Richard Sheridan (Cofounder and CEO, Menlo Innovations) wrote Joy Inc to share insight into all XP practices that worked for his Org. Here he shares his views on leadership.
A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say we did ourselves.Lao Tzu
Leadership means not only reinforcing core values when convenient, but also signing up for fixing the problem when those values have been compromised.
Leadership at Menlo does not rest with a title or a position. Some leadership is situational. Some leadership grows through increasing influence based on respect and experience.
At Menlo who lead most naturally, it is the people who are inclusive and respectful of others. These leaders exhibit a calm, patient, and quiet confidence. They exercise emotional control and allow those they are leading to make mistakes while ensuring they don’t flounder. They are gentle, empathetic, trusting teachers. Menlonians don’t need to request a position or promotion to assert their influence.
In our quest for joy, we have eliminated hierarchy. Leadership is an art that is born out of skills that must be practiced. Those few of us who do have a title and positional authority must learn to look at every moment whether difficult or important, as an opportunity to see whether a new leader is ready to step up and exercise his or her leadership skills.
Be Vulnerable
As a leader, your team is constantly watching you and actively looking for chinks in the armour. They so want to believe you — but others have disappointed them in the past, so they are wary. You have also disappointed them.
I don’t have all the answers. I just wish I had the right questions. However, I am still willing to make decisions. But the most joyful path is to create a culture in which you aren’t even asked to make a call. “By the way, we made an important decision today. Let me know if you want any of the details.”
The hardest part of leadership is remembering that you are just as fallible as anyone else in the Org.
Part of the vulnerability of not having all the answers is the humility to share your ideas with your team before they are fully formulated. These ideas are often like babies. By doing this, you are letting go of the feeling “This is my idea — isn’t it great? Aren’t I smart?” This is particularly difficult for Engineers like me, whose self-worth is often derived from being seen as the smartest one in the room. The power in this, though, is that most ideas can be made so much better with more minds involved.
Encourage New Leaders
If members of your team show a spark of inspiration or passion, support them. Feed their dream and encourage them as they pursue it. It’s the best way to support someone’s leadership development.
In business, fear can come from anywhere. Competitors, bad hires, bad days with good hires, economic turmoil, bad checks, evening news, gossip. Calm, thoughtful leadership can go a long way to help alleviate the fear that does occur.
Customers can bring fear into the room too. He is not always right. Rather, he is seldom right! If he is always right, why would they need us?
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