Leader is not an individual contributor

In many interviews for leadership roles, you can hear questions like:

  • Who pushed for this change?
  • Who proposed this improvement?
  • Who implemented this approach?

Personally, I believe leaders should answer in the following direction:

  • My team! It was a team effort. It was proposed by an individual, but implemented by the team.

Unfortunately, in many cases, interviewers expect to hear something like:

  • It was me! I did this! It was my initiative!

They want to see an individual contributor mindset, someone who is still very hands-on even in a leadership role. Most likely, in their environment, they need such a person.

From my point of view, a leader is someone who organizes, motivates, and inspires people. Sometimes they should lead by example, sometimes they should address mistakes in one-on-one conversations, and sometimes they should motivate the entire team.

From day one in the role, a real leader should start thinking about developing other leaders within the team, so they can delegate responsibilities and share ownership. Only then can you truly say: “The work was not done by me, but by the team.”

Leaders should grow other leaders in order to progress further in their careers.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Building Quality Software: It’s Not Just About Good Testers

Image
When we talk about software quality, the conversation often shifts toward testing. Many assume that achieving quality is primarily about hiring skilled testers who can identify bugs, catch defects early, and ensure the product is stable. However, this perspective overlooks a critical truth: quality isn’t just about testing - it’s about building the right team and fostering a collaborative environment where quality is a shared responsibility. Quality Starts with the Right People Building a quality product starts with building a quality team. This means more than just finding technically skilled developers or seasoned testers. It’s about assembling a group of individuals who can work together effectively, communicate openly, and share a common vision for the product. The right people don’t just bring their skills - they bring a mindset that embraces collaboration, ownership, and continuous improvement. Hiring the right people is critical. It’s about finding those who not only fit the tec...
Read more

QA Chapter

There are different point of view on organising a QA chapter. As a QA manager, I see it in the following way. If you ask me ` How  should  QA Chapter look like?` , I would suggest the following structure: Chapter Lead: Person taking final responsibility for decisions Mandatory: 3 QA engineers, 1 BE engineer, 1 FE engineer Optional: Product Owner, Architect, DevOps engineers NOTE: It is very important for me to have representatives of different roles in the chapter, since everyone sees how to improve quality and where to apply improvements differently.  If you ask me ` What  are  QA Chapter  areas of responsibility ?`, I will answer that the agenda of QA Chapter meetings should be based on the following areas: Product quality: Quality of Development Quality of Testing Quality Control Quality of Delivery Visibility of QA work If you ask me ` How are you going to make your QA Chapter performing well?` , I will answer that we will need to define a set of rul...
Read more

Remote working experience

Image
I work remotely more than 2 years already and would like to stress my attention on the following aspects of remote work: Communication: Fortunately, in the 21st century with the development of technologies we've got a lot of tools making remote work much easier than before. We use different online communication channels like video and phone calls, chats, dashboards for online collaboration, what makes people closer to each other, what is extremely important if you work in a team and responsible product delivery. You should know what's happening with your teammates and applications and react immediately to avoid any sort of issues. Time management: Remote work have taught me managing my time in a better way and respect time of my colleagues since most of us work in different time zones and have different working hours. Documentation: It is extremely important to have documented decisions stored online and keep them up to date. It is valid not only for onsite but for remote work ...
Read more