The Diplomat.

You lead through relationships. You navigate the org better than most, but the internal conflicts you avoid quietly compound on your team.

The typical Diplomat profile

Your strengths

What you do well.

You get your team resources. Headcount, budget, scope, you know how to make the case and who to make it to.

Cross-functional partnerships work because of you. Product, design, leadership, everyone wants you in the room.

You read organisational dynamics fast. You see political shifts coming and position your team well.

Your blind spots

What's quietly costing you.

You avoid hard conversations inside your team. Performance issues, peer conflicts, behavioural problems, you'd rather smooth them than name them.

Your team can sense you're managing them through harmony rather than truth. Trust erodes slowly.

Issues that should be addressed early become entrenched because you've sidestepped them for months. Then they explode.

What this means

For your team.

Your team has great org positioning but weak internal honesty. Engineers know what you're really thinking less than they should. Peer conflicts simmer. Underperformers don't get clear feedback. Strong performers eventually realise you're not telling them the full truth about their growth, and they leave. The team gets the appearance of harmony at the cost of the substance of trust.

Your development plan

Where to focus next.

Here's where I'd focus your development as The Diplomat.

This week

Identify the conversation you've been smoothing over. Have it directly, this week.

This month

Run a structured 360-style feedback round on your team. Force the honest conversations you've been deferring.

This quarter

Develop your tolerance for short-term discomfort in service of long-term team trust. The harmony you protect today is costing you the truth your team needs.

Your full profile is on its way.

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If you want to go deeper, EM Accelerator is the structured programme I built for engineering managers.