Lesson 1: From Individual Contributor to Leader
Contents
Video
From Individual Contributor (I.C.) to Leader
Life as an Individual Contributor
When you are an individual contributor, your work is directly contributing to projects, products or services, or all of the above. You are graded on the caliber of your work.
An individual contributor can be a long and rewarding career. There is nothing written in stone that says you have to become a manager or leader of other people. Many leaders do not have titles and do not even have direct reports. The principles in this course can be applied regardless of whether you lead a team.
Life as a Leader of Others
When you become a leader of other people, your responsibility immediately changes - and the sooner you realize it, the better.
You are no longer graded on the caliber of your work. You are graded on your ability to work through others: your team, other teams, and so on. This sounds obvious, but it is a significant mindset shift.
You will still feel the urge to go out and solve problems yourself. But your new role is to facilitate other people solving those problems. Read that again, because most new leaders do not realize this until they are already well on the journey.
Doing It Right
What does it look like when you are doing it right? Something like this:
- You understand the goals of the organization well enough to help ensure your team has clear objectives
- Your team is delivering on those objectives and doing their best work
- You are providing appropriate transparency to the organization
- People are not quitting in large numbers
- You are removing roadblocks, distractions, and obstacles from the team
- You are known as a coach and/or mentor with great listening skills
- You have enabled a culture of high performance, balanced with empathy
Doing It Wrong
You will make mistakes at many points in your life and career as a leader. Doing it incorrectly will look like this:
- Your team is not delivering on objectives
- The turnover on your team is very high for reasons you do not know
- Your team does not like nor respect you
- You are being passed over for promotions
- You are a participant in a toxic culture
- You play politics at the expense of others
- You hate what you do, and you take it out on your family and yourself
Done right, leadership can be the most rewarding thing you do in your career. Done wrong, it could be a short, miserable trip. The choice is entirely yours. This course is about doing it right.