LEADERSHIP SKILLS CAN BE A MIXED BLESSING
Here is my answer to a former student’s query (Brian Suomela) on why, for some, it is easier to make excuses than to do the actual work and why his colleagues were often relying on Brian to pull the software team through. As a bit of background, you should know that Brian is a super bright, super achiever. Here is what I wrote:
“Brian—ever since I was 7 years old, even in a roomful of
adults, if something went wrong, we had a flat tire, someone got injured, there
was a fire, everyone would look/stare at me. It was weird. I was 15 when I
entered
As an adult, every time I did a project, I was required to
do more analysis, produce more reports and jump higher hurdles than everyone
else. The Corel Centre/Palladium project is a perfect example of the ridiculous
lengths we had to go to, to get it approved including the Canadian Coast Guard
floating a CANOE in the Carp creek to see if it was a 'navigable river'
and, hence, if it was, we could not put a bridge across it to connect to
the Palladium and our opponents could stop the project. (Obviously, it didn't
work.)
It all seemed quite unfair until one day I realized it was
happening because people expected more from me and depended on me. After that,
I quit carping (pun intended) about it and now I just live with it. (Though sometimes,
I cop out and ask other people to put projects forward and be the spokesperson
to avoid this type of thing. If my name is associated with something, prices
from suppliers tend to go up, regulators ask for more reports and data;
basically, everything can get more complex and take longer. If there is one
thing I could change about my career, it would be that I would have received
zero media coverage.)
Brian, as people get to know you, they are going to realize
how competent you are. Guess what? You're just going to have to live with it.
The alternative is worse—you won't live up to your potential.
How many people actually make things happen in
Now you may want to become an entrepreneur instead of having
a J.O.B. so at least if you are going to do most of the work and take all of
the responsibility, you'll get more of the rewards. Right?”
Bruce
From: Brian Suomela
To: Bruce Firestone
Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 2:11 PM
Bruce:
“I have been working at a tech startup for a little over two
months now, from the business perspective things are getting very
interesting. We have only eight employees but a couple of big fish in the
home healthcare game seem to be taking notice and are scrambling around trying
to finalize partnerships with us... which is reassuring that all those late
evenings and weekends (sweat equity) that I put into the company will
eventually pay off - or at least it means money coming in to keep us afloat,
buying us the time we need to build a scalable product to feed the really big
contracts.
I'm not sure how long I can continue to
pull out the heroics, carrying fallen team members on my back across delivery
dates... but at least my boss seems to appreciate my contribution to the
team. I think of it as "stepping up" when the pressure is on,
to get the job done right and on time. I am usually pretty careful to
under-promise according to what I think I can finish in time and then over-deliver.
But I am starting to wonder why some of the developers I am working are getting
more comfortable making excuses why they couldn't get done what they had
promised, perhaps because they know I will get it done regardless.
I often find myself doing somebody else's task at the last
minute, but it doesn't bother me too much because I understand that it helps
the team as a whole. I sometimes feel some frustration when I see people
spending a lot of time and energy explaining why something is somebody else's
problem, or keep pushing for a really bad design decision because they know it
would mean less work. Maybe it's a lack of experience, leadership, or
perhaps they don't have the same passion for their work because they have been
working here longer than I have.
From talking with my network of contacts with startup experience, what I am
describing is supposedly normal. Any thoughts?”
Brian
http://www.dramatispersonae.org/DesignEconomics/Leadership.htm
http://www.dramatispersonae.org/DesignEconomicsFrontPage.htm
http://www.dramatispersonae.org/EntrepreneurialistCultureFrontPage.htm
http://www.dramatispersonae.org/