I Just Refused an Assignment I Really Wanted

Pete was agitated, nearly shaking as he came into my office, but it wasn’t from a conversation he’d just had; it was from a decision he’d made the day before.

His boss’ boss had pulled him aside to invite him to take over a suite of products—products that Pete was deeply committed to and had played a key role in developing. 

“I told him ‘no,’” Pete said. “It’s not that I don’t—or wouldn’t—want to do it. It’s just that if I take over that product suite, I’ll be reporting directly to Steve, who has spent his entire time in that division without ever getting to know his direct reports, their views on their products, how they see those products in the big picture of the business…and redistributing budgets and visibility with no conversations with his group. I just can’t do it.”

Pete had been hired two years earlier. He was among a group of very bright, early-career professionals who had been identified as having broad capacity to develop, create, collaborate, and learn to bring our products more relevance. A restructuring had moved these new hires into several different divisions, where they had been evaluated and re-categorized based on their corporate work history rather than their personal talent and capacity—or even their personal resumes.

I began to respond by sharing my observation that Steve had been contributing to organization-wide efforts. His mind for taking many products and product families, organizing them into a coherent plan and budgeting strategy had been timely and critical for our success.

“I know this is true,” Pete replied. “However, he has a whole group of direct reports that he either cannot or will not lead as people. He doesn’t seem to care about them in any way, other than ensuring that timelines are met.”

Then came the zinger. “I came here because I bought into a vision. A vision for how we work together to build each other and build products and processes that can really help people. I don’t think it matters how well organized we are if we don’t care about each other.”

As Pete left my office, I wondered how much we were losing as an organization because Pete was spending his energy avoiding working with Steve rather than feeling empowered to bring his expertise to bear on a significant project. 

I also wondered how often organizations lose productivity despite--or because of--efforts to devise processes to make work simpler.

Most of all, I wanted to continue my own journey toward becoming a leader who could be counted on to consistently build capacity, encourage growth, and facilitate innovation and change.

There is a value to being curious, interested, and caring about others and their success. It leads to good feelings, but it also leads to spontaneous ideas, interactions, and relationships that capture opportunities unavailable to teams of people who just do their jobs. If you're in a group that needs creative solutions to problems, cultivate these attributes in group members.

Steph Curry...As Himself

Disclosure time: I really like basketball. I think I could have been in the NBA, except for three things--height, speed, and skill. What has really caught my eye over the last few years is the phenomenal success of the Golden State Warriors, particularly the impact Stephen Curry has had on the team and the league.

There have been many articles telling stories about how Stephen Curry--NBA superstar, two-time MVP, three-time NBA champion, record holder, etc.--leads. You can see some of them here:

ESPN-How Steph Curry Leads
Golden State of Mind-Kevin Durant Talks About Steph Curry's Leadership
Clutch Points-Steve Kerr Talks About Steph Curry's Leadership

I'm struck by how influential Curry is in a team full of superstars. Sportswriters call the Golden State Warriors a superteam because of the All-Stars, while extolling the real strength of the team--how it works together. This is the secret sauce of the Warriors--teamwork. These players are co-workers, colleagues.
If I were to ask you to describe someone you particularly like to work with--an ideal colleague--you certainly have some stories to tell. Chances are, you would eventually come up with a list of things like:

• They care about your success and about you personally
• They are willing to share their resources with you
• They are curious and interested
• They are willing to mentor you
• They show appreciation
• They help you expand your opportunities and perspectives
• They unify others
• They are future oriented

The list can go on. You'll see those characteristics and behaviors throughout the articles about Steph Curry and the Warriors. You'll also see that style is somewhat independent of leadership behaviors. In other words, there are clearly many types of leadership styles in play with the team. What Curry brings is a love of the work and a care for those he works with that leads to success, like:

• Helping a teammate just promoted from the G-league learn how to manage his game within the Warriors' approach (mentoring)
• Working harder in practice when Kevin Durrant was injured to increase the intensity of preparation (unifying, care about success)
• Traveling with the team and helping prepare them for games during a period of injury (unifying, caring, etc.)
• Working with outside groups to develop service and outreach activities (expanding opportunities and perspectives)

Written like this, it becomes easy to imagine how these ideas can be practiced in any setting, and perhaps just as importantly, with any personality. You can lead...as yourself.