Thanks to everyone who followed up on old emails that I missed your replies to because they went to our spam. I've done my best to reply to all of them and keep an out to make sure nothing else ends up in spam that shouldn't.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you haven't heard from me yet, please reply and let me know, because we now are working through some DNS settings that also appear to mean some of my emails to you<\/em> aren't getting through. Oh what fun the new messaging\/DNS rules are!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In today\u2019s edition, we cover a wide range of topics, starting with signs you're a great manager, and then answering a great reader write in question. After that, we dive into one of our most popular programs, and give you dozens of questions to use next time you're mentoring someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We then wrap with a simple, click-to-vote poll we'd love your input on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s dive in\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Table of contents:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: <\/em>This is a preview of our weekly leadership newsletter, Lighthouse Leadership Weekly (LLW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n To get this sent to your inbox every week, along with our latest long form essays on this blog, you can sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n A tweet in product management world went viral<\/a> talking about signs you're becoming a real PM. Unfortunately, most of it was toxic and negative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If I could sum it up, it was basically, \"When you hate your job, question your abilities, or have bad or frustrating things happen to you and your team, then you're a real PM.\"<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n What a toxic mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It really drives me crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Product Management is an amazing job. It's a ton of fun in the right environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Treating it like a chore, or that you're enduring all this hell, and \"that's the job\" <\/em>means either you work at the wrong company, or you're doing something wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So that inspired me to write up the positive signs that you're becoming a real product manager. (If you're curious you can find it here<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n That then got me thinking...what are the signs you're becoming a real leader<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u200bHere's a list we came up with at Lighthouse. If you have others you'd suggest, reply!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The point for each of these is that they're signs you can look for that show that not only have you mastered certain leadership concepts, but you're also starting to see the results that come with doing those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What was a key moment for you to realize you were finally becoming a real leader, and that you enjoyed the unique responsibilities and challenges of the job?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Reply and I'll share the best ones next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A reader wrote in with a great question I wanted to share along with a detailed answer for everyone to see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"As always, I enjoyed reading this week\u2019s Lighthouse newsletter. Good question. The purpose is something that I think is as much you talking as them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, you always want to ask questions and listen, but often you have to play an active role in purpose discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To get the conversation started, you could ask some questions like:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With these, you're trying to see if they can understand the core of their work and what drives them. Usually that is then closely related to their purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, you can also get more direct with questions like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, I have to warn you. These kinds of questions will lead to some surprising answers. They may not know. They may be pretty jaded, or they may not think their work matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where you must come in and help. This is where you <\/strong>stop<\/strong><\/em> listening, and <\/strong>start<\/strong><\/em> talking.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Share with them your answers to a few things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And don't shortchange those questions. Your answers make a BIG difference. If you give poor answers, you won't motivate them and it won't give them a meaningful purpose. Yet, if you do, you can unlock much bigger and better results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From our post on ways to motivate your team<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a study<\/a> of workers at a call center:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"[call center employees that] <\/em>read stories from the beneficiaries<\/strong><\/em> of the fundraising organization, who described how the scholarships they obtained from the organization had a positive impact on their lives... earned more than <\/em>twice<\/strong><\/em> the number of weekly pledges (from an average of 9 to an average of 23) and <\/em>more than twice<\/strong><\/em> the amount of weekly donation money (from an average of $1,288 to an average of $3,130).\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n As it turns out, the call center employees who were told nothing, or read about the valuable skills they'd learn on the job performed the same.<\/strong><\/em> It was only<\/strong> the addition of understanding their purpose <\/em><\/strong>that improved performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So this isn't your average, quick conversation. It requires preparation on your part, thoughtful listening, and some impassioned storytelling and sharing on your part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, as you can see from the call center study, it can have a huge<\/em> impact. And most of you reading this have employees that do much more interesting work that has a more obvious impact, so what are you waiting for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talk about the purpose this week with your team.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you've read this newsletter for long, you know we have Lighthouse Lessons training programs that can teach a group of your managers how to be great leaders, while helping them connect and build bonds with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But did you know we have 8 different programs you can choose from? (Learn about all of them here<\/a>)\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n And today I want to talk about one of your all-time, most popular programs: The Mindset of Great Managers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Across 16 weekly lessons, this program gives you an incredible foundation for leadership and management. It teaches you essential leadership concepts on everything from making good habits to breaking bad ones, becoming a multiplier for your team, and everything else it takes to become a true servant leader<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here's the complete list of lessons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each week, the lessons focus on one of these topics and show you *exactly* how you can put that concept into practice with your team. This is then paired with a group discussion agenda that you and your fellow managers can use to deepen your understanding by sharing stories, supporting each other, and seeing how everyone applies the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you're looking for a light-weight, actionable, and engaging way to grow yourself or your managers, this is a great program to start with if you want to try our programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\ud83e\udd58 Food for Thought on <\/strong>Signs You're Becoming a Leader<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Signs You're Becoming a Real Leader<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\n\u2753 Ask Lighthouse:<\/strong> How do you talk about purpose?<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I found a particular interest in the part on purpose. As a manager, the idea to discuss purpose in 1on1s left me thinking.
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How (with what question) would you start the discussion on this topic?\"<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n
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Be prepared to be surprised<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udc69\u200d\ud83c\udfeb Group Training<\/strong> for Teaching Your Team to be Servant Leaders<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Build Your Management Foundation with The Mindset of Great Managers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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