I started writing software in 1984. Over the years I worked with many languages, technologies, and tools. I have been in leadership positions since the early 2000s, and in executive roles since 2014.
Thank you for your very thoughtful comment.
There is much that could be discussed about the difference between management and leadership and it does come down to definitions, as you said. I used to see it the way you define it, but I changed my view a few years ago. I love the way Max Depree talks about it in his book “Leadership is an art”. He says “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.”
In the long term, I measure my performance by measuring the impact of my efforts. The impact is the delta between what happened because of me vs. what would have happened if I was not there.
In the short term (daily) I measure it by asking myself if I made a difference to people and/or the organization, that day.
Tom is a people developer, coach, author, and ex engineering manager working with trivago in Germany. He likes JavaScript and is happiest when he can help other people grow.
Putting "Leadership is an art" on my reading list, thanks :-)
About measuring your impact, or productivity, as a manager: I wrote Recalibrate Your Productivity Sensors some time ago, maybe you find it helpful. It talks about how, as a manager, most of the metrics of productivity you had as a developer just go away, and you have to find new ones. I think it arrives at a similar conclusion as you do: Make a difference to people and the organization. Unblock, teach, listen, encourage, give feedback, bounce ideas back and forth, etc.
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Thank you for your very thoughtful comment.
There is much that could be discussed about the difference between management and leadership and it does come down to definitions, as you said. I used to see it the way you define it, but I changed my view a few years ago. I love the way Max Depree talks about it in his book “Leadership is an art”. He says “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.”
In the long term, I measure my performance by measuring the impact of my efforts. The impact is the delta between what happened because of me vs. what would have happened if I was not there.
In the short term (daily) I measure it by asking myself if I made a difference to people and/or the organization, that day.
Putting "Leadership is an art" on my reading list, thanks :-)
About measuring your impact, or productivity, as a manager: I wrote Recalibrate Your Productivity Sensors some time ago, maybe you find it helpful. It talks about how, as a manager, most of the metrics of productivity you had as a developer just go away, and you have to find new ones. I think it arrives at a similar conclusion as you do: Make a difference to people and the organization. Unblock, teach, listen, encourage, give feedback, bounce ideas back and forth, etc.