These are the slides of my presentation I gave at the 2018 MTP Engage conference in Hamburg.
In it, I discussed the importance of lateral leadership for product managers and how to apply it on a daily basis.
More details about the talk can be found at herbigt.com/speaking
4. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
Your Key Takeaways
Why Lateral
Leadership matters
The most overlooked
skill in Agile Teams
🙋 🤦
5. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
Your Key Takeaways
Why Lateral
Leadership matters
The most overlooked
skill in Agile Teams
Why alignment needs
a Micro perspective
🙋 🤦 🤝
7. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
But first: Do YOU lead laterally?
& How many people did you ask FOR
something last week at work?
8. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
But first: Do YOU lead laterally?
& How many people did you ask FOR
something last week at work?
How many of these get their
vacation days approved by you?🏝
9. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
But first: Do YOU lead laterally?
& How many people did you ask FOR
something last week at work?
You’re in a lateral leadership
relationship with the rest of them!😯
How many of these get their
vacation days approved by you?🏝
24. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
What the Agile Manifesto taught
us about Teams and Collaboration
1. Individuals and interactions over processes and
tools
2. Working software over comprehensive
documentation
3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
4. Responding to change over following a plan
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Where’s the emotional Intelligence?
- Responsible for the WHAT
👷
👷
,
,
Responsible for the HOW
Responsible for Needs of the INDIVIDUAL
?
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How about Servant Leadership?
🥜
• Characterized by putting
yourself last as a Product
Owner.
• It essentially glorifies all the
other people around you.
34. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
How about Servant Leadership?
🥜
• Characterized by putting
yourself last as a Product
Owner.
• It essentially glorifies all the
other people around you.
🚨
35. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
How about Servant Leadership?
🥜
• Characterized by putting
yourself last as a Product
Owner.
• It essentially glorifies all the
other people around you.
🚨
• You can‘t put yourself last
when you’re the one who owns
the product vision.
• You shouldn’t be looking for
greatness, but for individual
motivators and drivers.
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Don’t become a Domain Expert.
Instead, understand their pains
PM
-
SkillDepth
Style Guides &
Cross-Platform
Patterns
Continuous
Deployments & IE9
AdBlocker & Variable
Definitions
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• It’s not about stepping into the playing field of
your peers
• But demonstrate willingness to go practical to gain
trust
• Key Benefits for lateral leadership:
A. The recognition of your peers
B. The ability to ask much better questions
The Impact of Empathy
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So, how can you build up empathy?
Blog, books,
podcasts &
conferences
Join (internal)
communities of
practice
📚 :
48. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
So, how can you build up empathy?
Blog, books,
podcasts &
conferences
Join (internal)
communities of
practice
Become practical
using Online Courses
or give a talk
📚 : 🎤
63. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
People struggle every Day
🙇
Lack of professional
achievement
Lack of Organizational
flexibility
No personal advancement
64. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
People struggle every Day
🙇
Lack of professional
achievement
Missing interpersonal
relationships
Lack of Organizational
flexibility
No personal advancement
65. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
People struggle every Day
🙇
Lack of professional
achievement
Lack of Professional
pride or ethical values
Missing interpersonal
relationships
Lack of Organizational
flexibility
No personal advancement
66. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
People struggle every Day
🙇
Lack of professional
achievement
Lack of Professional
pride or ethical values
No Greater efficiency
Missing interpersonal
relationships
Lack of Organizational
flexibility
No personal advancement
67. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
Dealing with personal motivators
Help to define and find
(their) informal roles matching
their needs in the team, going
beyond the requirements
from the people manager:
• Facilitator
• Tie-Breaker
• Spokesperson
• Schedule Keeper
• Office Housework
68. @herbigtMTP Engage 2018
Dealing with personal motivators
Stay human and don’t take yourself too
serious.🤗
Be aware of personal situations to put
behavior into context.🤯
☕ Have occasional informal 1:1 style coffees
with individual team members.