Leading from the Trenches | John West

Empowerment: how will you know when you're doing it right?

John West — 2007-07-25T08:02:55-08:00

If you need one last motivation on the benefits of empowering your people as a new leader, think of it this way: you are paying these people a lot of money for their time and expertise. Use it. Ask them their opinions and require them to solve problems. You’ll be creating new leaders by teaching them to see the bigger picture.

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3 practical steps for empowering your technical teams

John West — 2007-07-24T08:08:52-08:00

Empowering your team is a good thing, and everyone keeps telling you to do it? The basics are straightforward, but the implementation can be a real challenge. There are 3 basic steps: put your team in a position to make decisions, teach them how to make the right decisions, and then stay out of the way.

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Getting technology done: managing contractors and outside support

John West — 2007-07-23T08:08:08-08:00

When you're dealing with teams of contractors and in-house staff the sure way to success is to value everyone for the strength of their contribution, not for who signs their paycheck.

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(Re)structuring your team

John West — 2007-07-17T09:44:39-08:00

I'm a fan of win-win situations. But what do you do when you have a team member that's not pulling his weight? I look at this very common situation in today's post.

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Getting big things done even when you can't change the big picture

John West — 2007-07-11T09:04:15-08:00

It's easy to look at the mass of new management practices and decide that everything needs to be thrown out in the way we manage today or we'll never have another successful release. Sure, small teams are often better, and flat organizations can often respond faster than deeply nested ones. But we don't always have the flexibility to change these things.

In today's post I offer some tips for making your teams more successful, even if you can't change the big picture of your larger organization.

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Corrections done correctly

John West — 2007-07-10T08:43:58-08:00

Last time I talked about the need to take corrective action when people — intentionally or unintentionally — act in ways destructive to what you are trying to create.

Like the nuclear option, firing someone is the option of last resort, and there are lots of things that should be done before you get to the point of even considering dismissal. But when taking any of these corrective actions, you have to be careful to do it right.

In today's post I talk about some of the ways you can make sure you're doing your job while remaining fair to everyone involved.

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Advice for new managers: defending your core values

John West — 2007-07-09T08:31:11-08:00

We've talked about the need to set the tone in your organization, but what do you do when something happens that works against the tone you're trying to set?

In this post I talk about those issues, and my list of things to keep in mind as you deal with these challenges.

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The hard way: expressing your values and expectations in a formal presentation

John West — 2007-07-02T09:11:01-08:00

If you are suddenly assigned to an organization in which you have had no previous leadership role, or you are taking over an organization and radically changing the management style, you almost have to have a formal session where you introduce yourself and your values to your new team.

This can be really hard to do. In this post I talk about what I did, why I didn't want to do it, and why I did it any way.

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New leaders set the tone

John West — 2007-06-25T07:26:16-08:00

As I've said before one of the things that is your job, and that you must never shirk, delegate, or otherwise avoid, is to set the tone. “Tone” is the general atmosphere that you create in your workplace or for your team.

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If leadership is a journey, how will you know when you're there?

John West — 2007-06-20T07:33:21-08:00

OK, so you're on your way into leadership. You think you've got your head around the whole "leadership is a journey" thing, but how will you know if you're making any progress? Are you doing it right? Here's the benchmark I use: you will know that you are getting there when you become the least important person in your organization. READ MORE

Leadership term limits

John West — 2007-06-13T22:21:36-08:00

I've recently moved on to a new role after 5 years leading day to day operations in my computer center. This change has reminded me of something I realized at the start of my career: leaders should not serve indefinitely. In fact, if I was king of the world, they'd get five years and then they'd get the boot. Here's why.

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Fighting your inner manager

John West — 2007-06-06T15:38:49-08:00

Leading a team is hard, mostly because managing seems to be part of our nature. To know and control everything that goes on around you always seems to be the best way to minimize your risk of failure or of being seen to make a public mistake.

Here are some of the things I do to make sure my inner manager stays off the furniture when I'm not around.

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Margin people and the bad deal

John West — 2007-06-04T15:29:53-08:00

We've talked about technology as a creative activity and the need to motivate creative people with leadership rather than trying to herd them through management. Despite the fact that the leadership approach works (and I think it works best), by many standard organizational measures the management approach can appear successful, especially from the outside. Here's why, and why leadership really matters.

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Teach what you know

John West — 2007-05-30T10:20:46-08:00

As a lightweight way to steer my life in the direction of making some small positive difference I'm a pretty big fan of the phrase "teach what you know." And if you are serious about developing yourself into a leader who makes a difference, you might want to consider adopting it for yourself.

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There will be winners and losers. Sometimes.

John West — 2007-05-23T12:59:01-08:00

Here's mom-and-apple-pie post, but hey, just because your mom said it doesn't mean it's not worth thinking about. When resolving a difference or conflict between one or more people we are taught, from a very early stage, to look at winners and losers. And sometimes things are so different that someone will have to lose. But not always.

In today's post I look at a practical example that a new leader might face between people on a small team and try to find a way for both parties to get something out of the conflict.

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