Team Sports reflects the corporate setup, the events both on and off the field/track often resemble those in the office boardroom/zoom meetings. While the overall competitiveness is a factor of the individual ownership and the assigned role in the corporate hierarchy, the examples from the sports ring/rink often epitomises into valuable lessons across the board. One such classic duels in the career growth is the path taken as we build experience in the industry — An Individual Contributor vs A People Leader.
Each route has its own pros and cons and given all paths are unique, there is no mantra to be successful, however being cognisant of the conditions can help individuals when deciding to pivot either of these paths. Before jumping into the some of the variables which haunt me, a decade into the IT space, let us talk about someone who had mastered both the paths at the highest stage of competitive sports- Bill Russell.
While the debate for the greatest NBA player will never end, Bill Russell holds the record for most NBA rings as a player — eleven and two of these as a player + coach role since the team did not have a succession plan for the coach post the 1966 season. And in his initial years as coach, he was not just showing up on the basketball court but also beyond it leading the Racial Inequality in the years of assassination of Martin Luther King. Russell’s career is the path-breaking example of bursting the myth — “Great ICs cannot be great coaches/people leader,” the doubt which prevents a lot of potential leaders not taking the first step in this transition. So, before you read remaining of the blog and have associated questions (as myself), would recommend watching the documentary — My Life, My Way.
The below matrix at high level is the key matrix which differ between both the paths and having an expectation baseline is of the utmost importance.
Responsibilities Matrix — Differences
Transition Touchpoints
Change of the Viewpoint
The thought leadership through a series of rigorous selfless decisions should auto-pilot into making the Team first than an individual’s own choices. This is the toughest part of this journey since this is contradictory to the basic human nature of thinking about their needs first, but when you think about the multiplier impact of a buy-in from everyone else’s passion and commitment into the project, the pain of the selfless act becomes remarkably simple. True leadership is influencing others subtly without directly influencing their actions.
Empathy
The fallacy of every good individual contributor making this pivot is to have the same expectations from everyone at work, which they have for themselves. While assertiveness is important to drive the overall project, making use of every team member’s strength and having a collaborative plan to improve their weakness is the hallmark of a true leader. Empathy in failures and owning team’s mistakes while crediting the team for their successful ventures fast-tracks the trust back from the team in such transitions.
Open Conversations
To have the team’s complete buy in the people leader’s vision, its essential to have open conversations even in tough decision-making process. In cases of conflict, the culture should abstract personal issues and the RCAs for failures should be a collective responsibility Continuous bi-directional feedback and transparency in terms of what’s need is crucial, else it extremely easy for the wheels to fall off if the right culture is not set initially in team. Vocal team meetings, constructive 1x1 and less surprises at end of the yearly feedback cycle are things to look out for.
There are many management mantras and courses which further break down the above principles into detailed weekly and monthly courses, however the decision of making this transition comes to an individual’s desire and long-term investment in making this transition an enjoyable experience. And despite reading such similar blogs/videos, it’s more about actions towards this pivoting and the only way to challenge Robert Frost’s words are by traveling both the roads and letting the journey decide for itself.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
For feedback, please drop a message to amit[dot]894[at]gmail[dot]com or reach out to any of the links at https://about.me/amit_raj.
