🤸 Mastering follow-through, Slack’s productivity research, & a true Hail Mary

Hey — it’s Cristina & Jenni.

Each week, we share leadership reflections, resources, and laughs to help you excel in your role (+ have fun along the way).

As two tech leaders, we’re here to “lead in public” by sharing what we’re learning in our day-to-day roles, encouraging others to do the same, and learning and growing as leaders together.

Enjoy! 🤸 

What we’re reflecting on this week

Have you ever had a boss who consistently failed to follow through on what they said they'd do?

Even if their heart was in the right place, think back: how did that make you FEEL?

Let me guess:

• Confused (did I not make myself clear?)

• Annoyed (why can't they just get this done already?)

• Hamstrung (ugh, now I'm stuck in limbo)

And ultimately, after a while:

• Distrustful (I can't trust them anymore)

The foundation of any successful relationship is TRUST, so it's no wonder that getting this wrong can have negative consequences.

So, as leaders ourselves, how can we avoid doing this with our own team members?

In my experience, the root cause of follow-through issues is generally less about bad intentions and more about a tendency to take too much on without keeping track of those commitments… in other words, good intentions + a bad system.

Especially when you first become a manager, you're immediately looking for ways to be helpful. That's what they hired you for, right??

Unless you have a killer to-do system coupled with an effective boundary-setting approach, you might soon find yourself drowning in "yes, I can totally take care of that," “why don’t you let me handle it?”, and "absolutely, I'll follow up with you tomorrow."

While being in firefighter mode can feel somewhat exhilarating, it can soon create a situation where you’re overwhelmed, unable to complete commitments, and stuck in a reactive position.

If you want to become a pro at follow-through, build trust with your directs, and get sh*t done, this 6-step checklist is for you:

1/ Only commit to what you're uniquely positioned to help with 🦄

• It's tempting to lend a hand just to feel helpful. Resist this urge! Focus on who's best positioned to get the job done.

• Ask yourself a question: "Am I the ONLY person who can do this effectively?"

2/ Teach them how to fish 🎣

• It's common to come across a situation where it'd surely be fastest for you to just do the thing yourself. But what if it's a frequent task that you could spend a bit of time teaching NOW to save yourself a ton of time LATER?

• Reframe: "Is this something that'll happen over and over? Can I teach them how to fish instead of doing the fishing myself? Even better, can I teach them how to automate this task?"

3/ Help them prioritize 📝

• When a task, project, or challenge comes up in a 1:1 or team meeting, rather than offering to help, shift into triage mode and coach them through a prioritization exercise.

• Assess: “Does it have to be done RIGHT now? Can you pause it, eliminate it, automate it, or delegate it? If no to all 5: is it urgent? If urgent: prioritize.”

4/ Keep opportunity cost in mind 💸

• While one part of your management role is supporting your directs, I bet you have many other commitments, too. Some of them are your own short-term to-dos and others are longer-term objectives that you need to carve out time for to build a strong foundation for your team.

• Challenge yourself: "What other priorities will I NOT have time to do if I commit to helping with this task?"

5/ Maintain a single to-do list and time-block it on your calendar 📅

• It's easy to find yourself with stickies scattered on your desk, action items scribbled on the whiteboard, and multiple documents littered with commitments.

• Clean it up: Put in some time to create a simple system for tracking to-dos from your team. Bonus points for blocking out your calendar to ensure you have time to complete everything.

6/ Last but not least: Over-communicate if you won't be able to follow through 🗣️

• We're all human! Managers feel pressure to lead their teams flawlessly, but that's not realistic - sometimes we'll take on too much or priorities will shift. Our work is dynamic, and being able to adapt to, embrace, and even expect these changes is key. The important things here are clarity and honesty.

• Send a note: Express your apologies for missing the mark and work with them to establish a new timeline. "Huge apologies, {name} - I won't be able to get to {project} until tomorrow afternoon. Will that still work for you, or should we rethink our approach?"

→ Are there any areas you’re struggling to follow through on with your team members? How can you leverage this checklist to level up?

What we’re learning this week

• ✍️ LI post: Trust is #1 – Speaking of trust, Christina Janzer, SVP of Research & Analytics at Slack, recently shared: “In our survey of 10,000 desk workers worldwide, feeling trusted in the workplace had the biggest impact on performance – outranking schedule flexibility, work location (remote, hybrid, or in the office), years on the job, and any other factor we considered.” We recommend checking out the full report here - especially if you’re like us and geek over great visuals & graphs 🤓

• 👀 Video: Leader as a coach – Hack Your HR is one of our favorite work-related accounts on Insta, and in this video, Amy shares her take on how management has evolved over the years and how we should be more like coaches than dictators (needless to say, we agree!).

• 🎙️ Podcast: 3 frameworks to think through your career transition like an investor – Founder Romeen Sheth walks through 3 powerful frameworks to guide you through various career transitions. Whether you’re considering a new role or trying to be more effective in your current environment, this episode is packed with insights. Have your note-taking app ready!

What we’re enjoying this week

Just a little reminder that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take (both on and off the court) 😉

That’s it for this week — thanks for reading.

See you next Thursday! 🤸‍♀️