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Griffin Leadership

Alison
March 22, 2016

Griffin Leadership

Management is not leadership. People Leadership in technology is hard to find yet it is the backbone of being able to successfully execute on ideas. This talk will briefly outline problems in technology and explain how they are symptoms of poor leadership, elaborate in detail on tactics that make for great technology leadership, and what can be accomplished in technology when you have Griffin Leadership. In short, this is a case study of Griffin Caprio (currently Director of Engineering at Enova) and his phenomenal leadership.

Alison

March 22, 2016
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Transcript

  1. Griffin Leadership
    Alison Stanton
    Personal Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
    @alison985
    [email protected]

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  2. Why Should I Care About Griffin
    Leadership?

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  3. Why Should I Care About Griffin
    Leadership?
    You have problems.

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  4. Low morale
    Releases are late
    Major bugs in production
    High turnover
    Lack of responsibility
    Poor work/life balance
    Hard to recruit
    Tech debt
    Distrust
    Poor communication
    Changes need a long lead time
    You have problems.

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  5. Low morale
    Releases are late
    Major bugs in production
    High turnover
    Lack of responsibility
    Poor work/life balance
    Hard to recruit
    Tech debt
    Distrust
    Poor communication
    Changes need a long lead time

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  6. Low morale
    Releases are late
    Major bugs in production
    High turnover
    Lack of responsibility
    Poor work/life balance
    Hard to recruit
    Tech debt
    Distrust
    Poor communication
    Changes need a long lead time

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  7. Low morale
    Releases are late
    Major bugs in production
    High turnover
    Lack of responsibility
    Poor work/life balance
    Hard to recruit
    Tech debt
    Distrust
    Poor communication
    Changes need a long lead time

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  8. Low morale
    Releases are late
    Major bugs in production
    High turnover
    Lack of responsibility
    Poor work/life balance
    Hard to recruit
    Tech debt
    Distrust
    Poor communication
    Changes need a long lead time

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  9. Low morale
    Releases are late
    Major bugs in production
    High turnover
    Lack of responsibility
    Poor work/life balance
    Hard to recruit
    Tech debt
    Distrust
    Poor communication
    Changes need a long lead time

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  10. You have problems.

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  11. You have problems.
    And you choose band-aids over root issues.

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  12. And you choose band-aids over root issues.
    Low morale
    Lack of responsibility More managers
    New project
    management
    system
    Lack of responsibility

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  13. What is Griffin Leadership?

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  14. Griffin Leadership is:
    ● Managing with integrity
    ● Acknowledging reality
    ● Confronting Problems
    ● Communicating with clarity
    ● Valuing individuals
    ● Having broad expertise and deep experience
    ● Executing against a vision

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  15. You might think I mean this:
    ● A Manager
    ● Who is Knowledgeable
    ● And deals well with crisis
    ● Is a Clear communicator (i.e.
    Excellent verbal and written
    communication skills.)
    ● Gets along well with others
    ● Has experience
    ● Talks about a vision
    Griffin Leadership is:
    ● Managing with integrity
    ● Acknowledging reality
    ● Confronting Problems
    ● Communicating with clarity
    ● Valuing individuals
    ● Having broad expertise and
    deep experience
    ● Executing against a vision

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  16. ● A Manager
    ● Who is Knowledgeable
    ● And deals well with crisis
    ● Is a Clear communicator (i.e. Excellent verbal and written
    communication skills.)
    ● Gets along well with others
    ● Has experience
    ● Talks about a vision
    is not a leader
    Leaders work to avoid crisis.
    Leadership is lonely.
    Subject matter experience does not equal leadership.
    Talking does not equal doing.
    Standard. An easy bar.
    Knowledge does not equal truth or perspective.

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  17. Griffin Leadership is:
    ● Managing with integrity
    ● Acknowledging reality
    ● Confronting Problems
    ● Communicating with clarity
    ● Valuing individuals
    ● Having broad expertise and deep experience
    ● Executing against a vision
    Not Traditional

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  18. Griffin Leadership is:
    ● Managing with integrity
    ● Acknowledging reality
    ● Confronting Problems
    ● Communicating with clarity
    ● Valuing individuals
    ● Having broad expertise and deep experience
    ● Executing against a vision
    First, action.

