I think it all starts with self awareness, knowing my weaknesses would be step number one, from there I can be aware of fallouts when it comes in that area.
Rest, leadership is a learnable skill, continuously honing weaknesses and evaluating progress in the scale is my strategy.
I take an extra step to admit my weaknesses too, but that’s because I value authenticity a lot.
Thanks Michał for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Not being able to understand how others see me was one of q big gap I had early on, it took me a while to internalize. It became easier when I understood how a leader's words can ruin someone's day. From that day, I became very different.
Its an art more than a science for sure. The key elements i think include building trust (using techniques from Stephen Covey's Speed of Trust) and gauging the capability of your team/stakeholders to synthesize the information (using techniques of TRM [Task Relevant Maturity] from Andy' Groves High Output Management). Over time those are things that have worked for me but I am sure there are other/better ways to do this too :)
Thanks for sharing your techniques, Arjun. Speed of trust was definitely an interesting read for me, I loved how you put leadership as art and science.
Leadership is for people, they’re different and they change, so it’s always a learning journey, thanks for sharing your learnings with us.
Balancing transparency with sensitivity of the information, is a crucial skill to have. In fact the more senior you get the more important that is for the reasons you mention in the post. Paraphrasing the Icarus parable, the higher you fly the more the dangerous the information you possess can be. As long as you have built credibility with the team, in a way they trust that you will tell them the right information at the right time, there is no use in overcompensating that with undue transparency.
Absolutely true, Arjun. I learned it the hard way, by making countless mistakes. Probably still fall prey to this one from time to time. I started asking questions like "what is the value for them knowing this information" and variations of that now.
Do you have any strategies choosing what you share vs not?
“Would you want to work for yourself?” Is such a great question, which I never considered!
I’m very opinionated and controlling, so it’s not easy to ‘shine’ in my team. But when someone has proved themselves, I’m able to completely give my trust to them and let them lead.
I think the answer is Yes, but it’s a very close call 😂
Love the images
Thanks, Junaid. I always try to lean towards funny 😂
Very well written article, Akash!
Thanks, Basma, glad you liked it.
I love the question 'Would you want to work for yourself?'! How do you think about strategies to balance your weaknesses?
Thanks, @Sebastiano Armeli. Glad you liked it.
I think it all starts with self awareness, knowing my weaknesses would be step number one, from there I can be aware of fallouts when it comes in that area.
Rest, leadership is a learnable skill, continuously honing weaknesses and evaluating progress in the scale is my strategy.
I take an extra step to admit my weaknesses too, but that’s because I value authenticity a lot.
I believe I would like to work for myself, but it is quite challenging to shift perspective.
These are really important questions to ask oneself when in a leadership position. Thank you, Akash!
PS I’m glad you enjoyed the article on second-order thinking!
Thanks Michał for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Not being able to understand how others see me was one of q big gap I had early on, it took me a while to internalize. It became easier when I understood how a leader's words can ruin someone's day. From that day, I became very different.
That must have been an important moment, understanding our impact is valuable to realise — and to remind other leaders of it.
Thank you for sharing this!
100%, once I learned, there was no going back. I’m glad to learn before it was too late.
Thanks for sharing the importance of self-awareness in leadership.
Thanks Nagesh for the kind words, glad you liked it.
Its an art more than a science for sure. The key elements i think include building trust (using techniques from Stephen Covey's Speed of Trust) and gauging the capability of your team/stakeholders to synthesize the information (using techniques of TRM [Task Relevant Maturity] from Andy' Groves High Output Management). Over time those are things that have worked for me but I am sure there are other/better ways to do this too :)
Thanks for sharing your techniques, Arjun. Speed of trust was definitely an interesting read for me, I loved how you put leadership as art and science.
Leadership is for people, they’re different and they change, so it’s always a learning journey, thanks for sharing your learnings with us.
Balancing transparency with sensitivity of the information, is a crucial skill to have. In fact the more senior you get the more important that is for the reasons you mention in the post. Paraphrasing the Icarus parable, the higher you fly the more the dangerous the information you possess can be. As long as you have built credibility with the team, in a way they trust that you will tell them the right information at the right time, there is no use in overcompensating that with undue transparency.
Absolutely true, Arjun. I learned it the hard way, by making countless mistakes. Probably still fall prey to this one from time to time. I started asking questions like "what is the value for them knowing this information" and variations of that now.
Do you have any strategies choosing what you share vs not?
“Would you want to work for yourself?” Is such a great question, which I never considered!
I’m very opinionated and controlling, so it’s not easy to ‘shine’ in my team. But when someone has proved themselves, I’m able to completely give my trust to them and let them lead.
I think the answer is Yes, but it’s a very close call 😂
Thanks for sharing, Anton.
Earning trust and gaining your confidence taking time sounds very fair to me.