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“I don’t know Java. I’ve never done web development. I’m not great with OO design. Heck, I’m a college dropout. Yet, I’m your new boss. Any questions?”
Hands were raised.
“Why are you the boss?”
“Who do we go to when we need help?”
“How will you approve our pull requests?”
“How are you suppose to ‘manage’ us if you don’t understand us?”
I nodding, writing the questions down.
“Okay, great questions. I don’t have all the answers. I’ve never led a team that worked on a platform I wasn’t an expert in. This is going to provide new challenges for all of us.”
“My challenge to trust you, to listen to you, and to lean on you as experts starting today. If you BS me about a technical item, I probably won’t know the difference.”
“Also, I don’t intend to manage you. You’re all adults, and I expect you to ‘manage’ yourselves. You know your tools, projects and customers better than I do. I do hope to lead you, if you allow me to.”
“Your challenge is to become leaders from inside your team, without a special title or appointment. You know what works for your team, and what doesn’t. But you might decide, in this new environment, that some changes need to be made. If that’s the case, let’s start having those discussion ASAP.”
“Lastly, since I’ve never led a team that did work I couldn’t do, I have to discover how to earn your respect. This means I need to do less telling and more listening.”
“I’ll be honest, this is scary for me, because up until now I saw myself as the Expert At The Top. Being the expert made me feel in control. “
“That’s not true in this situation, so I’m going to work on embracing my ignorance and NEVER competing to be the technical expert in the room.”
“And, yes, it’s also scary because my boss expects me to become a Java expert in short order. That’s not only impossible, but I’ve realized it’s counterproductive. While I will try and learn more about Java, I won’t be writing or reviewing any production code. This work will be folded back into the team.”
“As I said, this will be an adjustment for everyone, but I am looking forward to learning a lot from you. I am lucky to have each of you on my team, and welcome all feedback and ideas you have. To our success!”
Nervously, I addressed my new team… was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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