Managing Up

The hosts discuss the reputation of meetings and share their personal experiences of the worst meetings they have been a part of. They explore different types of meetings, the importance of purpose, and strategies for making meetings more valuable and productive.

Nick, Travis, and Brandon talk "hero culture" and how that affects teams. What are the drawbacks of encouraging hero culture? How do you draw the distinction between necessary heroism and chronic hero culture? What's the difference between heroism and professionalism? They also discuss common pitfalls of trying to overcome hero culture, and what it means to set a sustainable example.Show Notes:Do Hard Things by Steve Magnesshttps://www.amazon.com/Hard-Things-Resilience-Surprising-Toughness/dp/006309861X/Navy Seals "Hell Week"https://navyseals.com/nsw/hell-week-0/Radar Chartshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_chartKevin Goldsmith's Lead Dev talk on combining ingredients for the perfect engineering teamhttps://leaddev.com/team/finding-right-ingredients-perfect-engineering-team

In this podcast, the hosts discuss techniques for managing up, emphasizing the importance of communication, emotions, and adapting to different communication styles. They share resources like 'Connect' and 'Emotional Agility' while highlighting the significance of vulnerability, feedback, and curiosity in leadership. The episode also explores understanding managers' authority and communication styles to effectively navigate upward relationships in the workplace.

The Managing Up Crew is joined by Estella Gonzalez Madison (@chicagoing) to discuss how they've changed the way they manage since the start of the pandemic 2+ years ago. They discuss tactical changes and how they've changed philosophically during this time, and how they square their own humanity and that of their teams during the last 2 years, as well as how this affects how they plan to manage in the future.Show Notes:Estella Gonzalez Madisonhttps://twitter.com/chicagoingTalking to your past self (humor)https://mymodernmet.com/julie-nolke-funny-viral-video/Rethinking Remote Standupshttps://www.honeycomb.io/blog/standup-meetings-are-dead/Lara Hogan's Manager Voltronhttps://larahogan.me/blog/manager-voltron/

Nick, pondering the Texas electric grid and the 2021 power crisis posits the question to Travis and Brandon: What role does pain play in leading teams? What is the role of a manager in managing and reacting to pain on our teams? What are the dangers of hiding or deflecting this pain? This leads to a discussion of processing feedback, helping teams learn from pain, and yes, launching trains at meteors. What roles do curiosity and fear play in managing organizational pain? What role do retrospectives play in this? How do you pronounce "gigawatt"?Show notes:2021 Texas Power Crisishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Texas_power_crisisThe lottery factor (AKA bus factor)https://towardsdatascience.com/maintaining-a-good-lottery-factor-1eeb2b2f52a6Ted Lasso: "The shower pressure is rubbish: make a note of that"https://www.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/cff607e3-f79e-4a84-a38c-ab6124c596c6

Travis, Nick, and Brandon discuss the word "accountability". What does it mean? Why has it developed a negative connotation? What's the connection between "trust" and "accountability"? They discuss the sometimes uncomfortable conversations that must take in place before a conversation about accountability can bring real results. They also talk about how remote culture changes the shape of this conversation by removing shortcuts some leaders have leaned on in offices. Show Notes:The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencionihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Dysfunctions_of_a_TeamStart with Why by Simon Sinekhttps://simonsinek.com/product/start-with-why/Radical Focus by Christina Wodtkehttps://www.amazon.com/Radical-Focus-SECOND-Achieving-Objectives-ebook/dp/B091ZL2SRLRemote by Jason Fried and DHHhttps://basecamp.com/books/remote

Nick, Travis, and Brandon revisit the one-on-ones topic from several years ago and go beyond "1:1s 101". The hosts dive past the scripts and formulas to discuss challenges with regular one-on-one meetings with your team. How do you discern "gripe sessions" from a genuine request to intervene? When do you share context vs. listen? How do you get people to shift past surface-level concerns to the most important topics? What are some 1:1 antipatterns? Also: The group restrains themselves to only one Ted Lasso reference.Show Notes:Episode 5: "One on Ones: The Basics" (Oct. 2018)https://www.managingup.show/episodes/54705bedTed Lassohttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt10986410/https://twitter.com/TedLasso

Nick, Brandon, and Travis discuss the term "Marketing" and the myth that doing good work will speak for itself. How can you advocate for your team's work authentically without feeling like you're bragging? They talk about using tracking documents to track and showcase team accomplishments, and why it's important to demonstrate your team's impact, and not just their efforts. Episode links:Get your work recognized: write a brag documenthttps://jvns.ca/blog/brag-documents/

Join Nick, an expert in team dynamics, Travis, a trust-building enthusiast, and Brandon, a feedback advocate as they tackle the crucial topic of psychological safety in teams. They debate the pitfalls of strong opinions and emphasize empathy, active listening, and vulnerability. Discover how to bootstrap trust in new environments, engage quieter team members, and recognize feedback as a powerful growth tool. Their insights provide a roadmap for fostering collaboration and innovation, making every voice in the room count.

In this episode, Nick, Travis, and Brandon talk about the word "resources", thinking of humans versus abstract notions of people, and balancing company needs with individual needs. What changes as your role moves further from managing individual contributors?Show NotesGE's "Up or out" environmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitality_curveEpisode 1: OKRshttps://managingup.simplecast.com/episodes/podcast-episode-1-measure-what-mattersThe Passionate Programmer by Chad Fowlerhttps://pragprog.com/titles/cfcar2/the-passionate-programmer-2nd-edition/