10 short notes on leadership

Some quick thoughts on a big topic

I have been thinking a lot about leadership recently, both how to demonstrate it myself and how to foster it in my teams. Here are ten short notes about leadership:

1. The absence of leadership feels like drifting. There is uncertainty that can’t be resolved. Uncertainty isn’t itself a bad thing (it is, naturally, a part of product work, especially in discovery) but it needs to be worked through with confidence.

2. A feeling of drifting has to first be managed in yourself. When you notice it, no matter your role or your level, first ask yourself, what can I do to re-focus my team? Being able to articulate the why behind the work your team is doing is a powerful thing. Write it down in a sentence.

3. Once you have your sentence, and it is clear and to the point, say it to yourself, to your team, to other teams you work closely with, in expanding circles of influence. Make it simple. Reiterate it until it sticks.

4. This itself is part of communicating, early and often, which is a sign of true leadership that is accessible to everyone all the time. Share what you’re doing and why it matters. Share what you’re not doing, and how that frees you to focus on the highest priorities and helps to move the whole team forward. Make it clear how others can do the same, so that the whole team is moving in the same direction.

5. Commit to the people on your team and in your organisation. When you create clarity for others, it shows that you value their time and efforts. You can’t build a product or a platform alone, or, for that matter, a business. Leaders don’t just know this, they make this a central tenet of how they operate by investing in the environments others are operating within (at all levels!). This unlocks individual contributions.

6. Setting good guardrails is key. An autonomous team is not one that can do whatever it wants; it’s one that understands the goals and accepts responsibility for achieving them. That includes making decisions, all the way through to their conclusions, which means accepting consequences. Consequences mean impact: on the team, the business, the customers, and in some cases even more broadly (depending on the scale of your product). Good product teams de-risk their decisions and make calculated bets based on confidence in what they do and do not know. Leaders help teams work through these things by asking good questions, challenging appropriately, helping teams navigate internal processes, and taking ownership.

7. If you have the opportunity to set expectations (with direct reports, or team members) clarify what good leadership looks like. Do this in 1-to-1s by naming the behaviours and skills required. Support these individuals where they need it. Then trust those individuals to lead.

8. It is the job of leaders to set or clarify constraints. Constraints must be managed and adhered to, especially in highly regulated industries or products, but they can also create the right circumstances for creativity to thrive.

9. Good leaders do all of the above. Great leaders do all of the above while recognising and acknowledging those around them who are also leading. Show appreciation when others demonstrate behaviours that signal strong leadership. This creates space for others, which becomes the thing that others can see and copy. Repeatable and rewarded behaviours are what makes a culture.

10. Ultimately, leadership is not a role or a title. It is a skill, and as a skill, it can be learned. Anyone who does not believe themselves to be a leader today, can learn how. It does not need to come with a promotion or the next job. You can do these things today. Imagine what would happen if you did.