Years ago in my software engineering class, my professor was discussing Fred Brooks' "surgical team" (Tar Pit).
Suffice to say, the surgeon alone cannot perform a complicated surgery; it requires a team.
He added one role that he found to be a key marker of a successful team: a "team mother". The person that celebrates the small victories. The person that remembers birthdays. The person that can read your mood and offer a ear. The person that lightens the mood when everything is tense.
I ran across my first a few years later. His output on the project was abysmal by any normal metric, but his energy and whim changed the atmosphere and overall made the team more productive. Everyone was happier when he was in. His contribution wouldn't show up on any spreadsheet, but it could be felt by the team. Years later, he went on to own multiple product teams.
KPIs and OKRs are what you fall back on when you're so disconnected from the production that you can only measure success by reducing a team or a person down to red light/green light; missing the forest for the tree.
Totally. leadership is giving a sh*t by being present, listening, contemplating, motivating, and making decisions at the right time after asking enough questions to have the right information.
If you can be funny while doing all that — you’re my boss. I’ve had some great bosses in the past, inspiring, and another mark is that i grow as a person and professional while serving such bosses. There was space to do work, make mistakes, and do better afterwards.
Suffice to say, the surgeon alone cannot perform a complicated surgery; it requires a team.
He added one role that he found to be a key marker of a successful team: a "team mother". The person that celebrates the small victories. The person that remembers birthdays. The person that can read your mood and offer a ear. The person that lightens the mood when everything is tense.
I ran across my first a few years later. His output on the project was abysmal by any normal metric, but his energy and whim changed the atmosphere and overall made the team more productive. Everyone was happier when he was in. His contribution wouldn't show up on any spreadsheet, but it could be felt by the team. Years later, he went on to own multiple product teams.
KPIs and OKRs are what you fall back on when you're so disconnected from the production that you can only measure success by reducing a team or a person down to red light/green light; missing the forest for the tree.