Sep 16, 2023·edited Sep 16, 2023Liked by Anton Zaides
This resonates well.
In the last 14 months, I took a 1-month recharge (a Meta thing), then 1 month of paternity leave, and now a 3-month paternity leave. So I had to go through this transition a few times. For the first one, I did it with "a fellow tech lead," then a mix of "a fellow tech lead" & "a growing leader," and finally, for the longer 3-month gap, I have handed it off to the same growing leader.
These handoffs are never trivial, especially when you need to hand off mostly to a growing leader. They should replace you in all aspects but may not be there yet. I actually have this topic(about growing leaders to replace you) in my pipeline as well, with some recent experiences to share.
Thanks for sharing Raviraj. Regarding 'they should replace you in all aspects' - it's important to set the expectations right. If it's one of the team members, should she do 1:1s with her teammates? Should he have 1:1 with your manager, and decide on the future agenda, or just follow up on what you implemented?
Especially for the 3-month gap, it's a tough balance. I'll be going to paternity leave soon too, and thinking on how to handle that.
Indeed. The devil is in the details here. In short, this growing leader is on track to be staff. So the org is supporting them to demonstrate their leadership. This has been a year+ in the making. They will have the freedom & responsibility to run the team like they want.
This resonates well.
In the last 14 months, I took a 1-month recharge (a Meta thing), then 1 month of paternity leave, and now a 3-month paternity leave. So I had to go through this transition a few times. For the first one, I did it with "a fellow tech lead," then a mix of "a fellow tech lead" & "a growing leader," and finally, for the longer 3-month gap, I have handed it off to the same growing leader.
These handoffs are never trivial, especially when you need to hand off mostly to a growing leader. They should replace you in all aspects but may not be there yet. I actually have this topic(about growing leaders to replace you) in my pipeline as well, with some recent experiences to share.
Thanks for sharing Raviraj. Regarding 'they should replace you in all aspects' - it's important to set the expectations right. If it's one of the team members, should she do 1:1s with her teammates? Should he have 1:1 with your manager, and decide on the future agenda, or just follow up on what you implemented?
Especially for the 3-month gap, it's a tough balance. I'll be going to paternity leave soon too, and thinking on how to handle that.
Indeed. The devil is in the details here. In short, this growing leader is on track to be staff. So the org is supporting them to demonstrate their leadership. This has been a year+ in the making. They will have the freedom & responsibility to run the team like they want.
Sounds like you have a read successor :)