leadership
When you're interviewing a candidate for a job, it's good to focus on if they're aligned with the needs of the specific job, but it's easy to forget that a huge component isn't just relevant hard skills (e.g., Are
leadership
It's tempting when you're talking about an big initiative, or individual tasks to list a few names of people who will advance something. But something I learned many times, especially during the high-growth times at Halfaker and Associates, is that responsibilities need exactly one owner. When
leadership
When you're welcoming a new team member, make it easy for them to quickly get up to speed. It's tempting to think that you are so busy that you don't have time to welcome them well, but that's a high-risk maneuver, as
leadership
Interviewing candidates effectively is so hard -- you only get a few hours to determine if this person has the right skills, experience, temperament, cultural alignment, leadership style, etc. to fit into this specific role in your organization. A few tips about structuring the interview event: * Schedule sufficient time, such
leadership
Skip-level 1-on-1s are the concept of you, as a leader of multiple teams, of meeting directly with people who report to people who report to you. This is sometimes a very delicate topic, because you may make your direct reports, or the people you're meeting with (who work
leadership
Fundamental, tactical skills like email management, schedule/calendar management, and making documents and presentations are sometimes overlooked by leaders when they consider how to keep their teams aligned. If things aren't running smoothly, there's value in reflecting on these fundamentals, both for yourself (Are these tactical,
leadership
As a leader, it's easy to get sucked into filling your days with meetings focused on the work, and not investing time in taking care of your people. Don't let this happen -- it reminds me of the personal finance concept of "Pay yourself first&
leadership
The difference between watching 5 year olds and professionals play soccer is a powerful illustration of what organizations feel like as they mature -- early startups tend to have people swarm every issue, like little kids playing "magnet ball", while mature organizations has clear responsibilities and expectations. I
leadership
Moving up the org chart from individual contributor to team leader, to more senior management jobs, and eventually into senior leadership (executive leadership) isn't trivial. Most people don't get a lot of education or training on how to be great leaders and managers. As you move
leadership
You've heard people say that multi-tasking is inefficient, and everyone thinks they're good at it, but they're really not. That's a powerful concept to remember, as you try to work through your day, but many people don't try to influence
agile
When you're planning to launch a big new program (or other big effort) at work, it's valuable to step back and clarify, very succinctly the purpose and scope of this new thing. It's easy early on when planning a big new thing to think
leadership
Organizations and teams often need to mature from one central leader to several empowered leaders. Sometimes that's a founder delegating real authority and ownership (not just helpers who are doing what the founder tells them to do). Sometimes it's a team within a bigger organization that