Leading When You're Not in Charge

Communication

Scott Lesser

@okcscott

#leadership

#career-development

#personal-development

#communication

#teamwork

#emotional-intelligence

#self-awareness

Leading When You're Not in Charge

by Scott Lesser

In his presentation "Leading When You're Not in Charge" at RailsConf 2017, Scott Lesser discusses the concept of leadership outside traditional titles and roles. He emphasizes that leadership is not solely reserved for those with formal titles like manager or senior developer; instead, anyone, regardless of their position, can exhibit leadership qualities and influence their environment. Lesser shares his personal journey of wanting more responsibility and leadership opportunities while facing challenges and realizations along the way.

Key points discussed include:
- Importance of Personal Leadership: Scott emphasizes that before leading others, one needs to learn to lead themselves effectively. This involves basic responsibilities like being punctual, prepared, and self-motivated.
- Leading Up: Lesser introduces the concept of leading up, which means adding value to those in higher positions, supporting leaders, and working with excellence. He stresses the importance of honoring leadership publicly to gain influence privately.
- Receiving Feedback: He addresses the challenges of accepting both positive and negative feedback, providing strategies for processing criticism constructively and using it to improve.
- Self-Awareness: Understanding one's strengths and weaknesses is crucial for effective leadership. Lesser discusses various tools for self-assessment, such as Myers-Briggs and StrengthsFinder, which help identify personal leadership styles.
- Effective Communication: Lesser highlights the importance of knowing your audience, communicating in person when necessary, and following up on conversations to ensure clarity and understanding.
- Humility and Service: He concludes that true leadership involves humility, focusing on serving others rather than seeking to elevate oneself. He cites Simon Sinek’s idea of leaders eating last, underscoring that effective leadership stems from a desire to enhance the environment and support others.

In summary, Lesser encourages individuals to take responsibility in leading from where they are and to utilize their current roles to influence positively without waiting for a formal title. His talk serves as a motivational reminder that anyone can cultivate leadership qualities and impact their teams and organizations significantly.

Takeaways:

Leadership is about action, not position.
Self-leadership is essential for influencing others.
Embrace both giving and receiving feedback as a growth opportunity.
Leverage self-awareness to enhance your unique leadership style.
Build effective communication that fosters understanding and clarity.
Adopt a posture of humility and service in every leadership interaction.

00:00:12.440 Nothing like just standing here awkwardly while everyone gets settled. I probably should have made a more grand entrance. Anyway, this talk is titled 'Leading When You're Not in Charge'. My name is Scott Lesser, and I’m a senior developer at Life.Church.

00:00:18.000 You might be curious about what a church developer does. If you’re someone who doesn't care, that’s totally fine! Just to clear the air, I'm not responsible for any of those flashy church websites. I wish that were the case, but I don’t have those skills. I want to give you a quick background about what we do at Life.Church.

00:00:34.860 We have 25 different engineers across three teams, and I lead one of those engineering teams. My team is specifically focused on building software that we give away to other churches. My leadership journey has been a bit bumpy and rough. This gift that I’ve captured is almost like falling backward into it. A few years ago, I was in a holding pattern in my career. I was still growing as a developer but wanted more responsibility.

00:01:01.739 I wasn't really sure how to go about getting it. Should I pester my boss? Was it just about excelling at my job? I was part of the culture at Life.Church, which emphasizes growing as a leader, and I wanted that too. However, I didn’t really know what that meant. Honestly, I thought, once I landed a leadership position, I would figure it out. Fast forward to now—I’m leading a small team of engineers, and I realized that I could have been doing these things all along.

00:01:29.850 I didn’t need to be in a leadership position to lead well. Rather than wanting more influence, I should have been using my existing influence to do more. You can think of me as the ghost of Christmas past up here, trying to convey that if you don’t change your ways, you won’t get anywhere. My hope for today is that we have some awkward laughs and fun, and you pick one of the topics that stands out to you and work on that.

00:02:06.960 So what is leadership? Thanks to confirmation bias, I was able to find a quote that aligns exactly with my feelings about it. Kati Christie says, 'Leadership should be the humble, authentic expression of your unique personality in pursuit of bettering whatever environment you are in.' You might be thinking, 'I had more of a General Patton type leadership image in mind,' right? Strong command and inspiring vision to lead into battle.

00:02:54.210 We're going to discuss older models of leadership theories, which suggest that you're either born a leader or not. There's a set of attributes, like a General Patton type leader, that you either emulate or are simply born with. In newer models of leadership, it's really about discovering what is unique about you and leading from your strengths and weaknesses. One newer model is the Three Levels of Leadership. There are three levels to this model: personal leadership, private leadership, and public leadership.

00:03:34.890 Personal leadership is about learning to lead yourself. Private leadership is peer leadership, leading coworkers one-on-one, while public leadership is leading teams of two or more. Today, we'll focus on personal leadership. Some of you might think, 'I do not want public leadership; I just want to feel heard and lead right where I’m at,' and that's perfect. As long as you're getting better as a leader, your team and organization are improving as well.

