ingredient in...basically everything. This series is for all of us, at all levels, as we progress on our paths of understanding ourselves and our impact on the world around us.
Today I want to encourage you to embrace the full mantle and scope of leadership.
You may think, “Oh, I’m not a leader really, I just a manage people.” But the truth is, if you are responsible for humans and their work, you are a leader. Whether you want to be or not. And being a GOOD leader means that you acknowledge it and own the role. I know that lack of experience or confidence can make this fairly uncomfortable. But here’s a reality check: if you are not taking full responsibility across your leadership scope, you are leaving the door open for shittiness.
What does leading mean, really? In its simplest form leading is showing and clearing the way for others to progress. And when you are a leader you are responsible for doing that for the entirety of the scope that you touch. And this is where we need to be honest with ourselves that the scope is often bigger than we would comfortably like it to be.
You have responsibility for all of these things:
Your product (what you are making or affecting)
The people you influence (the team underneath you, your partners and peers, and others who count on you and your team)
The organizations you are a part of (your direct team, your wider teams, your company)
Yourself (vitally)
And as if that’s not enough, you also need to be thinking about not just the “what” in those areas, but also the “how,” the “why,” and the “what next” for each of them. Together, this conceptual three-dimensional space is your area of responsibility. If you are ignoring any of these, I guarantee you that your absence of leadership is being felt.
Product | People | Organization | Me | |
What | ? | ? | ? | ? |
How | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Why | ? | ? | ? | ? |
What Next | ? | ? | ? | ? |
You want a full bingo card of consideration.
This does not mean you have to be actively working on all of these things all the time, that would be impossible. You can certainly delegate and choose appropriate times to tackle pieces of your puzzle. But it does mean that you are responsible for all of the choices, action, and inaction around those things. [2]
But here’s a reality check: if you are not taking full responsibility across your leadership scope, you are leaving the door open for shittiness.
I once worked with a leader who was very good at shipping features. He was a natural at the “how” of the product and the organization. For a while this was a successful formula for promotion. But he never cared about the “why” of the product, and he firmly believed that the people were not really his responsibility. The thing is, people looked to him for those things, whether he believed they should or not. His lack of strategy and unwillingness to deal with people issues caused pain and frustration for everyone around him, and eventually stalled his career progression.
Another example is the phenomenon Cap Watkins writes about in his article The Rebalancing of Design Management. In the beginning, as design teams were first establishing themselves within organizations, designers and their managers focused primarily on the product and the craft. As the teams matured and grew, design leaders necessarily expanded their attention to the people and the organizations. And in some cases, the focus shifted too far away from the product.
Seeing and accepting our full scope is the first step to non-shitty leadership. As you explore all of the details of your full scope, ask yourself some questions. Is the shape and outcome across all of it where you want it to be? Did you set a direction for each area? What steps can you take to be more conscious about the areas you naturally avoid? Or are you pretty sure that some of those aren’t your responsibility? (Email me if you have a strong opinion!)
It's normal to feel some discomfort and resistance when we discover gaps. I have had plenty of my own blind spots and continue to find more, so it's definitely not my intent to shame anyone. I find fortitude in these moments of horror by remembering that we are all good inside. I also believe that 99% of the time, problems are a result of a skill issue, not a will issue. We all want to do great work, and we all have our own learning journey to get there.
The good news is that you are a leader. And I bet you're a damn good one. Embracing your scope, putting thought into all the squares on your leadership bingo card, will only make you a better one.
[1] This might be why sometimes smaller companies are easier - fewer people above you means fewer places for leadership to go awry. Although then you also are closer and therefore more impacted by any bad leaders that might exist, so it’s a trade-off.
[2] I know that in some of those places you will not have all the power you need to change how things operate or what the outcomes are. We are parts of larger organizations, and understanding the limits to our agency, power, and bandwidth is very important to keeping us, and everyone around us, sane and healthy. Therefore I am not saying you are always responsible for the outcome, but you are responsible for the choices. It is valid to decide to do nothing in a situation, however it is not wise to simply avoid thinking about the situation.