You'll Manage

“No one is unreasonable.”That's one of the 10 principles that engineer-turned-product guy Eusden Shing lives by. In this episode, he shares how having carefully crafted a list of principles has helped him lead teams at companies like Hulu and Pinterest. We learn about some of his top 10, including “trust is the foundation” and “focus on few things well,” and how he puts them into practice to manage and collaborate effectively. Why it mattersEffective teamwork is often about effective alignment – around what matters and what doesn't, what success looks like, and how best to get there. Having clarity around your core beliefs helps us lead with focus and intentionality, but perhaps even more important is the ability to effectively articulate them. Building a shared understanding of how to collaborate and excel together not only helps align and mobilize your team, it also provides a framework for coaching your team members and giving them feedback. What are your "commandments"?Putting it into action1. Start capturing potential principlesReflect on your own experiences. What are some potential candidates for your list of operating principles? Is there anything you've learned from others that has stuck with you, whether from mentors and managers or books and podcasts? Are there concepts you often find yourself using to coach others? Start capturing it all in a live document.2. Test them outAs you grow your list of potential principles, you’ll want to see which ones actually work. Try to put them into practice in your workplace – do these principles work in the context of helping you make decisions at work, collaborate with colleagues, and tackle tough challenges? Consider discussing them with your team and get their feedback as well to see if it resonates.3. Communicate and incorporateOnce you feel you have a solid list that’s been tried and tested, it’s time to start spreading the word. Incorporate your principles into how you frame your actions, decisions, feedback, advice, and more. Make it part of onboarding for new team members. Ultimately, if they truly are effective, essential principles they should become an essential part of your team's culture4. IterateRevisit your list periodically. Do the principles still make sense and still work for you and your team? Are there new ones you want to add and maybe ones that no longer resonate? What feedback have you gotten from others? Your journey as a manager is forever evolving, as well as the contexts you're working in, so it’s likely that your principles will evolve over time as well. Other resources mentioned in this episode"No One is Unreasonable" by Seth GodinThe Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill WalshHigh Output Management by Andy Grove (introduces "task relevant maturity")Share your insights &amp; experiencesWhat are some of the principles you have on your list? How did you come to consider them essential? How do you propagate them within your team's culture? We‘d love to hear from you at feedback@youllmanage.com or on Twitter @YoullManage! Where to learn more about our guestSee Eusden's list of principles on his 

Crafting your 10 commandments

We were electrified by two simple words in this interview: "community leader."We've all felt how much more enjoyable and effective work can be when we're collaborating with people we have mutual trust, respect, and care for. By extension, Charlene Lee, head of product and design at Radar, points out, building effective teams means building community. And so, managers need to think of themselves as community leaders.Why it mattersCharlene's perspective on management was shaped significantly by her time at Google, whose research has found that the relationships we have with colleagues aren't just a nice to have – they're a key foundation to effective teams. Google identified "psychological safety" as by far the most important dynamic for effective teams and creating "an inclusive team environment, showing concern for success and well-being" as one of the top 10 common behaviors of its best managers. Thus, it's incumbent on good managers to build those connections – not just one-to-one with their direct reports, but among team members as well.Putting it into actionBuilding community seems like a daunting task, but it can be done bit by bit. Charlene suggest starting with these three pillars:Understand your community and get to know your all your team members. Who are they? What are their personal goals? (Listen to our interview about career conversations in episode 1 for more on this.)Create space for community to get to know each other. Whether in small ways like icebreaker questions at the start of meetings or bigger ones like team activities, create opportunities for people to get to know each other personally.Draw on your own experiences. Think back to when you felt included, psychologically safe, energized – times when you were excited to go to work and see your teammates every day. What made that experience so special? What can you do to bring that back into your own team, in your own authentic style?Share your insights &amp; experiencesHow would you describe the communities you've been part of at work? What are ways you've successfully built and strengthened your team community? What aspects have been particularly challenging?We‘d love to hear from you at feedback@youllmanage.com or on Twitter @YoullManage! Where to learn more about our guestConnect with Charlene Lee at charlenelee.me and visit her company Radar's website to learn more about the company and see the open roles in their fast-growing team!

You're not just a manager, you're a community leader

“You'll Manage Challenge” episodes put theory into action, providing you a clear, achievable next step to up your management game within a week.In Episode 3 we talked about empowerment, and this week's Challenge will help you, well, challenge your direct reports! Using a four-stage framework, you'll be able to thoughtfully and carefully guide your team towards greater autonomy and responsibility (it's not the deep end or nothing!).The empowerment You'll Manage ChallengeYour challenge is to take a clear, deliberate, calibrated step together with one of your direct reports towards greater empowerment. Here's how:Identify a upcoming task or project that you plan to involve a direct report in.Locate where the direct report is in the four-stage model we discussed in the episode, in relation to this task or project.Find ways to calibrate their level of responsibility and autonomy slightly higher than the stage you've identified them at.Communicate these tweaks in expectations and processes clearly when briefing your direct report on the task or project.Share your Challenge experienceDrop us an email at feedback@youllmanage.com to let us know how your experience completing the Challenge was. Did it change your perception of what your direct report is capable of? Did it change their self perception? How did the conversation with them go?Even better, record a voice memo and attach it to your email, and we might feature you in a future episode of You'll Manage!