Managers/Leaders need to be the most flexible of people and constantly adapt their approach based on who they’re working with.

Young people or those who are less good and self management, need more guidance whereas more experienced people or those who are good at self management need less guidance.

Ideally leaders/managers should try to be a shield for their team. Protect them from outsiders and other people who might get in their way or hold them back from producing great work. Sometimes this mean making the team coffee, buying them lunch or attending meetings where you get ripped apart and then going back to the team and being a nice person and not showing them how badly things went.

Keeping negatively away from the team helps keep them focused but figuring out how to do that while remaining transparent is the tricky bit.

I guess we’re all constantly in perpetual beta figuring out what works and what doesn’t. 🙂