Leading a Big Team Is Different from Leading a Small One

April 3, 2019

Leading a Big Team Is Different from Leading a Small One

As your team grows in size, your leadership style needs to adapt — and you’ll probably find that it becomes more indirect. For example, on a five-person team, you can develop a close relationship with each individual; on a 30-person team, that’s nearly impossible. Since you can’t give everyone the attention they deserve, it’s important to hire or develop other leaders to manage the people you can’t. You should also accept that prioritizing and delegating are the new normal. The more you look after, the more likely it is that some projects won’t be going as well as they could. Figure out where you really need to spend your time, and get used to trusting your team to handle things without your direct involvement. Some decisions will be made without your input, and tasks may be done with a method different from yours. That’s OK. A big part of managing at scale is learning to find the right balance in these types of situations.

Adapted from “As Your Team Gets Bigger, Your Leadership Style Has to Adapt,” by Julie Zhuo