Let's Practice: Quote #1
I wrote a bit about reading great quotes and how avoid losing sight of what they intended.
In the spirit of being practical, I'm going to pick one and go through how I might process it and practice it.
The quote
Never underestimate the power of a great team, and don't be afraid to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.
Gifford Thomas
(From Leadership First on LinkedIn)
What does it mean to me?
I see at least two parts.
Never underestimate the power of a great team
From this I take a sense of respect and gratitude, along with recognition of a great team.
To me, “great” means effective at communication, delivery, timing, teamwork, and minimizing issues.
So, “be respectful and show gratitude to your high functioning team.”
Don't be afraid to surround yourself…
This can be hard to simply “do” at a given moment.
So I'm going to pivot this a little, and interpret this to mean “I probably should not be / am not the smartest person in the room”. I'll add “the people around you are the experts and know what they're doing. Trust and question.”
What do I practice?
Some ideas spring up:
Show gratitude/recognition during a team meeting or 1-1
Give the group some task to do and say “I'll help with a couple guardrails, but I think you are better suited to solve this than me”
Ask how what we are doing today might align with team/company direction. If they say it doesn't, ask for what adjustments they might make
Remind them they do the magic, they do the work that everyone wants at the end of the day; as a manager, I do not directly do that
For developers, give challenges or designated time during the week to pursue their own interests (make it relevant to the company for major points)
How do I practice?
Add practice ideas/content to meeting agendas now, don't wait
Use notes and reminders when you meet with people to chime in
Reflect on how valued they are to you, and remember their success is your success
Remind them how skilled you think they are and how well they complement each other as a team
When to practice?
I would target my next couple team meetings and work it into smaller chats like scrum ceremonies, other chats…
I would do this for a month, since it probably doesn't need effort every hour of every day.
Any caveats?
Don't love bomb; be honest and realistic. People have great B.S. detectors, especially engineers
Be relevant and cite recent events, work, deployments, etc
Keep your comments brief but heartfelt; focused, but generous
Don't reveal the quote unless it makes compelling sense
Summary
This is a really abridged version of how I might try to put this quote into practice. I hope there is something in here for you to help you get where you want to be.
