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Ask HN: What traits you need to be a team leader?

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Re: Ask HN: What traits you need to be a team leader?

#11

Post by borplk »

muzani wrote: post #10
borplk wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 4. Get together as much as you can on a real "team building exercise" - the whole team in another city for at least 2 days with a great party and lots of eating and drinking on company dime... I deeply despise this trend.

I find that a lot of really bad leaders do this a lot for some reason. The best organizations are often targeting something epic, which builds camaraderie in itself.

Yeah. If you have to be beer buddies with people you work with you don't understand what professionalism is.

Re: Ask HN: What traits you need to be a team leader?

#12

Post by SirLJ »

borplk wrote: post #11
muzani wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that a lot of really bad leaders do this a lot for some reason. The best organizations are often targeting something epic, which builds camaraderie in itself.

Yeah. If you have to be beer buddies with people you work with you don't understand what professionalism is.

This is not about beer buddies after work, this is about getting together once or twice a year to get to know each other a bit more...

I am going to answer here the person who deleted the long message yesterday saying saying he/she rather play PlayStation alone and so forth (hopefully he/she will read this)

If one of my employees is having panic attacks thinking about the yearly team building diner and drinks, then we are having a big problem...

We need to sit down talk about it and find a solution, professional help, whatever it takes to go over this, because it is juts not healthy!

Not to mention on how this person will react in a real stressful situation, let's say the part of the network is down, systems affected, the company is loosing money on SLAs, big debugging call in the middle of the night - this kind of real pressure will for sure either damage a fragile person or at least case a burn out...

Mental health is no joke and have to be taken very seriously...

Re: Ask HN: What traits you need to be a team leader?

#13

Post by nicholas73 »

SirLJ wrote: post #12
borplk wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. If you have to be beer buddies with people you work with you don't understand what professionalism is.

This is not about beer buddies after work, this is about getting together once or twice a year to get to know each other a bit more... I am going to answer here the person who deleted the long message yesterday saying saying he/she rather play PlayStation alone and so forth (hopefully he/she will read this) If one of my employees is having panic attacks thinking about the yearly team building diner and drinks, then w…

You sound like you know how to work with others. How do you like life as a (solo?) trader then?

Re: Ask HN: What traits you need to be a team leader?

#14

Post by SirLJ »

nicholas73 wrote: post #13
SirLJ wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not about beer buddies after work, this is about getting together once or twice a year to get to know each other a bit more... I am going to answer here the person who deleted the long message yesterday saying saying he/she rather play PlayStation alone and so forth (hopefully he/she will read this) If one of my employees is having panic attacks thinking about the yearly team building diner and drinks, then w…

You sound like you know how to work with others. How do you like life as a (solo?) trader then?

I still work a "full time" job, just because I love my job and the team I lead, so every year I am postponing my early retirement to the delight of my bosses...

I work from home (my team is spread across the country), but I talk to them almost daily, so frankly I am not sure what I would do when I retire for real. The trading is fully automated, so I would get bored pretty fast I guess...

For now the plan (written in sand in a low tide) with my wife is to give it a go maybe after the kids are out of the house (hopefully in a few years) and travel for a while...

It was a bit of a long winded answer, but as you can see I have no idea yet :-)

Re: Ask HN: What traits you need to be a team leader?

#15

Post by jklein11 »

SirLJ wrote: post #12
borplk wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. If you have to be beer buddies with people you work with you don't understand what professionalism is.

This is not about beer buddies after work, this is about getting together once or twice a year to get to know each other a bit more... I am going to answer here the person who deleted the long message yesterday saying saying he/she rather play PlayStation alone and so forth (hopefully he/she will read this) If one of my employees is having panic attacks thinking about the yearly team building diner and drinks, then w…

I didn't see the post with the person saying they would rather play Playstation alone, so I'm not sure if "having panic attacks" is hyperbole.

If it is hyperbole, then I agree that professional help is a necessity. Mental health is a serious issue and not properly addressing it is doing everyone involved a disservice.

I think its also important to note that having panic attacks has nothing to do with fragility of a person, and suggesting that someone who has suffered from panic attacks isn't suitable for a job in IT is flat out ignorant. This attitude is the reason why mental health issues go undiagnosed.

Now if the panic attacks were hyperbole, and this poster was saying that they would prefer to play Playstation alone than go to a company meaning, I think your comment is fairly short sighted. This person sounds like they are very introverted. Through High School and much of college I thought that there was something horrifically wrong with me because, if given my choice of leisure time, I would prefer not to go to big parties or hang out in large groups. I finally realized that there was nothing wrong with being introverted, as long as it made me happy. I understand how being in groups and parties is enjoyable to you. I think it is only fair that you can understand how the opposite is true for me or other introverts.

Re: Ask HN: What traits you need to be a team leader?

#16

Post by muzani »

borplk wrote: post #11
muzani wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that a lot of really bad leaders do this a lot for some reason. The best organizations are often targeting something epic, which builds camaraderie in itself.

Yeah. If you have to be beer buddies with people you work with you don't understand what professionalism is.

It's bad if the organization pressures you into being beer buddies with them.

And often it becomes a coat of paint on what is poor corporate culture. Someone complains that the company is lifeless and that they feel like a cog in the machine. An easy fix is to have quarterly family events instead of fixing the problem.

Re: Ask HN: What traits you need to be a team leader?

#18

Post by SirLJ »

muzani wrote: post #16
borplk wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. If you have to be beer buddies with people you work with you don't understand what professionalism is.

It's bad if the organization pressures you into being beer buddies with them. And often it becomes a coat of paint on what is poor corporate culture. Someone complains that the company is lifeless and that they feel like a cog in the machine. An easy fix is to have quarterly family events instead of fixing the problem.

It’s about getting together as a team, not a company picnic...

Re: Ask HN: What traits you need to be a team leader?

#19

Post by gvajravelu »

1. Great communication skills: Both for communicating with the people who report to you and for the people you report to 2. Understanding the business's goals: This will help you prioritize projects in a way that helps the business the most 3. Managing office politics: Your direct reports may be gunning for each other's jobs or your own. You need to get everyone to work as a team instead of working as individuals. Improving your emotional intelligence can help here. 4. Knowing where to get help managing when you need it. Often talking to your boss or a former boss is a great way to go.

You might find this article I wrote helpful: https://www.climbuptheladder.com/how-to-be-a-great-manager/.

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