Recently, I was lucky enough to be a part of the Momentum team that sponsored Webstock for 2018. An amalgamation of technology, innovation, and minds that came together over a two-day period to talk about the dynamic and ever-present world of technology. A wide range of speakers attended from all over the world, but one who stood out for me was Andy Budd (British Author and CEO of Clearleft). He spoke enthusiastically about, “The Accidental Leader” and specifically referred to, designers who have a seat at the table, being unhappy and stressed, have new problems to deal with and have fallen for the “trap of leadership.” In fact, they needed to develop a new set of skills!

This talk was highly relevant and applicable to any leader within an organisation. For Andy, he found five key concerns that tend to repeat themselves and shared some valuable insights on each of them:

1. FIND GREAT PEOPLE

Build a team people want to be a part of. Money is just table stakes; people want growth. Signal that your company invest in people.

A common assumption of business is that employees do not necessarily care about or understand their employees. However, another speaker from Webstock, Claire Lew crushed this myth with her talk on how the grass isn’t always greener. She poignantly pointed out that in fact, it is people and culture that commonly keep Managers up at night. Companies do want to invest in people, and people want growth in their career.

2. RETAIN GREAT PEOPLE

Make sure you follow through with your interview promises. Clear values and missions keep people focused. Foster a collaborative culture they won’t want to leave. Give the team space, or they will burn out; schedule time to experiment and innovate, create the best environment to do great work.

3. EXECUTE WITH PACE

Remove organisational barriers. Pick up the trash, so your team don’t have to, and break down the silos.

Life is challenging as it is, we spend a lot of our time at work. Most employees like to be empowered to deliver, but a reality is that they must deal with a certain level of frustration, ambiguity, and red tape. It is refreshing to see that increasingly we are moving to a culture that empowers leadership and coaching to enable delivery.

4. MANAGE UP

Your job is to promote the value; you need to speak the language of business; create partnerships, not battle lines. My favourite line from Andy’s talk to reflect this was, “Be a sh#t umbrella – not a sh#t funnel”!

5. MANAGE DOWN

Don’t spend all your time managing up; look after your team. Make sure you have one-on-ones; connect and walk the floor. Provide actionable feedback; praise publicly and critique privately; support your team’s individual growth. Provide autonomy with accountability.