● Company-wide
e.g. company values
● Function-specific
e.g. skills matrix, career ladder
● Team-specific
e.g. team mission
● Individual-specific
e.g. quarterly goals
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● Company-wide
e.g. company values
● Function-specific
e.g. skills matrix, career ladder
● Team-specific
e.g. team mission
● Individual-specific
e.g. quarterly goals
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Why should we set
expectations?
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● Improvement and progress
● Clarity and transparency
● Alignment and efficiency
● Feedback
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Empowerment vs Direction
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Empowerment Direction
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Empowerment Direction
Coaching teammates to
connect their own dots
Sponsoring teammates for
visible/stretch assignments
Group brainstorming to create
expectations docs and
roadmaps
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Empowerment Direction
Coaching teammates to
connect their own dots
Sponsoring teammates for
visible/stretch assignments
Group brainstorming to create
expectations docs and
roadmaps
Writing job descriptions
for each team role
Scheduling oncall rotations
Assigning work to
each teammate
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Risks and tradeoffs
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Moving along the
spectrum
More Empowering More Directive
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Your cross-functional
peer is falling short on
their core responsibilities.
1
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Your direct report
wants to be promoted,
but you’re not sure if
they’re ready.
2
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Your direct report has
come to you with a
competing job offer at 2x
their current salary.
3
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One of your direct reports
has been mean to their
teammate when you’re
not around.
4
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When a new request
comes in for your team,
no one jumps in to triage
or address it.
5
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A senior leader
routinely interrupts
you in meetings.
6
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Your approach will be informed by:
● the team’s context,
● the needs of your individual
teammates,
● who you are as a leader, and
● what the organization needs.
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Giving strong direction
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Practice affirming
body language:
● Nodding
● Eye contact
● Leaning in
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Practice bottom-lining it.
● Start with paragraphs
● Narrow to 2 sentences
● Narrow to 1 sentence
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Strong direction can
create more fairness.
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Roleplay different ways to
give direction as practice.
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Getting out of
your comfort zone
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Knowing our default
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Management/
Leadership Philosophies
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“Humans already have the answer(s)
inside themselves; I help find them.”
- me
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“Optimize for long term
relationships.”
- Jason Wong, Senior Director of Engineering
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“Strong back, open heart.”
- Jerry Colonna, who introduced it to...
- Chad Dickerson, former CEO, now coach
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"The strength of the team is each
individual member. The strength of
each member is the team."
- Phil Jackson, former head coach of Chicago Bulls
- also Jill Wetzler, Head of Engineering
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Homework:
Experiment more with the spectrum.
Data-gather: what effect does each
place on the spectrum have on you
and those around you?
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Homework if you want to try out
more group empowerment:
Brainstorming Team and Manager
Expectations Worksheet
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Focus on writing down
expected outcomes
(rather than behaviors)
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Get curious about (and
prioritize) what your
teammates’ needs are