Leading with…Max Davidson

Max Davidson, director of content design at Outreach, shares some brilliant advice for new leaders.

Firstly, can you tell me a bit about your path to leadership?

I grew up alongside the stereotypes of management, and particular middle management, as bureaucratic and ineffectual. Early in my career, I felt that the only way to have impact was to build things, to be a “maker”. When I joined Airbnb, I had managers who changed my mind. They cared about me as a person and were able to supercharge my output by finding projects that aligned with my interests and goals. In awe of the scale of impact they made, it became clear to me what I wanted for my career.

I had the good fortune of joining Airbnb at a time when the content design team was small. I sought out early opportunities to mentor and improve our central processes, which gave me the experience and skills I needed to try out a new management role that opened up.

After 3.5 years managing at Airbnb, I had soaked in enough best practices and skills through osmosis to try my hand at starting my own team, which led me to my current role as director of content design at Outreach. Building a new team from scratch was a frightening prospect, as I had an incredible set of peers and mentors as guardrails at Airbnb, but I understood it was not a one-way road and that I would never regret trying.

What was the biggest shock for you when you moved from IC (individual contributor) to leadership?

The weight of one’s words as a leader. Until I started managing, I had developed a reputation — for better or for worse — of being eager to address elephants in the room and “tell it like it is”. There are elements of this that can be important for managers, in particular when tackling hard conversations. What I didn’t anticipate was that the words I used, and even the body language I displayed, would be so heavily analyzed and interpreted by the people I managed. Comments I might consider throwaways, for example, started to take on hidden meaning and importance and could at times lead to overthinking and stress for the reports left to translate my words. I’ve learned over time to focus on removing ambiguity and negativity from conversations with the people I manage and to approach difficult topics with even more tact and care.

Who do you look up to or admire in content or design leadership?

This list could go on and on like an Oscars speech, but one name that always comes up for me is Marissa Phillips, my first manager at Airbnb and the current head of writing at Cash App. When she joined Airbnb, she spent the first several months simply listening to our team, internalizing our frustrations and our ambitions. The vision for our team that came out of these conversations truly felt like a shared vision, and Marissa spent the next 4.5 years making sure that she was evangelizing her people as much as the content design function itself. One lesson I learned from her in particular was how impactful talent planning can be — devoting time regularly to ensuring that each of your reports is being given the opportunity to use the unique strengths they bring to the table. In my role at Outreach, I may have put my own flair on management a bit, but the blueprint is all Marissa.

What advice do you have for new leaders?

If I had a time machine, here are the first things I would tell myself as a new manager:

• Don’t come in with an agenda: Many of us become leaders because we believe in a vision for the future of our teams. It is a mistake to start executing on that vision without understanding the different goals and motivations of the people you will manage and collaborate with. In the end, you will gain more trust and buy-in if you’re able to prove that you can listen and adapt to the unique circumstances of your team.
• Trust your people: As a new leader responsible for the outcomes of your team, it can be tempting to micromanage. However, as many of us know from our experience as ICs, micromanagement leads to disempowerment, which leads to — you guessed it — bad outcomes. As you take on new reports, give them breathing room to be creative and make mistakes, to try out new ideas without your eyes over their shoulder. Most content designers will thrive in the space that you’ve given them. For the rest, you’ve still managed to build the trust necessary to help them get back on track.
• Protect your 1:1s: Do your best to avoid cancelling or moving 1:1s with the people you manage, regardless of all the other meetings and action items begging for your attention. This is the easiest way to show that you value your reports’ time and that you put them first always.

What superpower do you have that helps you most in your work?

While I wish I could fly, it probably wouldn’t help much at work. My real superpower is that I’m good at sussing out what motivates people. I start off all of my introductory 1:1s with a number of questions about goals, ambitions, fears, and frustrations. I incorporate these details into growth planning with my reports over time, and make sure the facts don’t get stale. To me, this information is critical to determining the best projects and collaborators for a team member to align themselves with, especially when there are a number of options on the table. Knowing what drives the people I manage allows me to have levers beyond promotion and salary increases to help keep them happy and inspired.

Max Davidson is one of our Lead with Tempo speakers. Tickets are on sale now, and with the code NEWYEAR10 you’ll get 10% off until 14th January.