How to Be a Kickass Team Lead 101

Most engineers who get promoted to the role of a team lead, tech lead or lead developer (regardless of the wording of the title) feel like they were thrown in cold waters as they, most probably, lack prior training or education on the subject matter. Most of us that survive and actually get to like the new role and arrive at really good results, manage to educate themselves on the skills and habits required to become an effective team leader.

In this talk, I will cover the most important lessons about being an effective team lead without any previous knowledge about the subject. This is a practical talk and the audience will walk away with a lot of material and advice to upgrade their engineering leadership game, as well as a recommended set of resources for further study. The talk is primarily focused on developing leadership skills and is tailored towards engineers and software teams.

The learning goals are:
- How to develop practical leadership skills for your day-to-day job
- Understand the core components of leadership: ATM (Ability, Team, Mission)
- How to build teamwork on a foundation of trust
- How to overcome the main dysfunctions to look in order to tighten up your team
- Increase your awareness of the main anti-patterns that team leads end up doing

Transcript

1. How to Become a Kickass Team Lead 101 Ahmad Alhour / Team Lead, TrustYou 03 May 2019
2. A TEASER 2 aalhour.com
3. 3 aalhour.com
4. Leadership 4 aalhour.com
5. “ 5 Leadership ability is the lid that determines a person’s level of effectiveness. The lower your ability to lead, the lower the lid on your potential. ~ John C. Maxwell Leadership = Influence aalhour.com
6. 6 Ability to Lead Ability to Influence Impact = = aalhour.com Leadership = Influence
7. The 5 Levels of Leadership 7 aalhour.com
8. Leadership Recipe: 1. Mission 2. Team 3. Ability 8 aalhour.com
9. Mission Starting with the End in Mind 9 aalhour.com
11. 11 aalhour.com
12. Questions to Ask • What is the purpose of my team? • How does that help the company achieve its goals? • How can I increase the impact my team has on the broader mission of the company? 12 aalhour.com
13. Example Mission 01 Product Design Team, Netflix: “Our mission is to design a television experience that drives our members to discover and connect to stories, characters and worlds they’ll love.” 13 aalhour.com
14. Why is leading by mission so important? 14 aalhour.com
15. Mission Superpowers • Instill a Sense of Purpose • Focus on the Right Problems • Objectively Align People 15 aalhour.com
16. How do we progress on a mission? 16 aalhour.com
17. How do we measure progress on a mission? 17 aalhour.com
18. 18 aalhour.com
19. OKRs Objectives are the “Whats” • Express goals, intents and provide value Key Results are the “Hows” • Describe measurable outcomes, not activities Doerr’s formula: • I will (Objective) as measured by (this set of Key Results) 19 aalhour.com
20. OKRs Example Objectives: • Successfully implement the weekly newsletter Key Results: • Grow subscriber base at least 15% for Q1 • Increase CTR% to above industry average of 3.5% • Increase NPS by 20% for Q1 20 aalhour.com
21. OKRs Timeline: An Example 21 aalhour.com
22. OKRs Superpowers • Align for Better Teamwork • Focus and Commit to Priorities • Track Progress for Accountability 22 aalhour.com
23. Leadership Recipe: 1. Mission 2. Team 3. Ability 23 aalhour.com
24. Leading People 24 aalhour.com
26. “ 26 ‘‘It describes a team climate characterized by interpersonal trust and mutual respect in which people are comfortable being themselves.’’ Psychological Safety aalhour.com
27. Psychological Safety is predicated on Trust 27 aalhour.com
28. ... and the individual’s willingness to take risks given the perception of their peers towards it 28 aalhour.com
29. 29 aalhour.com
30. 30 The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Inattention to Results Absence of Accountability Lack of Commitment Fear of Conflict Absence of Trust aalhour.com
32. Stems from: • Unwillingness to show vulnerability and open up about weaknesses Counter-measures: • Encourage openness by going first! • Reward collaboration and mentorship 32 Absence of Trust aalhour.com
33. Stems from: • Failure to build trust • Unwillingness to engage in debating ideas Counter-measures: • Encourage healthy conflicts as productive and necessary as possible • Frame conflicts under problem-solving 33 Fear of Conflict aalhour.com
34. Stems from: • Lack of a platform for healthy conflicts • The need for clarity • The desire for consensus Counter-measure: • Timebox making decisions • Get buy-in despite disagreement 34 Lack of Commitment aalhour.com
35. Stems from: • Tendency to avoid discomfort • Unwillingness to discuss under-performers Counter-measure: • Ensure high performance through peer-pressure • Encourage people to hold you accountable 35 Avoidance of Accountability aalhour.com
36. Stems from: • Valuing personal interests over that of the group Counter-measures: • Tie team goals to personal interests • Publicly announce declared wins! • Maintain a publicly visible scoreboard of the team's progress to everyone 36 Inattention to Results aalhour.com
37. 37 Dysfunctional Teams Inattention to Results Absence of Accountability Lack of Commitment Fear of Conflict Absence of Trust aalhour.com
38. 38 Functional Teams Focus on group results Hold each other accountable Commit to plans of action Healthy debates around ideas Established Trust aalhour.com
40. Leading by example dictates taking full ownership 40 aalhour.com
41. Leading by example necessitates being adaptable to situations 41 aalhour.com
42. Leadership Recipe: 1. Mission 2. Team 3. Ability 42 aalhour.com
43. Leadership Ability 43 • The sum total of your: ◦ Character & Skills ◦ Strengths & Weaknesses • Can be trained like any other skill • Requires time and practice aalhour.com
44. Leadership style • There is no single best style for leading people • It depends on several factors in your environment 44 aalhour.com
45. 45 aalhour.com
46. Anti-Patterns 46 aalhour.com
47. 47 AP #1: The Dictator aalhour.com
48. 48 AP #2: The Hero aalhour.com
49. 49 AP #3: The Mole aalhour.com
50. 50 AP #4: The Tourist aalhour.com
51. 51 AP #5: The Academic aalhour.com
52. Leadership Recipe: 1. Mission 2. Team 3. Ability 52 aalhour.com
53. Thanks! Any questions? 53 Find me at: aalhour.com github.com/aalhour twitter.com/ahmad_alhour
54. Resources Videos: 1. How Great Leaders Inspire Action, Simon Sinek 2. Building Engineering Teams Under Pressure, Julia Grace 3. What I Wish I Knew as a First Time Tech Lead, Pat Kua Articles: 1. OKRs Guide, re:Work 2. Mission-Based Management, Forbes 3. What Google Learned from its Quest to Build the Perfect Team, NYT 4. The Simple Tool that Revives Employee Motivation, 1st Round Review Books: 1. Extreme Ownership, Jacko Willink & Leif Babin 2. The Five Levels of Leadership, John Maxwell 3. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni 4. Measure What Matters, John Doerr 5. High Output Management, Andrew Grove 54 aalhour.com