Alignment

In Closing the Loop I shared some thoughts about a behavior that can set you apart. I believe that's something anyone can develop independently from wanting to become a leader or not. On the other hand, I truly believe that a leader who doesn't seek alignment with the rest of the team is failing in their role. It can be discouraging to take the initiative to find this alignment across different teams or departments. While that is the final goal you can start small.

Your team should work as a cohesive unit and nurturing that collaboration and awareness builds up to creating successful teams. That can be your starting point. Don't let cross-functional alignment be the scary target, take a step at a time. Alignment, in its simplest form, is just agreement on what the team should work on and why. What is the end goal and what is the team doing to get closer to it? Once those definitions are clear you can expand that to other "sibling" teams, this is a good place for a gut check. Does what your team discussed make sense to a slightly larger audience? Are there gaps or lack of clarity?

Iterating on this can build up to clarify the vision for the future and make sure that not just your team but other teams are working towards that goal. This effort should then scale to cross-functional teams. Learn who you need to get in a room to make sure the goal is the same, the requirements are agreed upon and there are no surprises. Ideally, alignment is something you maintain and not something you seek after the fact. But life happens and a leader should make the effort to bring clarity back. It is important to establish a clear goal.

Thoughts

A leader should work constantly to ensure alignment is present cross-functionally at all times. It helps to do recurring gut checks to make sure the goal hasn't moved and the team is rowing in the same direction (poorly translated Italian saying). On second thought this is an admirable habit to develop as an IC. If you're lacking clarity on what you're working on and why, talk to your manager. Talk to product managers. Talk to project managers. You can think about this as putting a lot of value in your limited time. If your effort is directed to the wrong target, you waste energy, your impact is limited, and you get more detached from the long-term vision. I find great value in having those conversations with other engineering teams, you learn from other points of view, get new ideas, and possibly support and help.

Don't be afraid to initiate those conversations. Worst case scenario is a misunderstanding on your part, talking about it can clarify the path forward. In the best-case scenario, the team is already aligned and you can proceed along the path to success.