You don't need to be loud (or nasty) to lead

Historically there was a perception that leaders needed to be of a certain type - graduated from a specific school, worked at a specific set of companies, based in a certain location, and talked / acted / looked like an “executive”. These criteria limit the leadership pool and result in individuals not putting their true self forward as a leader. 

Fortunately times are changing. Now we are finding the old ways don’t work in today’s environment. To accomplish change, we can’t just reprogram ourselves or pretend we live in the matrix (or a Barbie movie).  Being the most visible person in the office or Zoom has taken a back seat to qualities, such authenticity and human-centeredness. We are starting to see more diverse types of leaders emerge to motivate dispersed and diverse teams. 

“As the balance of power has shifted toward greater employee empowerment, the mindsets and behaviors of the collective define the organization at least as much, if not more, than the organization defines the behaviors of its people…  We need to persuade and engage empowered, thoughtful humans to move in a new direction, at scale. Therefore, we need to rethink how we organize, manage, and lead them.” (article).

In this newsletter, I’m focusing on what skills it takes to be an effective and respected leader in today’s rapidly changing world.

Positive leadership character is today’s super strength

According to the Harvard Business Review, organizations with leaders of high character — individuals employees rated highly on integrity, responsibility, forgiveness, and compassion — had nearly five times the return on investment of those who were defined at the opposite end of the spectrum with low character. And being compassionate does not mean being a pushover.

“Author Simon Sinek describes that when leaders focus less on being “in charge” and more on taking care of those who are in their charge, that’s a sure sign of a compassionate leader.”

Why don’t more companies encourage positive leadership character? Often there is a belief that character is only reflected in ethics or is innate and cannot be changed. Others perceive positive character as “soft” and lacking qualities which motivate superior performance (see the prior newsletter). This thinking results in missing the micro-moments, small actions which have a big impact. 

On the Culture Brand podcast hosted by Aga Bajer, Jessica Zwaan recommended thinking about your employees as “subscribers”. People “buy” into your product (company, you as a leader) when they join. Then, every day, they continue to subscribe - until the day they hand in their resignation or become demotivated (what has been termed “quiet quitting”). Through positive leadership character you help to encourage your employees to continue “subscribing”. Remember, it's less costly and more effective to retain existing employees than it is to attract and train new ones.

Positive character also encourages trust and helps navigate self-doubt. Stefan Lindegaard goes so far as to say we need behavioral driven KPIs to measure and reward dynamic values such as mindset in general, entrepreneurship, agility, adaptability, creativity, and risk-taking. 

How you lead, specifically your leadership character - how you think, act, behave - can set your team apart.  By conveying positive character, during the good times and the bad, you encourage your team to bring their best every day, even in challenging situations. Establishing an environment of positive character can be your team’s competitive edge.

Wherever you are in the organization, you can have an impact

Maybe you read the prior section and thought - it doesn’t apply to me. I only lead a small team. Or, I am not a leader today. Where you are in the organization or how many people you lead matters - I won’t say it doesn’t. Yet, it’s just one factor. Your character weaves through all the actions you take. Applying the influencer model, your adoption of a positive character with your team and colleagues can have a ripple effect throughout the organization as your interactions will encourage others to be positive too. Your behavior can be the beginning of “keystone habits, which when started, over time, transforms everything.”

For example noticing and celebrating the small wins (aka positive encouragement) helps to create forward motion. On X (rip / pka Twitter), Matt Schnuck shares, “Whether you're taking on a new work project or trying to build a new healthy habit… always remember that movement creates momentum. Start taking action and let the early small wins compound.” 

As Sahil Bloom wrote in a recent newsletter - How Will You Choose to Live? - there are two types of virtues - resume virtues (skills, experiences you’d put on your resume) and eulogy virtues (things people would say about you at your funeral). Slightly morbid, but stick with me. You don’t need to choose one over the other. It can be an “and” not an “or” distinction.

What I've resolved: We can build both, but only by focusing on the correct directionality.

If you only focus on resume virtues, you do so with blinders on. You miss those moments where you could have had an impact on someone other than yourself. Whereas if you lean into eulogy virtues, you keep the bigger picture in mind. You realize that helping someone else can make their (work) life better and open the door for a future collaboration. You realize by listening and learning from others, you can gain insight into new ways - likely even better ways - to approach a situation.

I often apply similar logic when in a meeting or watching a movie. Everyone is often focused on the people doing all the talking, the main characters, putting forward the big resume skills. Instead I recommend looking elsewhere. The people who don’t grab center stage, but display resume and eulogy skills, truly make a meeting successful or a story epic. Greta Gerwig shared the power of America Ferrera’s monologue in Barbie.

Everybody is afraid they’re going to put a foot wrong and it’s all going to come crashing down, and in that moment of doing that monologue, she was giving people permission to step off that tightrope.

America isn’t the main character. But, what she brought to her role - the eulogy (life) stories and resume (acting) skills) created an authentic moment the entire cast - and the audience - could build upon and make all their “performances” better.

Leadership vs Management

On an average week, I’ll reference Tom Geraghty’s Psychological Safety newsletter at least once or twice. Despite my fandom, I was surprised to learn he had created the following diagram back in 2019.

I was reminded of this image when I joined Dan Olsen’s Lean Product Meetup where Christian Idiodi from the Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG - of Marty Cagan fame) spoke on “How to Set Up Your Product Teams for Success”.

Christian described visiting a company for an initial meeting. He was waiting for the exec to wrap up with his team. Near the end, the exec started screaming at his team to be better and do more. Christian was taken aback. He could not work with an individual who thought yelling created the right culture. Christian approached the exec and explained why he wouldn’t be staying. The exec was shocked and said, “Isn’t yelling how you are supposed to motivate your team? That is what my prior boss did, he yelled.” Christian asked if he could try another approach. The exec said ‘yes’, and Christian brought the meeting participants back. He sought their opinions. Ideas were put forward, discussions were held, and the exec was amazed by the new opportunities.

What Christian observed was an extreme scenario, yet it helps us to understand the difference between leadership and management. The exec was treating his team as “things”. Tom Geraghty shares great leadership also requires great management skills. Similar to the resume and eulogy combination, you “can’t be a great leader without good management skills. Without those management skills, you may be able to lead people, but your lack of direction, effectiveness, and capability could lead to failure.”

It’s another “and” (not an “or”). Which is why I love Bill Campbell’s quote. When a culture accepts yelling out loud, putting people down over slack, or being passive aggressive behind the scenes, toxicity seeps into the work environment. Be the agent of change. Be the leader who creates an environment which encourages all around you to shine. You’ll be remembered for the positive effect you had instead of the annoyance and fear your brought.

I tried something different with this newsletter. It includes more of my words while still building on articles and insight from others. I enjoy connecting the dots across themes I encounter and learning from others - these characteristics are likely part of my nature as a “green”.

I took a True Colors test this past week through work. My primary color is green. Greens are both independent and creative. Greens like knowledge - to understand, control, predict and explain reality. Greens seek competency, ability, skill and ingenuity. Others value their vision, global outlook and precision in solving problems.

Green’s also believe in constant improvement. There is always a better way to do things that has just not been discovered yet. I feel that way about my People-First Product Leadership course and newsletter. Are there changes you recommend? Topics you would like covered? I’d love to hear from you.

Enjoy!