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.

Transcript

1. Griffin Leadership
   Alison Stanton
   Personal Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
   @alison985
   me@alisonstanton.com
   

   View Slide

2. Why Should I Care About Griffin
   Leadership?
   

   View Slide

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

   View Slide

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.
   

   View Slide

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
   

   View Slide

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
   

   View Slide

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
   

   View Slide

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
   

   View Slide

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
   

   View Slide

10. You have problems.
    

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

13. What is Griffin Leadership?
    

    View Slide

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
    

    View Slide

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
    

    View Slide

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.
    

    View Slide

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
    

    View Slide

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.
    

    View Slide

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.
    

    View Slide

20. What Does Griffin Leadership Look Like?
    

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

22. Promotes
    

    View Slide

23. Deals with people where they are
    

    View Slide

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
    

    View Slide

25. Seeks feedback and is thankful for it
    

    View Slide

26. Active supporter of professional development
    

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

28. Fires people
    

    View Slide

29. Deals with issues swiftly
    

    View Slide

30. Re-acts proportionally
    

    View Slide

31. Backs up decisions of others
    

    View Slide

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
    

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

35. Doesn’t hire or promote when not qualified
    

    View Slide

36. Builds teams
    

    View Slide

37. No Heroes
    

    View Slide

38. View Slide

39. How do you be a Griffin Leader?
    

    View Slide

40. Action Supported by Thought
    

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

42. What are the results of Griffin
    Leadership?
    

    View Slide

43. Technical
    

    View Slide

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.
    

    View Slide

45. Why is Griffin Leadership Important to
    Alison?
    

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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.
    

    View Slide

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.
    

    View Slide

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.
    

    View Slide

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)
    

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

55. Alison Stanton
    Personal Pronouns - She/Her/Hers
    Twitter - @alison985
    Data Engineering, Architecture, and Advice - me@alisonstanton.com
    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
    

    View Slide