What
the leader is and does:

  • Attention to
    details & depth
    of understanding

    • relentless pursuit of perfectness in any deliverable. Seeks for beauty,
      concision, simplicity, clarity. Is not satisfied with default answers and
      quickly spots assumptions, both in his own reasoning and in others.

  • Autonomy
    & entrepreneurship - finds work for himself and his team. Helps his team develop
    their autonomy, through clear roles and responsibilities. Holds people
    accountable, thus he is perceived as a delegative and empowering leader.
    He is self-motivated by growth and achievement and tries to secure a
    bigger impact for himself and for his team.

  • Integrity - speak the truth, even if
    inconvenient . Does not take shortcuts in his work, even if sometimes it
    means taking the difficult path. Does not procrastinate. Does not hide
    anything. Commits and assumes responsibility for the results, either good
    or bad. Does not seek to blame others.

  • Collaborates
    for results with
    his peers and his manager. Manages transparently and brings tough subjects
    to the table confidently. Looks people in the eyes. Negotiates for
    win-win. Recognizes his team interest.

  • Curious
    and always learning

    • sees every interaction as an option to learn something new. Passionate
      about at least one field related to game production (programming, game
      design, project management, art)

  • Exceptional
    communicator -
    synthesis / analysis skills. Presentation skills - both in writing and
    verbal. Clarity and vision. Adapts
    to his / her audience, up, down and across. Is able to express complex
    ideas in simple terms. Does not use meaningless wording. Seeks for beauty,
    concision, simplicity, clarity. Understands and assumes what he says and
    brings value to the communication.

  • Finisher - is capable not only to
    propose and start new initiatives, but also prioritize among different
    ones. When committing to a course of action, drives it to completion.

  • Results
    driven - keeps
    things simple by focusing on clear, measurable results. Understands that
    "implementation matters" and does not trade integrity for
    short-term gains.

  • Energy,
    optimism, social skills - people feel energized when he is in the room. Instills positive
    energy in the team. Cheers people up. Is well educated and knows how to
    behave in social situations (including meetings). Inspires confidence and
    expertise.

  • Visionary,
    strategic thinker and tactician, all in one - is able to think long term, define goals,
    chart plans and inspire people. Is able to zoom-out and zoom-in and work
    at different levels of detail.

  • Inclusive
    leader - is
    humble and self-confident. Relies on people and understands roles and
    responsibilities. Manages to make people feel accountable for their own
    results. Respects people and their point of view. Is able to drive the
    discussion towards rational arguments. Is able to call meetings and bring
    difficult subjects to the team for finding solutions.

  • Disciplined
    pursuit of daily activities - the team knows what to expect from him, he has a set
    of rituals and a transparent schedule.
    Always on time, always predictable. Holds 1:1s, retrospectives and
    is constantly for lookout on how to improve processes.

  • Systemic
    view - Fixes the
    root causes, not the symptoms. Has
    a systemic view of cause & effect and understands feedback loops.

A
leader might be:

  • Project
    management expert or agile practitioner

  • Passionate about engineering, product, design,
    quality, management, …

  • Motivated by
    power/impact and/or achievement

  • People
    oriented or product oriented - the things that matters are: people feel they are led to
    victory, they feel the project is good for their careers and that there is
    always something new to learn and improve.

  • Good public
    speaker

What
the leader is not:

  • People
    pleaser (up-down-across) - These leaders are reluctant to take unpopular
    decisions and be open. They create an unhealthy environment of low
    performance and comfort around them, based on social networks and office
    politics. Also, they tend to "buy" support instead of challenging
    the teams for results.

-

Syndicalistleader -

These
leaders will always create a rift between the team and the management,
pushing towards antagonism instead of alignment.

  • Passive
    aggregator of information - the leader adds value to any communication, by being
    able to summarize it and lead meaningful discussions with his peers,
    managers and team. He understands the requirements, the language, is able
    to extract the substance and act as an independent hub of knowledge.

  • Tyrant - The opposite of syndicalist leader. Disregards his team and is willing to take easily decisions that affect his direct reports (salaries, free days, maternity leaves cuts,
    etc… ) in the name of company
    profit.

  • Non-committal
    and non-responsible

    • discusses people instead of results. Invents problems and likes office
      drama. Comes to rescue when conflict appears. Does not take responsibility
      for failure.

  • In
    only for himself - people
    around him and their successes don’t matter. All he cares is his career or
    proving his point of view. Focused on showing how good he is and how the
    results depended solely on himself.

  • Opaque to
    others ideas (up / down / across) -
    not be mistaken
    for self-confidence. Self-confidence means exactly the opposite: showing
    vulnerability, willingness to learn, involving other people, asking for
    opinions.

  • A leader in
    the vacuum -
    willing to sacrifice collaboration and integrity for quick wins. Does not
    care about the impact of his actions on the future, people and projects
    around him.

  • Complainer - sees problems and possible
    improvements but fails to take action to remedy them.