Is the team for you or are you for the team?

More thoughts on the inverted org chart

The idea of “the inverted org chart” is one of my favorite ways to think about leadership, and humility. When we look at a “normal” org chart with the leader on top, we have a very strong, subconscious bias - that looks “elevated” and “better”. We want to get to the top of that chart! Let’s be ambitious! It’s all about us, make the team “below” us bigger!

But the other way to look at an org chart is to “invert” it - the boss goes on the bottom and all of the people who do the work of the group are at the top. Nice, right? It’s a good way to remind yourself that the “leaf nodes” are really the most valuable, and the management is, well, overhead. And it also gives us a nice sense about growth - not that a bigger team is “better” because you are closer to the top, but that it’s harder - you have to support more people!

Related to this, I’ve seen managers fall into a mental trap where they start to think of the team as existing to serve their needs. The main symptom of this is pushing someone into a role they aren’t well suited or enthusiastic about, because you have a gap and need it filled - all about your needs. But really, the team doesn’t exist to solve things for you, you (as manager) exist to solve problems for them. The right approach is to put people not where you need them the most but where they will be the most impactful - which always means where their skills and enthusiasm is a good match.

Then, the gaps that are left over, are your problem to solve. Sometimes it’s finding another person in the group willing to fill the gap that’s a better fit. Sometimes it’s hiring, sometimes changing the problem spec or other behavior.

But however you do it, just remember, as the manager, the team doesn’t exist for you, or to solve your problems. It exists to be a team getting something done, and you exist to help the team with it’s problems. You are for the team, not the other way around.