The best leaders are tireless investigators of the humans around them

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Today: Situational leadership, visiting Colorado’s last alpine glacier, and how aging changes our memories. By Harris Sockel

“The best leaders — regardless of seniority or role — are also tireless investigators of the humans around them,” writes former head of design at Airbnb, Judd Antin, in a Medium post I keep returning to. (It’s based on a leadership course he taught at UC Berkeley last year.) I highlighted this sentence: “Social dynamics get their attention, and are the key thing they use to do their jobs well.”

We’re a few months into another abysmal year for tech layoffs. According to industry tracking company TrueUp, 68,492 tech workers have been laid off so far (or 965 people per day). The rate of layoffs was slightly higher last year (1,175 people per day), but still… 2024 is looking bleak-ish. TechCrunch compiled a massive list; notably, Apple just laid off hundreds of people who worked on its doomed car. Even if you’re employed somewhere that hasn’t shrunk, you may be experiencing “layoff anxiety,” which can make it really hard to get things done (and god forbid you try to enjoy your work).

One model of leadership: beginners focus on directing and advanced leaders are able to delegate, but everyone moves back and forth through these phases. (source: Penn State University)

In uncertain times, the best managers practice situational leadership: They read the room and calibrate their management style appropriately. People hate the idea of micromanagement, but in some situations we need explicit direction! (And, vice versa, the idea of “servant leadership” is in vogue right now… which arguably leads to some situations where no one knows who is actually in control.)

Understanding the situation you’re facing is part of the “research project” Antin describes. Listen to what people say — and what they don’t. “Non-verbal communication often tells the story of collaboration,” he writes. Great leaders are keen observers, and they translate those observations into action.

What else we’re reading

• Writer and photographer Quentin Septer tags along with a group of scientists and researchers to visit the last alpine glacier in Colorado. He writes: “Globally, nearly two billion people are reliant on snow-packed mountains and alpine glaciers for their water supplies — and that snow and ice is fast disappearing.”
• As we age, we lose two types of memory: prospective memory (remembering what you’re supposed to do next) and working memory (i.e., holding a six-digit code in your head for a short period of time). But, we gain semantic memory (i.e., our vocabulary grows; seniors are famously better at Scrabble and crosswords than younger players) and we strengthen our ability to combine complex ideas. Health writer Kathleen Murphy explains that we forget more as we get older, but the quantity of raw facts we remember is not as valuable as the wisdom and big picture perspective we gain.

A team of glaciologists, including Scambos, estimates that the Arapaho Glacier lost 52 percent of its area between 1900 and 1999. Here it is pictured in 1898 and again in 2003. Photo by Ernest Greenman (left); Ted Scambos (right).

Your daily dose of practical wisdom (about daydreams)

Carve out time for intentional daydreaming — it boosts creativity, improves your ability to plan, and makes it more likely that you’ll reach your goals.

morning light in nyc, 8:00am

Written by Harris Sockel
Edited and produced by Scott Lamb & Carly Rose Gillis

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