Tips for scaling as a leader

This year, I have made an intentional choice - I will let go of my “whatever works” attitude and transition to a graceful and authentic leader. While my profession is Product Design, the advice I have sourced is cross-disciplinary. Here are some tips, trick and insights I have collected, so far:

1. Brand Yourself

It’s simple — no one will know you, if you don’t know yourself.

Self branding requires an honest deconstruction of self perception and others’ perception of you. It requires you to identify the gaps between the two and address them. Ultimately, you creates a sense of identity with it own set of value/qualities that represents you — your contribution, reliability and uniqueness to others.

Take feedback from people you closely work with and trust. When someone gives you feedback that you don’t agree with or find yourself having an emotional reaction to — Have an open mind! Don’t look at it as an insult, everyone has a blind spot and room for growth. Don’t hesitate to ask them to explain their feedback. Ask for clarifiers. Request them to spot it in real time, so you can witness it happening for yourself. Commit to learning about yourself by observing yourself as objectively as you can.

2. Become the subject matter expert.

Information is freedom — A deep knowledge of your craft frees you up to spend your time applying it in your physical experience. Recently, I met a very energetic, 77 year old, Yefim Shubentsov. He sleeps only 4 hours a day, work for 9 hours and spends the rest of his time reading. “Life is too short”, he said.

Know your craft and grow in your craft — However you want to do it. Become its advocate and strive to be a thought leader. Be a good storyteller of what you’ve learned — Present and communicate your knowledge with people.

3. Collaborate with peers and seniors.

No one, no matter how talented, can do it alone. The ground reality is that the workplace is about group effort. Build a mindset that helps you and your team grow together.

Be good with people, don’t let emotions get in the way. Best outcomes are achieved when you have empathy for the people around you. Eliminate personal biases by evidence driven discussions — rely on solution oriented thinking, data and hard facts.

Give people the benefit of doubt — Believe that there is no one out there wanting to sabotage you. Personal fears and biases often drive how people react. If you have lack of trust with certain peers and seniors — Meet those people. Let them know that you are committed to progressing the relationship in the right direction. Use non-violent communication to express yourself. Focus around the needs rather than the your own diagnosis of a situation or person. Ask them what you can do differently — which will help us become better collaborators. Take notes and indulge in active listening. If you don’t agree with something, still, let them speak because you have given them the floor.

Get to know people a bit more outside of work. We bring our whole selves to work. Try to get to know what they like doing outside of work.

4. Scaling

Professional growth comes with responsibility. Seniority, responsibility and accountabilities at any stage in your career will need to be accommodated in the same 24 hours you get today. Changing personal and professional circumstances are always going to be posing competing demands on your time. You must have clarity on what’s urgent and what’s important. Prioritize people and how you can help them over anything else.

Delegate, you don’t have to be a manager to delegate. You need to give up control and give others the opportunity to shine, in return you build trust with others, and get some time back to contribute in new ways. Let your managers see what you have done to contribute and kick start things.

Use your 1–1 check-ins efficiently. Proactively set the agenda. Let your manager know these are the items you want to cover and ask them if they would like to add to it. Let your manager know what you completed since you last spoke. More importantly, surface any blockers to your progress. Maintain a cadence in this interaction.

As you receive positive feedback from important stakeholders and your collaborators from other teams — Let your manager know about this. It is acceptable to request them to reach out to your manager to provide direct feedback but try not to over do this one. In order to succeed, other people should be your advocate.

5. Roadmap your growth.

Get a clear idea of where you want to head in your career. Think of this as a journey. The zone of proximal development occurs when you are adequately challenged and immensely passionate. Think 3–5 years down the road, you want to be able to list your goals and validate them.

When you know what you want, ask yourself if you possess the basic attributes for that goal. For example; if you want to be a people manager, you need to ask yourself if you can be: a good collaborator, inspiring mentor, conflict resolver. Most importantly, understand why you want to do this. Use your manager as your partner in success, guiding you to your goals.

6. Know where your goals belong.

Ultimately, you will have to acknowledge if your workplace and your goals can be aligned. Your services as a leader should be needed by your organization. You will need peers and seniors around you who believe in what you believe in. Keep this under check, don’t wait too long to “find your break.” Sometimes, the above tips just don’t work, no matter how hard you try. Find yourself another fit and always remember to put your best foot forward in whatever situation you meet along the way.

To be updated, as I learn more…