Welcome back, fellow managers and leaders!
It’s been a busy summer for many of us ☀ so — in case you missed them — here’s a recap of our most recent Supermanagers podcast episodes:
- How Microsoft’s VP of Human Resources optimizes clarity, vision, and feedback with Chris Williams (Leadership Consultant and TikTok Influencer)
- Why creating systems of continuous feedback is a requirement to scale with Bilal Aijazi (CEO of Polly)
- Focus on the how, not just the what: Creating an uplifting environment to scale with Michelle Mollot (CMO at Solace)
- Are you overvaluing speed at work? How to rethink the virtual world with an async mindset with Chase Warrington (Head of Remote at Doist)
(Scroll down to read our top takeaways!)
But first….
🤩 Popular posts in the Fellow blog
- How to build a staff meeting agenda (and save valuable time)
- Running organized town-hall meetings to encourage corporate transparency
- 20 Team meeting topics for better collaboration and engagement
- One-on-one coaching template: facilitating conversations that spark growth
🎙 Takeaways from the Supermanagers podcast
Episode 113: Bilal Aijazi (CEO at Polly)
TLDR: If one of your employees tells you about a recurring emotion or problem, don’t brush it aside. Explore what’s at the root of those feelings and problem-solve with the employee. Being a good remote leader means finding ways to keep your team emotionally healthy and professionally successful. We all encounter a lot of information every day. Maybe you hear something once and you only passively register it. But if you hear something two or three times, it’s really important to dig in.
Episode 114: Chris Williams (former VP of HR at Microsoft)
TLDR: Success doesn’t come automatically from having a clear vision – in order for it to have an impact, a vision must be communicated. And more than once! Say it over and over to your team, use it in performance reviews, and be clear about how the vision influences your decisions as a leader.
Episode 115: Mychelle Mollot (CMO at Solace)
TLDR: Leaders need to learn when to trust in their team and accept the macro view of a plan without wasting time and energy looking for a flaw that’s not there. If you don’t feel something might be off, accept the 10,000 ft view and move on. This can be hard but you just need to trust the process.
Episode 116: Chase Warrington (Head of Remote at Doist)
TLDR: Socialization as team “culture” sounds better than it actually works. Instead, what unites a team needs to be the work itself. How do you build a company culture around doing the work? Have a clear mission statement. Have core values that tie to that statement and the work. Build infrastructure to create opportunities for collaboration.
Last but not least…
💡 Insights from the Supermanagers slack group
When you get promoted to a leadership position, transitioning from “peer” to “manager” can be challenging.
In fact, that was one of the first management challenges we discussed in the Supermanagers slack group.
👉 If you haven’t joined yet, make sure to email [email protected] asking our community managers to add you!
The question we received from one of our community members was:
- “I was asked to manage someone on my team who is currently a peer. What advice can you share for someone transitioning into that relationship?”
Alexandra Sunderland (Senior Engineering Manager at Fellow) answered:
“I went through this a few years ago! I felt very awkward about it originally. Here are my tips:
- Do a “Manager Handoff” meeting to officially mark the transition.
- Have your first 1on1 within the first week — waiting too long makes it weird.
- In the first 1on1, it could be good to acknowledge out loud that things are different. Saying something like “I know this might be a bit odd at first, and I’m figuring it out at the same time as you, so if you have any feedback for me about how to better work together or how I could be a better manager I’m all ears” can diffuse some tension (even if it’s all in your head). Also, ask them how they’re feeling about it!”
… and that’s a wrap! We hope that the content we curated inspires you to continue growing as a leader.
If you enjoyed this issue, please share the newsletter with a colleague or friend –they can subscribe here!
Thanks for being part of our community,
Manuela & the Fellow.app team