00:04:20.120 One more quick thing—I'll be using Yahoo Answers as a learning aid and segue between topics. If you don’t know what Yahoo Answers is, it's a place for asking questions with a mix of serious and often ridiculous responses—the internet's own catnip for trolls. This slide isn’t entirely accurate because Verizon recently announced they were renaming Yahoo as Oath, but I will still refer to it as Yahoo Answers.

00:04:40.620 So what can you expect from Yahoo Answers? Something like this: 'I need a word that begins with J, not jelly!' Everyone immediately thinks of jelly, but she doesn't want that. You can get some succinct lists here, like classic J words such as 'jurisprudence' and 'jojoba.' Let's start by discussing leading yourself. Before you can expect to lead others, you need to lead yourself well. This can look like some basic things, such as showing up to work on time.

00:05:04.120 Pick something that you can work on. If showing up on time is your issue, then that's what you can improve. It’s not only about getting your work done on time but also being prepared. If your team does daily stand-ups, make sure you’re ready instead of starting with 'Give me a minute; I’m not sure what I'm doing today.' Be a self-starter. It's essential as a leader to motivate those around you. If you can’t even motivate yourself, it’s going to be tough.

00:05:49.800 Don't be complicated! I love this principle because it's a simple filter for making decisions. Are you making your boss's job harder? Are you a distraction? Are you hard to lead? Just don’t be complicated. As for the 100 leadership qualities, I think we reach the point where we're just describing basic human traits. While I appreciate the attempt to create lists, details can be unnecessary.

00:06:34.460 I encountered a quote that really nailed this idea about leadership. The reason I love it is because of the credibility of the source. If you want to learn more about leadership, dive into it. Let's discuss leading up. I’m sure many of you have seen this kind of discussion in leadership talks and might be curious about it. John Maxwell, a leadership author, describes ‘leading up’ as adding value to those above you to influence them. This doesn’t mean bossing your boss; it’s about supporting them and adding value to the organization.

00:07:23.960 A few tips if you want to lead up: Honor publicly and be cautious with criticism privately. When you honor publicly, it increases your influence behind closed doors. If you want to be a person of influence, you need to learn to be led. Timing matters—respect your boss's time. If they’re busy, don’t spend 40 minutes explaining how you solved a problem. Just inform them that it’s resolved. Be prepared before speaking with your boss.

00:08:04.420 Your motive matters too. If your goal is self-serving and not about the organization, that’s a red flag. Be proactive and look for tasks that need to be done. Ask your boss how you can alleviate their burden. But remember, don’t be a yes-man. If you’re appreciative just to appease your boss, you’ll lose credibility quickly if others already dislike that idea.

00:08:43.520 Now for some moral questions. Those questions on Yahoo Answers might bring out humorous answers. For example, should you take a bribe to change eBay feedback? The consensus might be yes. But consider this: A recent study found that 46% of new hires fail within 18 months—26% of those blame their inability to accept feedback. So if you’re getting negative feedback, here are some ways to process it: Don’t justify it in the moment and seek clarity.

00:09:56.540 Ask for examples and practical suggestions for improvement. If feedback hits hard, you can buy time by saying you want to unpack it more. And when you receive critical feedback, it’s key to remember to thank the person giving it, as it’s hard for them too. Allow yourself to take offline and process it—don’t feel pressured to react right away. Consider the wisdom behind the feedback, as it may include truths that could help you grow. Seeking feedback is important, and you need to express gratitude for it.

00:12:24.030 Application is key—don’t be someone who consistently acknowledges feedback without implementing change. You need to show improvement or growth, otherwise, it becomes merely talk. Let’s shift and discuss self-awareness, which is about understanding your character, feelings, motives, and desires. Self-awareness allows you to identify your strengths, weaknesses, and potential blind spots.

00:12:48.120 There are many tools available to help with self-awareness, including personality tests like Myers-Briggs or StrengthsFinder. They reveal unique qualities you can rely on as a leader. When I took these tests, I found that I was more inclined toward emotional intelligence (EQ), which has been shown to better predict leadership potential than IQ.

00:13:16.270 After receiving feedback through 360 assessments, I realized I needed to improve my communication skills. Talking is not the same as effective communication—understanding your audience is essential. If you’re too technical with a non-technical person, it won’t resonate. Deliver important messages in person when possible since email or chat can lose nuance.

00:14:14.230 Following up after conversations is crucial. To know if your message has been received correctly, ask questions like, 'What will you do next?' If there’s a discrepancy in understanding, it helps identify where to clarify. Being proactive is necessary; if you're behind on a project, update your team leader instead of waiting for inquiries.

00:15:27.020 Addressing the unique question of how to get a job if you're too attractive showcases the humorous side of feedback discussions. But on a serious note, humility is critical in leadership. True humility means not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. It’s about understanding your role and the importance of others, too.

00:15:56.280 For me, this is the secret ingredient to effective leadership. I experienced stagnation in my career. When I decided to put my team and organization first, prioritizing their success over my desire for recognition, I was eventually promoted. Leaders eat last emphasizes that leadership is about benefiting others rather than wielding power.

00:16:45.920 In every encounter, we either give life or drain it. Each interaction should seek to add value to those around you. If you leave this talk without taking action, it detracts from your growth and from your team. Pick one actionable item from our discussion today and commit to improvement. Use your existing influence to create change.