Nerd Journey: Career Advice for the Technology Professional
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Champion Your People: Role Clarity for the IC in the Chaotic World of Work with Al and Leanne Elliott (2/2)
What can you do to stand out as an individual contributor on a large team? The first step is seeking absolute clarity on your role, and it begins with an honest conversation between you and your manager. Al and Leanne Elliott are back with us this week in episode 341 to continue the discussion about life in flatter organizations with larger teams. Come learn why managers need a support network to be more effective with their team, how to gain role clarity while making your manager look good, and what it means for a leader to champion their people. Pay special attention to the list of introspective questions that can help us take control in our work environment during uncertain times. You’ll also get to hear how Truth, Lies and Work has evolved its content focus over time to serve an even wider audience and what Al and Leanne have learned as content creators. If you’ve never had a reason to watch Ted Lasso, this episode may contain a compelling reason to start. And if you’re looking for a role model for being a stand out on your team, we will introduce you to Bob during this episode. Original Recording Date: 07-12-2025 If you missed part 1 of our discussion with Al and Leanne last week, check out Episode 340 – Task Cohesion: Managing a Larger Team in a Flatter Organization amidst a Climate of Uncertainty with Al and Leanne Elliott (1/2) Topics – Go Ahead and Pull the Cord, Hiding the Wires, Gaining Role Clarity and Gracious Managers, Introspection Gives Us Control, Creating Content for the Chaotic World of Work Both Leanne Elliott and Al Elliott are back to join us for part 2 of a special discussion today. They are the hosts of Truth, Lies & Work and have each been guests on the show in the past (but never at the same time). To listen to the episodes featuring Al as a guest, check out: Episode 235 – The Best Bad Option with Al Elliott (1/2) Episode 236 – Having the Vision, Charting the Path, Removing the Blockers with Al Elliott (2/2) To listen to the episodes featuring Leanne as a guest, check out: Episode 237 – The Psychological Transition of Layoffs with Leanne Elliott (1/2) Episode 238 – Managers as Culture Keepers with Leanne Elliott (2/2) 3:05 – Go Ahead and Pull the Cord Nick says this sounds like the recent solo episode John recorded (Episode 334 – First Time Manager – Your Old Job Description Has Been Deleted) and fighting the urge to answer the question. John says that was directly from a coaching course he took as part of first-time manager training. It seems less efficient timewise when someone comes to you with a problem you could solve quickly. It’s more efficient in the long run to guide someone through learning how to solve the problem themselves even if it takes longer in the short term. Leanne says you’re building a person’s capabilities, confidence, and thinking process. This also creates a safe space for the person to ask any question. This genuine human interaction breeds trust, connection, and psychological safety. “You’re not only gaining that 30 seconds back for every problem in the future. You’re gaining enormous amounts of trust and connection, which are two vital things that you need as a manager, and generally, in organizational life we really need right now.” – Leanne Elliott Al references a recent podcast episode he and Leanne did with Andrew Palmer (the host of Boss Class) in which Andrew recounted his trip to a Toyota production facility in the UK. In the Toyota facility there was a specific cord anyone could pull to completely stop the production line. Someone may stop it to ask a question or if something doesn’t look quite right, for example. The cord is also pulled to celebrate something or to share good news. How many times do you think the cord gets pulled per day for a facility with 2000 employees? That cord gets pulled (and the production line is stopped) on average 14,000 times per day (an average of 7 pulls per employee). Al says this is a great testament to psychological safety for employees. John agrees and says it’s a testament to the organization’s culture. Al says he and Leanne asked Andrew about new employees. New employees are encouraged to pull it to get that out of the way. Leanne says good managers can give their employees the opportunity to pull the cord by asking for their feedback in different situations and giving them a voice. "You’re showing that openness and vulnerability to go, “have your say. Your voice is important here too.’ And that’s probably the first baby step…you’re literally asking them to pull the cord.” – Leanne Elliott 8:03 – Hiding the Wires In Episode 238 – Managers as Culture Keepers with Leanne Elliott (2/2) we talked about the concept of managers hiding the wires. If an organization is flatter and managers have more employees, is it more difficult for a manager to hide the wires, or is it the same? “Hide the wires” means you’re making sure as a manager that the emotional blowback or frustration from a situation doesn’t impact one of your employees. Leanne says it may not be harder or easier based on the size of a manager’s team. It’s more important that a manager has a support network with which they can share some of the emotional load or stressful situations. This could be a senior manager, a peer, a coach, a mentor, or even a therapist. “It’s finding something beyond your immediate team context and the support you need to offload that…. It’s what psychologists call emotional regulation. It’s understanding, having that self-awareness…. ‘I’m feeling angry, but expressing that anger in this context right now isn’t going to serve me or my team….’ Being mindful and having that self-awareness of how you operate emotionally in terms of your behaviors is going to have a direct impact on the mood and motivation of your team. So, if that’s not going to be positive, then hide the wires.” – Leanne Elliott, on hiding the wires as a manager Leanne says the anger or frustration mentioned above still needs to be expressed, but it can be done via a manager’s support network. John tells us it can be very difficult when you’re asked to relay something you do not agree with or have emotional friction with to prevent passing along your reaction. But doing this can cue people in a way you don’t want. Part of a manager’s job is to be an intermediary and get feedback from the people they manage, aggregate it, and send it to upper-level leaders. Don’t assume your team will have the same reaction to something that you had. Your reaction may be the result of just having a bad morning, for example. The idea may not be that bad. Try to avoid setting a cognitive bias for your team. “Either way you don’t want to put them in a position where they have to do the work to change your mind before you can explore the idea or the possibility. You want to go to neutral space to understand exactly what their thoughts are. Chances are, they’re probably going to be the same as yours. On the off chance that they’re not, then yeah, it’s worth having some patience in that moment.” – Leanne Elliott John reminds us that the person who passed an idea to a manager to relay to team members may not have been the originator of the idea either. 12:14 – Gaining Role Clarity and Gracious Managers What if someone is an individual contributor on a large team of 15-20 people? It might be difficult to stand out as a high performer or to get time and attention even just for help. What ideas and guidance would Al and Leanne offer? Al tells us it will depend on what the manager of the team is like. The manager could be overwhelmed or feel they are short on time to accomplish anything. Suppose we assume it’s a good manager who is on the lookout for high performing team members. Sales environments, for example, are very target driven. To stand out in this environment, you have to be good at sales, close decent deals, and be a decent human being. If you’re a back-end developer, the target may be number of commits or reducing the number of product bugs. It’s difficult for Al to find something universal that will make your manager appreciate or notice you. Is there something? Leanne says the example of sales is great because there is role clarity about what the job is and what the measures of success are. “There’s so much clarity in sales because as an employee you know exactly what it is that you have to do at a transactional level to deliver the outcomes of your role.” – Leanne Elliott, on role clarity in sales Leanne suggests trying to gain role clarity through an honest conversation with your manager. Many people do not have this. What if we asked our managers what their expectations are of us, the objectives we need to hit, what good looks like in our role, what the manager wants to deliver, and how to make them look great? “I think ultimately as long as you know exactly what you have to deliver and you’re doing what you can to deliver it…and where you can, above and beyond…and where you can, make your manager look good or make their life easier or the life of your colleagues easier…that’s what exceptional performance looks like to me in a non-sales role. It’s somebody who is very clear on what they need to deliver, very willing to support their colleagues in helping them deliver…for the team, and very much there as a supportive member of staff to the manager….” – Leanne Elliott This isn’t necessarily easy in practice. For you to get the role clarity we’re talking about, your manager must first have clarity about your role. But this is a great starting point according to Leanne. Should we seek role clarity from our manager on a regular basis, especially if there has been a change in team or greater organization structure, for example? Leanne says this is an opportunity to be curiou
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