zlib.pub_the-managers-path-a-guide-for-tech-leaders-navigating-growth-and-change

You want to encourage others on your team to learn the entire system, and you want to give them chances to stretch themselves, but you needn’t always be self-sacrificing in what you choose to work on. Give yourself a fun task occasionally, as long as you know you have the time to do it well.

Determine which decisions must be made by you, which decisions should be delegated to others with more expertise, and which decisions require the whole team to resolve. In all of these cases, make it clear what the matter under discussion is, and communicate the outcome.

Successful leaders write well, they read carefully, and they can get up in front of a group and speak.

They pay attention in meetings and are constantly testing the limits of their knowledge and the knowledge of the team.

Speak in team meetings, speak at meetups, and get practice standing up in front of an audience.

Are there any manager behaviors that you know you hate? If you asked me this question, my answer would be: skipping or rescheduling 1-1s, neglecting to give me feedback, and avoiding difficult conversations.

help their new reports create a 30/60/90-day plan.

The more senior the hire, the more he should participate in creating this plan. You want him to have some clear goals that will show whether he’s learning the right things as he gets up to speed.

sometimes you will mishire a person. Having a clear set of expected goals for your new hires that you believe is achievable in the first 90 days will help you catch mishires quickly, and make it clear to you and to them that you need to correct the situation.

Your new hire needs to understand your expectations and your style just as much as you need to understand his. You’ll each need to adjust a little bit to meet the other, but if the new hire doesn’t know what you expect from him, he can’t deliver what he needs to deliver.

get as much feedback as you can about the new hire’s perspective on the team in that first 90 days.

don’t encourage people in this period to criticize the established processes or systems in a way that makes the existing team feel attacked.

Weekly means that you talk frequently enough to keep the meetings short and focused, and it gives you room for the occasional missed week. When you meet less frequently, any missed 1-1s must be rescheduled,

senior person who is pushing through a difficult new project may appreciate more dedicated time for you to help

A person who’s not good at pushing information up may need more face time to do so.

there are plenty of people, myself included, who feel a strong need for regular 1-1 time even in good relationships.

Don’t make the fatal error of spending all your time with your problem employees and ignoring your stars.

My goal in a 1-1 is first to listen to anything my direct reports want to discuss. I want the meeting to be driven by them, and I want to give them space to bring up whatever they feel is important.

if you’re thinking of firing someone I advise you to document these feedback meetings. That documentation will include the issues you discussed and the expectations that you set with the person, in writing and sent to the person (usually via email).

The longer you wait, the harder it will be for you to bring it up, and the less effective the feedback will be.