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  19. Griffin Leadership is:
    ● Managing with integrity
    ● Acknowledging reality
    ● Confronting Problems
    ● Communicating with clarity
    ● Valuing individuals
    ● Having broad expertise and deep experience
    ● Executing against a vision
    Second, no title.

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  20. What Does Griffin Leadership Look Like?

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  21. Career Ladder
    https://github.com/enova/career_ladders/

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  22. Promotes

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  23. Deals with people where they are

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  24. Gives feedback people need to hear
    ● Positive feedback publicly in front of peers
    ● Feedback on ways to improve in one-on-ones
    ○ Encouraging un-learning coping mechanisms

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  25. Seeks feedback and is thankful for it

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  26. Active supporter of professional development

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  27. Trains people
    ● Direct reports
    ● Peers
    ● Superiors
    ● Clients
    ● Investors
    ● Advisors

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  28. Fires people

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  29. Deals with issues swiftly

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  30. Re-acts proportionally

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  31. Backs up decisions of others

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  32. Pro under-represented people
    and firmly against discriminatory behaviors
    ● Sometimes 100% of technical position candidates are women
    ● Codes of Conduct
    ● Not relying on under-represented groups to teach inclusivity
    ● Speaking with organizational authorities about sexist doodles on white boards

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  33. Strong belief in and support for work-life balance

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  34. Does not harass and does not allow others to harass

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  35. Doesn’t hire or promote when not qualified

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  36. Builds teams

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  37. No Heroes

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  39. How do you be a Griffin Leader?

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  40. Action Supported by Thought

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  41. If you do it right,
    you work
    yourself
    out of
    a job.

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  42. What are the results of Griffin
    Leadership?

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  43. Technical

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  44. Personal
    ● Work 40 hours a week.
    ● Feel good about your accomplishments.
    ○ You’re a mentor.
    ○ You’re a learner.
    ● Can go on vacation or go to another job without worry and stress.
    ● Build sustainably.
    ● People have heard positive stories about you before you come into a room.

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  45. Why is Griffin Leadership Important to
    Alison?

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  46. Why is Griffin Leadership Important to
    Alison?
    It solves MY problems.

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  47. Why is this the most important talk I’m going to give
    all year?
    It solves MY problems.
    I need male allies and I need leaders.

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  48. Why is this the most important talk I’m going to give
    all year?
    Why isn’t Griffin giving this talk?
    It solves MY problems.
    This is all no-brainer, basic stuff for him.
    I need male allies and I need leaders.

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  49. Why is this the most important talk I’m going to give
    all year?
    Why isn’t Griffin giving this talk?
    Why isn’t this talk titled “How to Recruit, Support,
    and Retain Women in Tech”?
    It solves MY problems.
    This is all no-brainer, basic stuff for him.
    I need male allies and I need leaders.
    Because then I’d be preaching to the choir. I want to talk to
    the men who are the problem.

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  50. What are the results of Griffin
    Leadership?
    Retention
    Cohesive Teams
    Recruitment
    On Time Releases
    (Dependability)
    Sustainable Code
    (Maintainability)
    Efficiency Improvements
    (Speed)
    Turn on a dime
    (Agility)

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  51. How do you be a Griffin Leader?
    Value People

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  52. What Does Griffin Leadership Look Like?
    All the things you claim to want
    People being upset with you

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  53. What is Griffin Leadership?
    Speaking Up & Taking Action

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  54. Why Should I Care About Griffin
    Leadership?
    Personal Life
    True Accomplishments
    Prepares you for the next challenge
    Positive Recognition

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  55. Alison Stanton
    Personal Pronouns - She/Her/Hers
    Twitter - @alison985
    Data Engineering, Architecture, and Advice - [email protected]
    Intro to Data Analytics March 28 - http://ga.co/1T3fUX8
    4 Themes of Optimizing Metric Usage March 30 - http://bit.ly/1LyUyzl
    Ally Skills Workshop April 8th - http://bit.ly/1OOJUid

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