Execution & Being a leader...

Leadership…. What does it mean? There’s books and books on the topic, so it must be this super complex, incredibly esoteric concept, right?? Well, let’s just say “no”. Leadership is, at its core, fairly simple -- it’s not the idea of leadership that’s hard. It’s the execution, steadiness, and ongoing dedication that makes being a good leader a challenge.? Personally, I think I’m a decent leader -- there are others much better at it than I am, but I’ve heard it enough from current and past team members that I’m confident enough to say that.? For context, I’ve led teams since around 1999 when I was thrust into being a team lead at a hyper-growth startup.? Since that time, I’ve led teams ranging in size from zero (100% influence) to 200+ -- I’ve been a part of a machine as a team leader in an 80,000+ employee company and a senior leader in smaller ones.? Lately, I’ve been having conversations with employees – both managers and individual contributors that have led to great discourse but brought me to the conclusion that maybe I can scale that a little bit.

For years, I’ve wanted to put thought to paper and never got around to it.? I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon, so what I’ve decided to do instead is start a string of short posts about leadership thoughts so I can put up a thought every week or so.? What I’ve decided to do is pick some well known (and in some cases not as well known) quotes by leaders of various types and added my own commentary and experience to this. Knowing the Internet, it may mean that people read them and simply go “Well, Duh” to many of the thoughts -- but one thing that I’ve learned time and time again is that what any one individual knows well and thinks is obvious is new and enlightening to others. More likely, it also means that some people read this and vehemently disagree. That’s great for discourse.? If these discussions help any single up and coming leader, then I will be content and happy about the time that I’ve spent writing things down.??

Every quarter or so, I’ll do my best to summarize them all into a longer article for people who prefer to read once.? Depending on how it goes, we'll see what happens -- we'll go as far as we can see...

My first short thought will come a little later this week. Let the havoc begin!!! #leadership #management #careers #innovation