Spikes And Stories

Scrum tips and agile insights from a Silicon Valley agile coach

Why Transactional Leadership Sucks

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Transactional leadership makes me cringe. Transactional leaders focus on title and hierarchy. They search for and crave prestige and authority. It all feels so political, and it’s a real problem for me.

You manage things. You lead people.

Grace Hopper

Maybe it’s quotes like this that began my rub. Or maybe it’s my preference for what I typically call relational leadership. Research agrees that transformational (aka relational) leaders have a positive effect on employee retention so why wouldn’t we always leverage a relationship-first style of leading our people?

Then again, maybe I’ve had it wrong all this time. Maybe they’re not so bad, and at times, maybe I’m a transactional leader myself.

Scary thought.

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No One Thinks They Lack a Bias Toward Action

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People often talk about the value of a bias toward action. I know I did, but I believe I was mistaken. Why? No one thinks they lack a bias toward action. After all, busyness and productivity are hard to tell apart. For example, I remember a younger me who didn’t have GPS. When I was lost, I would never stop and ask for direction. So while I was putting miles on the car, I really wasn’t going anywhere.

My point is I think it’s time we reframe our notion of action. Let’s call it a bias toward progress instead. It’s forward movement we’re after, right? Or maybe it’s conscious or intentional movement since sometimes going backward or sideways teaches us something important. So how does a bias toward action differ from a bias toward progress? Let’s talk about that today.

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Trust Is Consistency Over Time

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I can’t tell you how many times I heard LinkedIn’s former CEO Jeff Weiner echo these words.

Trust is consistency over time. There’s no shortcut for either.

It’s great advice whether we’re an aspiring or experienced leader. And I think it’s just as appropriate for coaches. Why? We don’t have this pesky thing called authority, which tempts managers to impose their solutions on others. Instead, we coaches are naturally curious and have a desire to bring awareness to those around us. And since we’ve previously talked about trust, let’s talk today about what consistency looks like and why it matters.

In 2016, researchers conducted a study to investigate the relationship between uncertainty and stress. In it, participants were asked to play a computer simulation where they would turn over rocks. They received a mild electric shock when a snake was found under a rock but received no shock when no snake was found. The results were astounding. I had imagined that those receiving the shock 100% of the time would be the most stressed, but that’s not what the study found. Instead, those shocked 50% of the time–those dealing with the highest amount of uncertainty–had the highest levels of stress.

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You Can Only Empower Yourself

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I find myself saying something often. It’s a thing implicitly taught to me as a Marine, but it wasn’t until years later that I heard it put to words:

An organization cannot empower you. You can only empower yourself.

Many times, it feels as if we’re waiting for our manager’s permission to explore a new space or to define a career path. But what’s stopping us from exploring it on our own, in our own way, and on our own terms? Consider the case of a team member or project manager who’s trying to get into Scrum Mastery. Or an engineer looking to become a manager.

Whatever it is, it’s our story to write. But what’s that look like? And how do we make this aspirational, cliche advice actionable? I think it starts simply.

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