So why are people reacting? This kind of thinking goes against what most leaders are taught is the right way to lead.

Traditional Leadership Growth Path

When you grow within an organization from individual contributor to manager you're focus (and sphere of influence) is within a single discipline. For me that was web development. I was a web developer who became a Tech Lead meaning I went from 100% IC work to 50% IC work and 50% management. I was still accountable to another boss so my focus continued to be web development. 

A few promotions later I was a Director of Web Development. A few interesting things happened with that promotion:

• I officially moved to 0% IC work and 100% management
• I started building smaller teams within the dev team and was a manager of managers
• I became the dev team's primary connection to design, video, and project management 

The first two bullets will happen to most people as they rise through the management ranks. The third one is the wild card because this is where growth occurs but most organizations prefer an indirect relationship meaning the different groups work together but through a VP or some other leader (what this looks like is the boss who wants you to talk to them before talking to anyone else—it's a job security issue).

Us vs. Them

It's when you're not encouraged to work together that silos start to develop because rather than addressing problems together you're playing telephone which means things will get lost in translation and trust gets broken. 

This is dangerous because once trust is broken it's really hard to earn back and if two teams don't see each other as trusted partners then it becomes a blame game (ex. it took too long to get X, they don't understand what it takes to do Y, it's all Z's fault). What makes it worse is that team leaders become opposing generals instead of allies—remember we're all working towards the same goals!

Moving to Us (...Just Us)

Let's go back to that third bullet point above. The one where I became the primary connection point. In that moment I had two choices: continue to be the dev guy or become the brand guy. Door 1 meant that dev would be next level strong but it'd likely be an insular group. Door 2 would be a bit more uncomfortable but it would open me up to something bigger than just myself. I'm an ambitious guy I chose door 2!

By becoming the brand guy, I got to work closer with my creative peers. All of a sudden I realized why design and dev don't always get along which led to fixes to both groups. I learned how videos were made and that relationship between producer and editor influenced the dev process. We found the commonalities across all the disciplines and used that to rebuild the entire creative process (spoiler alert: this is how I got the big job eventually). The point here is that I had people overseeing the day-to-day development while I was building bridges across the brand org. I didn't abandon dev, I used my influence to help dev and simultaneously help the other groups get stronger.

They say "a rising tide lifts all boats" and that's exactly what happened. With the four of us working together all four of our groups got stronger. We collaborated more closely because we trusted each other. We shared pain points because we had each other's backs. It was right around then that I realized that although I'm leading the devs, I'm no longer on the dev team.

Your First Team

Through the LI post I learned about the concept of "Team Number One" from Patrick Lencioni which basically says that the team of your peers is your first team and the team you lead is your second team. Check out this quick 40 second video.

That realization that I was no longer on the dev team was a hard thing to accept because I was a developer—I literally left the entertainment industry to code. But I wasn't a developer anymore. I wrote ZERO code. My job was to help the real developers and the best way to do that was to make sure they had everything they needed to do their jobs. The way to do that was to focus on the relationship with my creative peers aka my first team.

What I was doing worked because one day soon I was leading that group of peers.

Moving Up the Ladder

So I get promoted, right? My peers are now my reports which is tricky but that's not actually the hardest part. The hardest part is that now I'm actually responsible for the brand. It's not just dev anymore, it's dev and design and video and project management. I'm not looking to build one discipline anymore but four! On top of that, I have a new peer group.

And this new peer group is functionally completely different. As much as people may argue about dev and design, I promise you they're way closer than brand and product marketing or sales enablement are, but that was my new crew and you better believe I ran that playbook back.

This time I went from brand guy to marketing guy because I was learning what my peers across the team were thinking about, what their pain points were, and I'd funnel that info back to my brand team. It enabled better ideation, closer partnerships, and ultimately better creative. It also made me a better marketer.

Yes, my brand team was technically my second team now but the fact of the matter is, as you advance in your career your first team is going to change and that's a good thing. It means you're growing.

Player vs. Coach

When you manage a group of people or disciplines you're no longer a player. You're the coach helping them try to win a championship. It's a tough role to transition into especially if you were a high performing player. In my opinion, this is one of the primary reasons that silos emerge—the former player can't let go and instead of looking forward they look backward.

But when you think about what makes someone a good player (and teammate), it's communication, collaboration, mentorship, and, of course, talent. When you become a leader those things don't disappear but they do get refocused.

As a coach, you join other coaches, right? You learn from each other, you push each other, you share. It's almost like you're a player again. Oh wait, you are! You're just playing at a higher level now and you get to take all that new knowledge back to your second team.

First Team FTW

This is why I love this idea of a first team, it's a constant opportunity to keep learning, to grow your career, and to support your second (and third and fourth) team.

It's something I've tried to do my entire career (even as an IC) and it's something I recommend you start practicing if it feels like you're operating in a silo.

All this talk about teams reminds of what it was like to get started. I took a 2-person, single skillset team and grew it into a 155-person global behemoth with close to 20 different skillsets within it. It wasn't easy and there have been a ton of lessons learned over the years.

As you're planning next year's budget and headcount, we should talk. Whether you're starting from scratch, trying to figure out in-house vs. hybrid staffing, or you just don't know why you can't get to the next level, I'm here to help. Let's grab an hour together and talk through it!