Breaking the Mold

3 Unusual Leadership Strategies That Work for Me

I have built multiple teams from the ground up and run large organizations of 200+ employees in my career as a tech leader. There are loads of books, podcasts, articles and courses out there that advise on leadership best practices that help with building and running large organizations.

This post is about the things I do as a leader that are a complete deviation from the recommended path! But they have worked for me and actually have gotten me better results than the conventional wisdom.

1. Tracking Office Hours Utilization

Like many senior leaders, I keep dedicated appointment slots on my calendar that anyone can use to schedule meeting time with me. Also like most senior leaders, I advertise them in my email signature and periodically remind my organization about them.

Unlike many senior leaders, I track utilization closely and don’t let my office hours turn into email-checking time.

I have been able to increase my office hours utilization with these 2 tactics:

• Reverse office-hour - If I see any empty slots the day before my office hours, I send a meeting request for that time to someone in my organization who I’ve never met or haven’t met in a while. If they are unable to meet at that time, I try someone else. The goal is to use the slot for a meaningful meeting with someone who I wouldn’t otherwise meet.

• Small-group meetings - I encourage using my office hours for small-group meetings in addition to 1:1s. Junior engineers in my org have found this option very useful. Some have told me that they didn't feel like they had that many topics to talk about for an entire 30 mins but when 3-4 folks take up a slot together, there is enough to have a meaningful conversation with all! Initially, I facilitate these group office hours by suggesting a group sync with a few folks who I think have something in common. As my teams get familiar with this system, I’ve seen more folks sign up as a group on their own.

2. Gifting Books

Like many senior leaders, I love reading! Books are also the medium I’ve learned the most from when it comes to business and leadership topics. Also like many senior leaders, I frequently recommend relevant books in my coaching to help my reports uplevel their skills.

Unlike many senior leaders, every year in December I give out books as a personal holiday gift to my reports.

Here is how I’ve organized this gifting in the past:

• I ask each report if they would like a book and if yes in what format (Physical copy, Kindle, Audible, etc.).

• I personally pick a relevant book for each of them based on their current career stage and learning goals. 

• I email them a note explaining why this choice.

A year ago, when I had a larger staff group in my global organization (~25 people), I tried to give the same book to 2-3 folks but did not tell anyone who else got the same book. It was a fun game in the group to find their book buddies and bond over shared learning!

3. Discouraging Potential New Hires

Like many senior leaders, I had the opportunity to grow entire teams from scratch. Also like many senior leaders, I followed Google’s excellent hiring process that screened for technical skills, leadership skills and was also fairly well designed to encourage leaders to follow DEI principles in hiring.

Unlike many senior leaders, I have a small extra step I follow when hiring for Staff+ roles in my team. I personally meet the candidate for a call before we finalize the hire. In this call, I tell them all the reasons they should not join my team!

Why do I do this?

I strongly believe that Staff+ hires need to be role models for the organization from the very beginning. In their role they will also have to make difficult decisions and manage competing priorities from the start.

That means they need to know clearly and completely what they are getting into when they join my team. By the time I have my call with them, they have typically met several other team members during the hiring process and have probably heard a lot of good reasons why they should join the team. My job is to honestly give them the not-so-rosy side.

My best hires have been the ones who chose to join the organization despite this discussion. In fact the discussion energized them because they saw the opportunity to meaningfully contribute and grow as leaders!

Do you deviate from the conventional path in your leadership style? If yes, how?