13 Comments
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Gaurav Jain's avatar

100% agree with every word. Great leaders are always those who were great mentors and/or coaches. I loved the mindset shift you talked about, which is one of the biggest traps managers fall into - they think they're coaching, but they're really just 'telling'. I'm also a huge supporter of the CLEAR model, and it's one of those that I'm planning to write about in my newsletter soon.

I also wrote about the four leadership support roles recently (Coaching, Mentoring, Counseling, and Consulting), and how leaders can switch roles more intentionally vs accidentally. (https://www.thegoodboss.com/p/coaching-mentoring-counseling-consulting).

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Gregor Ojstersek's avatar

Indeed, it's the most important thing -> to elevate and uplift others around you. Glad you are a big supporter of this mindset and also the CLEAR model as well. Awesome that you write about this as well. Thanks for sharing the article - keep writing great stuff!

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Verónica Olmos's avatar

This article is a master piece! So refreshing finding these thoughts when I sometimes feel the industry standards for management are reverting back to the old days.

I sometimes like to think that good managers are a bit like Nanny McPhee 😅 If it feels they are not needed anymore (because team members were empowered and developed more autonomy), it's probably a good indicator that they did a good job.

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Andy Skipper's avatar

Thanks Veronica, I love that analogy!

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Gregor Ojstersek's avatar

Glad the article resonated Veronica! And yes, a manager's job is to empower the team to be autonomous as much as possible and uplift everyone inside of it. I really like the 2-week vacation test -> When you go on a 2-week vacation (without checking in) and everything still works as planned, you are doing well as a manager!

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Bri's avatar

This was amazing. As a new team lead with 0 training, this was exceptional and confirmed that i’m on the right track!! Thank you so much for creating and sharing.

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Gregor Ojstersek's avatar

Really awesome to hear that the article resonated! Glad you are on the right track, and I wish you much success with your role!

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Daniel Popescu / ⧉ Pluralisk's avatar

This piece really made me think. The point about genuine coaching for engineering leaders is spot on; it truely elevates team performace and fosters innovation.

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Gregor Ojstersek's avatar

Glad it resonated Daniel! And yes, it's one of the most important things an engineering leader should do -> to make everyone around them better.

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M.N's avatar

amazing piece

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Gregor Ojstersek's avatar

Really glad you like it!

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Carlo Nizeti's avatar

This was a great write-up. Especially the coach vs mentor. This came up in a recent conversation on my podcast, and it's been great to see so many people have the exact ah-ha moment. Nicely done.

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Gregor Ojstersek's avatar

Thanks and really great to hear that the article resonated Carlo!

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