The Reactive Leader - #LeadershipHack - S1E2

Hello Hackers! How are you? I hope all of you are doing well. I'm excited to share that I've become more comfortable with Substack and have decided to write more posts here. In my previous post, I shared my very personal experience about “The Servant Leader.” In this post, I will discuss another type of leader, one you should avoid becoming.

This blog post is based on one of the topics from the book Software Engineering at Google and relates it to my personal experiences.

In short, a Reactive Leader is a type of leader who cannot differentiate between urgent and important tasks. Reactive Leaders spend most of their time tackling urgent problems while unconsciously ignoring many important issues.

In my personal experience, working with this type of leader is very tiring and a waste of time, while the impact is minimal. Sometimes, this kind of leader appears to be very busy and productive, but in reality, they are just wasting time solving unimportant problems.

At the early stages of product iteration, this leader gets easily distracted, cannot push back on unimportant tasks, and fails to protect their team from impulsive decisions by upper management. This leads to scope creep, overly ambitious MVPs, and other issues.

During more stable product iterations, this leader causes the team to accrue significant debt, ignoring long-term investments and focusing solely on urgent matters.

Understanding these traits will increase our awareness and help us avoid becoming Reactive Leaders or assist us in dealing with them when we encounter them.

Reactive Leaders always panic in response to any urgent issues. They easily get overwhelmed, and some may burn out and become stressed, especially during “war time.”

Reactive Leaders are easy to negotiate with—just present them with urgent problems, and they will lose the negotiation. This results in scope creep, no budget for tech debt, and the team never gets time to rest.

These leaders always appear busy. They have something to do constantly and seem to lack time to think about the well-being of their team, the process, or long-term important issues that would yield significant impact.

Being in Reactive Mode all the time, these leaders easily get tired. They have no energy left to deal with politics, clever strategies to enhance execution, and other essential tasks because they are exhausted.

In my experience, these traits are clearly visible in Reactive Leaders. Being led by such leaders is exhausting, time-wasting, and demoralizing. The negative impact caused by Reactive Leaders compounds and worsens in the mid and long term.

Fortunately, there are ways to cure reactivity in leadership. At a certain level, reactivity is beneficial—it shows that as a leader, you are alive, online, and ready to tackle issues. However, maintaining a balance is crucial. Here are some cures from Software Engineering at Google that can help leaders focus on important tasks instead of getting dragged into urgent ones all the time:

Delegating tasks can be challenging due to feelings of guilt or lack of trust in others, but it is crucial for reducing reactivity. Delegation gives you, as a leader, space to calm down, think, and determine whether tasks are truly important or just urgent.

Having scheduled time reduces the chances of being disturbed or bombarded with urgent but unimportant tasks. During this focused time, you can work on the most important but not urgent tasks, such as improving execution efficiency, strategic planning, zooming out to see the bigger picture, collaborating with other teams, and other significant activities.

Personally, I use Logseq to maintain many things. It is very complete, easy to use, and convenient for various use cases, especially for organizing tasks like a second brain. Find a tool or system that enhances your ability to organize and prioritize tasks so you don’t get sucked into working only on urgent matters but focus on the important ones.

Being a Reactive Leader can be detrimental to your team's efficiency, morale, and long-term success. By understanding the traits of a Reactive Leader and applying the suggested cures, you can become a more balanced and effective leader. Remember, it's not just about addressing immediate issues but also about focusing on what truly matters in the long run.

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