Dive 32: Why good leaders push back on silly demands
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Good leadership means you must push back on unreasonable demands. It builds team confidence in leaders and it builds self-confidence. But you can't fight back everything. That's petty. Here's what you need to push back... with the right force.
In software dev, we are paid to solve problems especially the painful ones
Not churn out features like a factory
So don’t be like a waiter taking orders. I’ve made this mistake before.
Be a doctor who needs to ask questions and learn to listen on between the lines in order to diagnose the root cause that best solved the problem.
Sometimes you have a complex situation and you need to disagree with the patient in the best course of treatment
So you have to push back with wisdom (because you diagnosed the root cause) , compassion (there’s a reason why you’re the medical expert and not them so be kind with the patient’s ignorance) and no amount of skill (no two patients are the same even when they have exact same diagnosis so need to adjust the push back accordingly)
I find this analogy to be compressed wisdom
Having said that I have not found a good one that covers the confidence Felix has shown in appearing not to fear losing his job
Thanks for the shout out!
The analogy I found very useful is
Don’t be a waiter. Be a doctor.
In software dev, we are paid to solve problems especially the painful ones
Not churn out features like a factory
So don’t be like a waiter taking orders. I’ve made this mistake before.
Be a doctor who needs to ask questions and learn to listen on between the lines in order to diagnose the root cause that best solved the problem.
Sometimes you have a complex situation and you need to disagree with the patient in the best course of treatment
So you have to push back with wisdom (because you diagnosed the root cause) , compassion (there’s a reason why you’re the medical expert and not them so be kind with the patient’s ignorance) and no amount of skill (no two patients are the same even when they have exact same diagnosis so need to adjust the push back accordingly)
I find this analogy to be compressed wisdom
Having said that I have not found a good one that covers the confidence Felix has shown in appearing not to fear losing his job