Johanna Rothman @johannarothman www.jrothman.com Manage Yourself: From Expert to Coach

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Have you seen leaders who can’t lead themselves? They’re not effective leading others 2

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Common Problems • You became a manager (lead) because you excelled at the technical work • Your boss thinks you can do technical leadership and technical work • You might not be sure how or what to do first 3

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Leadership is about people. Not the process or the product. 4

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Manage Yourself Myths • Managers are more valuable than other people. • Managers must solve the team’s problem for them. • Managers are too valuable to take a vacation. • Managers can still do significant technical work. (Or, player-coach works.) • Managers can estimate for the team. • Managers micromanage to see state. • Managers think the team needs a cheerleader. • Managers don’t admit mistakes. • Managers can concentrate on the run. • Managers expect people to bring solutions to problems. • Managers believe in indispensable employees. (Or “10X”) 5

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Our Agenda 1. Define your purpose: what value do you offer as a manager? 2. Stay out of the middle of the work. (Not the Expert. No micromanagement.) 3. Create a safe environment for experiments, questions, learning. 4. See and help the team see their system 5. Celebrate people’s success. 6. Use your value-based integrity for decisions 6

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 1. Define Your Purpose in Terms of Value • What value do you offer: • The organization? • The team? • Yourself? • When you define your “why” you might have an answer • Your answer might depend on where you choose to spend your time • How much hands-on leadership does your team require? 7

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Differentiate Manager from Technical Leader 8

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 2. Remove Yourself from the Middle of the Work • Where do you spend your time right now? • Delegate problems and outcomes • Middle of the work • Work with people to help them learn how to do the work 9

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman When You Also Contribute Technically 10

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Where Do You Spend Time Now? • Product time • Solo • With the team • Across the organization • Team meetings and one-on-one time • With your manager • Cross-organizational non-product issues • https://www.jrothman.com/mtts 11

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman What Does Your Time Data Tell You? • “Down” to the team(s)? • “Across” with your peers? • “Up” to the organization via an overarching goal? • Consider your cycle time for decisions 12

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Management micromanagement occurs at all levels of the organization 13

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Micromanagement • The more you work solo, the more you might tend to micromanage or inflict help. • You might not trust the people to do their jobs. • You might be right—now. Your job is to support them as they learn. • Your boss might ask you to micromanage because you are such a terrific contributor 14

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman How Much Time Is Your Solo Work? • Can you work with the team to: • Delegate problems and outcomes, not tasks • Let the team solve its own problems • Learn to estimate well • Clarify boundaries for the work so the team can do its own work 15

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Resource Efficiency vs Flow Efficiency • The more you work alone, the more you encourage resource efficiency • Flow efficiency is much faster and more effective • Pair/mob to help other people learn what you know 16

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman What If the Team Estimates Wrong? • Use cycle time for estimation • Calculate your cycle time 17

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Solve Problems: Who Makes Which Decisions? 18

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 3. Safety for Experiments and Mistakes • Failure is always an option • We all make mistakes • Consider these questions: • How can you keep mistakes small? • How do you react to bad news? • How can the team create enough structure to prevent common mistakes? 19

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 4. See the Team’s System 20

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 4A. See Your Value Stream 21

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 5. Celebrate Successes! • What small thing can you acknowledge each day for each person? • “I appreciate you, for that made my life easier • Not everyone likes public acknowledgement, which is why small is the operative word • Give credit: person and team 22

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 6. Maintain Your Value-Based Integrity • Honesty • Fair • Consistent • Take responsibility • Treat people with respect • Create safety for yourself and others 23

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Leadership is a Praxis • Practice these ideas • Experiment • Apply • Engage • Realize • Adapt and modify to your behaviors and context 24

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Manage Yourself 25

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Your company might have hired you for your previous (technical) expertise. Now, they need you to coach others. 26

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Any leader's job: Create an environment where people can do their best work 27

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Let’s Stay in Touch • Pragmatic Manager: • www.jrothman.com/ pragmaticmanager • Please link with me on LinkedIn • Modern Management Made Easy: https://www.jrothman.com/mmme 28