Who I Want to Work For

This article is inspired by Keavy McMinn’s Who I Want to Work For where she lists the characteristics that make someone an ideal leader for her. I think it’s a great exercise to identify and capture what’s important to you. Without further ado, here’s what I look for in a leader (not strictly a manager):

1. You care about me as a person: This is best explained with an example. A few years ago, I was having a career conversation with my manager who asked me what my goals were. On learning about my goals, he made it clear that I was not going to be able to achieve them on his team because such opportunities didn’t exist on the team. He not only encouraged me to find other teams at the company but also offered to connect me with other teams that would be a better fit. It is worth noting that managers have a lot of pressure to grow their team and it is one of the things that is tied to their own success. So his gesture to put my interests ahead of his own goals and the team’s success left a lasting impact on me. After this interaction, I was more than happy to do whatever he asked me to do (even if the work wasn’t particularly fun) knowing that he had my best interests at heart. I wish more leaders took the time to build personal connections and demonstrate that they care through their words and actions. Simple things like discussing hobbies/interests in 1:1s, asking about general well-being, providing timely/unsolicited feedback (both positive and negative) go a long way towards making someone feel cared for.
2. You are hands-off: I operate best when I am trusted to take as much ownership as needed to execute on things. A lot of growth comes from making mistakes and learning from them. I have been lucky to have had such opportunities throughout my career. This would not have been possible without managers (and mentors) who trusted me more than I trusted myself. There is no greater sign of trust than being hands-off and letting individuals have these learning opportunities. There is a lot of justification for managers to be involved in all the details given all the dollars at stake. But good managers take a long view and know how to effectively balance short-term risks/failures with long-term growth of individuals. (Side note: Growing in your career is usually defined by how well you can manage risk with less and less direct control. The more risk you can manage with less control, the more senior you will be)
3. You are supportive when I make a mistake: It is incredibly easy to care about individuals when they are doing great work and crushing all the goals but it’s a lot harder to be a cheerleader when things that don’t go as well (Observation: The favorite sports person for most fans in any sport in any era is almost always the one who wins the most). I strongly believe that making mistakes is the only way to grow and hence it is important that leaders are able to create an environment with psychological safety. Looking back, I feel lucky that I have worked with managers who handled my mistakes like business as usual. It is not what they said but rather what they didn’t say. They focused more on what needed to be done next instead of letting me beat myself up over it or make me feel any worse.

A recurring theme that shows up in the above characteristics is that my ideal leader is able to put the best interests of the individual ahead of his/her incentives, especially when they are not aligned. This is an incredibly hard thing to do since leaders who overdo it will not be able to achieve the necessary results to continue to be in a leadership position. So finding and tuning that balance is more art than science. Leadership is hard!