I can be satisfied with someone's work and still not be satisfied with their contribution to the team.
It took me a while to understand how both can be true. The work itself can look fine. Sometimes people outside the team are even happy with it.
But inside the team, something else happens. A task someone depends on stays open. Nobody hears about the delay until it's already a problem. Someone waits. Someone else quietly picks it up. Nothing dramatic happens. The work just becomes harder for everyone around it. And over time, the people carrying that extra work become frustrated.
This year, I've started thinking about ownership differently.
I used to think: you own your work. Now I think: you also own the impact your work has on the people who depend on it.
That means knowing who is waiting for you. Saying it early when something is blocked or taking longer. Asking for help or re-planning before someone else has to compensate.
"I'm behind on this. Can we re-plan?" is a much easier conversation than the one that happens weeks later.
A year ago, I would have looked mostly at the result.
Now I also look at what happens around it.
What's something you look at differently now than in your first year leading a team?
This is part of my "100 Days of Year One" series. Follow along as I share what I've learned in my first year as Head of Data and Cloud.