It’s easier to copy something than come up with something original. Almost all leadership/business processes are not novel, they are just novel to individuals. It’s easier to navigate new situations if you’ve been on the other side of them, or seen them done before. Set clear expectations, but when they aren’t being met, you need to step in and lead by example.

  • If your leaders aren’t having effective 1-1s, then have effective 1-1s with them.
  • If you want your leaders to do a skill gap analysis with their reports, then do a skill gap analysis with them.
  • If you want your engineering managers to review metrics every monday, then review the metrics with them for a few mondays.

In Jocko Willink’s Leadership Strategy and Tactics he describes one of the best leaders he ever had, Delta Charlie. One very specific attribute he called out was that Delta Charlie would routinely take out the trash and clean the office, a task typically considered beneath the commanders level. After a couple days of this, his team started taking out the trash preemptively out of respect for their leader.

Leading by example is a highly efficient way to transfer knowledge, and it also earns the respect, and trust of your team. Decide consciously when you need to check your ego, and get closer to a process to set an example.

You are not above menial tasks if your team isn’t doing them right.