35 things I've learned about managing & leading

Over the last 5 years, I've had the pleasure of growing the Product and Marketing teams @8billionideas. I started with basically 0 experience but in this time I've hired 15+ people, and learned some things about management and leading along the way. This short list summarises some of the lessons I've learned, which I am sharing below for other people new to management.

It's worth saying that they are not intended to be universal truths. I don't necessarily encourage people to take these verbatim, but instead be intentional about developing their own style.

1. Sometimes people don't want leaders, they want managers.

Leadership v Management is a meme, and makes these 2 important skills exclusive to one another. People don't have to feel inspired every time they talk to you, but they do want competence. Give them competence.

2. Analyse 2-3 shared interests in your team, invest in them.

If a team member says 'hey you should read/watch this, it's really good' try to do so. Don't be cynical about it - everyone's interests overlap and you'll find a common interest.

3. On Fridays ask 'what is the most exciting thing you are doing this weekend', check in on that on Monday.

It's nice to remember that we all have live outside of work, and it's nice for people to know that you remember that.

4. Watch All or Nothing and learn from Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta.

They are both fantastic role models. As hard as your job is, it's probably not as hard or as pressured as theirs. (I'm not an Arsenal or City fan by the way).

5. Watch the UK Office.

It's an education. At all times allocate 2% of your brain for constantly asking the question 'am I being David Brent right now?' If the answer is yes, immediately stop what you are doing.

6. It's ok to show passion to your team.

They need to know you are a real person. You can be authentically annoyed or weirdly passionate or happy if you genuinely feel this way. This will show your team that when you are with them you are being the 'real you'.

7. People want authenticity above all else.

People want authenticity. They want it from their politicians, their celebrities, their friends, their family. 99% of the time when someone doesn't like someone else it's because they perceive them as being inauthentic.

8. When team members share things about their personal life, remember to remember.

Life is busy, work life is busy. When people share, make a mental note and check in later on these topics. Just asking how a family member is, or even a pet is important.

9. Trust is quickly lost, slowly gained.

You should start your team members at '100% trust' in your mind. If they lose it, they lose it quickly. When they gain it, it's slowly accumulated over a period of time. This is true in the reverse so communicate it.

10. 'It is my expectation that...' is one of the most powerful sentence starters in your arsenal.

People want clarity, this sentence gives that clarity. Don't be afraid to use it.

11. Be transparent with your team's stakeholders.

Never hide anything ever from your team's stakeholders. Try to work in the open so you literally cannot hide anything. Public trackers of projects (like Notion or Asana) are good for this.

12. Build an insurgent mindset.

When Steve Jobs went back to Apple he assembled a 'pirate crew' of people to release the Mac. This set the expectations that they wouldn't have all the resources in the world, and that what they were working on was revolutionary.

13. Find the time to be social.

Building 'social capital' which is worth so so much. It allows people to spend time together and come up with new ideas which might not happen in a traditional work environment. Also, it's fun to spend time with people.

14. Sometimes you have to break someone down and build them up in the way you need them to be.

Never be afraid of sharing a few hard truths (best done by guiding the person(s) involved to discovering said truths). This takes a huge amount of time and is intense.

15. Your team have maybe 20% of the context you think they do.

Your team can't read minds. They don't know what you know about the business or initiatives or what's in your head. Take the time to explain stuff from first principals.

16. You have to put in more hours than your team.

Nobody wants to work for someone that works less than them. I'm sorry, but it's true. Your team have to know that you will do whatever it takes, and that's the only way they will do the same when necessary.

17. When someone in your team messes up, it's on you.

Person X messes up, it's their problem right? No. You probably picked and trained them, and they were utilising the tools you gave them in the processes and parameters you set. Take responsibility for this.

18. When someone in your team does well, it's on them.

Conversely, when they do something good, even if it's using your tools, guidance, mentorship, and processes, you must let them shine. Let the work stand out for itself and don't be concerned about optics.

19. Recruitment is the most important thing in Football, and it's the most important thing in your team too.

'Great teams are made up of great individuals'. Case in point is Ancelotti's Real at the last Champion's League. (A lot of these are about football, sorry).

20. Build operational transparency in.

Need to get a file? Grab it. Need to understand the latest developments for a project? Just head on over to that page. To me this means investing big time in Notion, and making sure your team know how to use it.

21. Build a culture of writing.

Not everything needs a meeting. Your team should be comfortable (through regular practice) in expressing complex and precise ideas through Slack. It's a huge unlock of team time, and enables asynchronous communication.

22. The team should be able to run even if you were hit by a bus.

BAU shouldn't take your day to day input. Your head needs to be elsewhere. Build robust enough systems so that you can be a level above.

23. If you don't feel like you're over communicating, you are not communicating enough.

Important. Self Explanatory.

24. Invest in your personal productivity and encourage your team to do the same.

You should have robust systems for to-dos, calendars, email etc. If you can make 5 people get 20% more out of their day, you've added another whole FTE hire to your team.

25. Share your diary with your team.

Give them transparency as to how you manage your time. It will probably help them understand when you're busy, and when you're not.

26. Rarely talk about how busy you are.

If you're getting messages like 'Hi XXXX, sorry to bother you but' you've messed up. That means they don't feel comfortable in reaching out because of the narrative of busyness you have created.

27. Just be straightforward and ask 'what are your career goals'.

In 121s especially. Together you need to align this with what the company is asking them to do. 50% of people management and 121s is aligning these 2 things.

28. Documentation.

Really spend a lot of time investing in great documentation. 'Digest into a notion page' is something everyone in your team should be familiar with and know how to do. It encourages clear thinking.

29. The best ideas win.

This is basically saying to your team members is 'you need to get as good at advocating for your ideas, because this team deserves lively and pointed intellectual discourse'. I think many teams don't have enough (good natured) arguments.

30. If you say no twice, and they still ask, you're missing something.

Ideas are built on solid execution, and execution is built on passion and clarity. If someone cares enough to bring something to you three times, you should approve it for this reason.

31. It's really difficult to discuss the theoretical.

Someone might say, I have idea X. To you that could look like this: ><, and to them it could look like this: }{. Solve this by creating & discussing prototypes as early as possible.

32. Do longer meetings with your team to kick off the week.

Schedule it for around 10am on Monday. Ask them to use the first hour of their day thinking about what their priorities are going to be that week over a coffee. This is my favourite meeting of the week.

Yes, I unironically have favourite meetings of the week.

33. Send surveys after big meetings.

You send surveys to measure product satisfaction, your meetings are your product. Send surveys after big meetings to take the temperature and crucially get feedback on what would have made it a a better use of time.

34. Two ears, one mouth.

Sounds like a cliché, it's not, it will help your career. In most conversations try to get the other person speaking as much as you can, people will give you the answers if you just listen for them.

35. Be skeptical of anyone who claims to be an authority on anything.

Especially the person who wrote this thread!