Summary
This livestream, hosted by Andrew Murphy of Tech Leaders Launchpad, focused on leadership, communication, and managing up effectively. Key topics included the distinction between leadership and management, fostering trust, handling political or risk-averse organisational cultures, and navigating confidence issues as a junior staff member. Shirley Ha, guest speaker for the session, shared insights on adapting to diverse leadership styles, gaining stakeholder buy-in, and cultivating professional resilience. Emphasis was placed on teamwork, self-ownership, and incremental cultural change within organisations.
1. Introduction to Leadership and Communication
Andrew welcomed attendees to the livestream. He outlined that the workshop would cover leadership mindsets, essential skills, and communication techniques, particularly the distinction between features and benefits.
Insights:
Workshop aims to explore leadership, mindsets, communication, and the emotional journey of leadership.
The session is split into two segments: leadership fundamentals and advanced communication skills.
Focus on leadership as a multiplier effect.
2. Introduction to Andrew and Interactive Workshop
Andrew shared his extensive experience in the tech industry, including leadership and coaching. He reiterated that this workshop would be a dynamic, interactive discussion rather than a lecture.
Insights:
Andrew has 20 years of experience in engineering.
Leadership for 15 years, with a focus on—and growth from—past mistakes.
Current focus on coaching, teaching, and Tech Leaders Launchpad's leadership development programs.
Encouraged interruptions and discussions to guide the session content.
3. Introduction to Leadership and Management
Overview of the differences between leadership and management. Leaders inspire, help others grow, and create multiplier effects for organisations. Managers focus on processes and transactional tasks.
Insights:
Leadership is people-focused and about driving mutual goals and growth.
Management is transactional, focusing on systems like timesheets and leave arrangements.
Being a leader doesn’t require being a manager; leadership impacts outcomes through others.
4. Managing Up: Common Misconceptions and Strategies
Shirley discussed the concept of "managing up," including common misconceptions and effective ways of communicating with managers. The need for ownership in one's role and fostering open dialogue was emphasised.
Insights:
Managing up involves proactive accountability for workload/performance, avoiding passive interactions.
Misconceptions: assuming managing up is questioning authority or overstepping hierarchy.
Importance of transparent career conversations with managers.
Adapting to managers’ various working styles and proactively communicating workload capacity.
5. Building Trust with Managers and Stakeholders
Insights:
Trust takes time and varies depending on personalities and organisational environments.
Managers who demonstrate early openness ease conversation.
Shirley stressed clarity in motives to avoid misinterpretation, e.g., “I want to learn, not overstep.”
Trust enables transparency in conversations and career support.
In cases of bad organisational culture, pockets of good individuals can still be found for collaboration.
6. Influencing Risk-Averse and Political Cultures
Shirley and Andrew delved into strategies for overcoming cultural resistance to risk and change, including navigating objections and gaining broad stakeholder buy-in.
Insights:
Risk-averse organisations often incentivise avoiding failure over pursuing better outcomes.
Incremental change is less likely to encounter resistance than abrupt reforms.
Stakeholder buy-in is critical for advancing ideas—one-on-one pre-meeting influence is effective.
Transparency can be affected by company, country, and team culture, warranting adaptive approaches.
7. Overcoming Confidence and Imposter Syndrome
Advice for junior professionals struggling with confidence and self-doubt when managing up. Suggestions included seeking advice, building connections, and practising communication skills.
Insights:
Networking meetups and professional groups are invaluable for perspective and feedback.
Practice conversations with trusted peers before addressing managers.
Ownership over one’s career decisions requires speaking up often, ensuring managers recognize personal needs.
8. Final Thoughts and Next Steps in Content Series
Insights:
Session concluded with reminders that self-reflection, incremental decision-making, and resilience are crucial factors in long-term leadership success.
Topics for future sessions include engineering-oriented product metrics to align outcomes with organisational objectives. Andrew recommended a newsletter subscription for updates on Tech Leaders Launchpad events/workshops.
