okay in podcast number seven you answered a question which was essentially about how a subordinate might cope with a leader who wasn’t competent um so this this person is interested in your thoughts on the opposite side of the coin for example if you’re that guy quote unquote and you know it how can you still lead a team effectively given the lack of competence given the lack of confidence can undermine the team’s trust and confidence in you so so this question is you are that guy yeah you’re the guy that doesn’t have the knowledge you’re the guy that’s inexperienced you’re the guy that just got hired that’s good that he you know it that’s good right yes he’s doing a good job by recognizing that’s that is step number one he’s recognized that he’s the guy that he’s inexperienced doesn’t have the knowledge etc so this this question while it might seem like a tough question it’s actually easier than you might think because competence and knowledge definitely are very beneficial for leadership the knowledge piece and on and knowing the technical side of what you’re trying to lead a team in but it is definitely not mandatory now if you don’t have it of course you should strive to get it because it will make you a better leader but in certain situations there’s times where you have to lead and you have to lead now that does happen so what do you do and how do you lead when you’re in that situation and it’s actually pretty easy you lead almost the exact same you way that you would in any other situation humbly and with an open mind so leadership is the same regardless of what you know think about it leadership is the same regardless of what you know what you’re going to do is you’re going to gather ideas because you don’t really have in your own so you’re going to gather them from the other people right you’re going to explore the different methods right because you don’t know any of the other methods so you’re just going to explore and say how would you do it how would you do it you’re going to weigh the different courses of action because you’re not sure which one is going to be the best it’s not going to be super evident which course of action is going to be the best you’re going to listen listen to what people are saying you’re going to keep an open mind and you hear what they’re saying you’re going to show that you’re a quick learner and you’re going to listen and learn and how do you show that you’re a quick learner you show that you’re a quick learner by being a quick learner and how do you be a quick learner by studying so when it comes when there’s stuff that you should know then you study it and you learn it and you prove and then you take all this information that you’ve got and you weigh the decision and then you make one and again that’s how you should be leading anyways right so let me ask you this just because you know the most right if you are the most knowledgeable on the team does that mean you’re gonna plan everything yourself no no it doesn’t does that mean you’re going to make your decisions in a vacuum by yourself just no if you’re a good leader you’re not going to do that at all does it mean you’re going to make decisions and move forward without consulting with people no it doesn’t so all this means is that you’re going to do all those things you are going to get consensus from the group you’re going to get people on board you’re going to talk to them and see what their their ideas are and again i shouldn’t have used the word consensus because you can’t always lead by consensus that can be that can become difficult but you’re going to listen you’re going to learn you’re going to talk to people about what you’re doing and that’s how you’re going to lead again it’s almost the exact same the only thing that gets added if you are sort of a technical expertise you can be a little bit more of a sanity check on you know let’s say a plan that people are coming up with if if if we were doing a computer you know software engineering problem i would not be able to add my technical expertise but if you know for the comp the engineers came to me and presented what their ideas were i’d be able to look at them logically and say okay explain to me out and ask enough questions until i said okay guys here’s what i’m thinking here i think we should go with you know method b or whatever and the other people can kind of counter and then eventually we can make that decision happen so if i had the knowledge myself then i could make that decision a little bit easier and i could add a little bit of a sanity check but it’s not life and death uh and the other thing that’s interesting is when you do have the knowledge yourself you can you can actually come off as a know-it-all which is not a good leader so in both cases whether you are the technical expert or whether you’re not the leadership principles stay the same be humble be open-minded listen learn and lead
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