Ahem: Leadership

Well, what goes here?

I thought about dropping in screenshots of some nice things writers have said about my management. But that seems unfair if I'm not also going to drop in screenshots of not-nice things my direct reports have said.

Instead, I'll tell you some things I've learned managing teams of writers at a newspaper, a university, and a tech company.

I've made lots of mistakes. In my first management job, I was a 25-year-old running a newsroom full of people more experienced than me. That year was almost entirely mistakes.

1. Your people are people. Work doesn't hold the same space in every life. Get to know what your people care about, where they come from, what they want. And stay in touch with them about all that. Showing them someone else is thinking about those things is maybe the best thing you can do.

2. "Not the way I would’ve done it" does not equal "Not the right way."

3. Your job isn’t to have all the big ideas. It’s to create an environment where everyone feels free to offer ideas, and everyone feels invested in doing good work. That’s hard.

4. When you see a problem, address it quickly. Problems usually don't get smaller and they sure as shit don't go away on their own.

5. Sometimes, you have to fake it until you make it. You may be deeply daunted, but a facade of steadiness can help your team in hard times.

6. Sometimes, you have to let people see that you're not making it. You may be deeply daunted, and letting your team see that can help them in hard times, too. It's admittedly a tough balance to strike.

7. Praise in public. Upbraid in private. Look, I’m not actually going to use the word “upbraid,” but the repeated long vowel sound helps this land. Anyway: recognize successes in front of everybody and address mistakes or failures 1:1.

8. Be kind. Not nice. This is pretty hard, too. But it’s essential.