The Leadership Gamble: Why Fighting for Your Team Is Essential for Success

I've been fortunate to work with some incredible leaders throughout my career.

These individuals have inspired and challenged their teams and driven them to achieve their full potential.

What truly sets a leader apart, however, is their ability to motivate and their willingness to fight for their team.

There's something special about a leader who fights for their team.

In this post, I'll explain what happens when a leader truly stands up for their team, sharing my firsthand experiences from a transformative project at Cambridge Assessment in 2007.

In the summer of 2007, Cambridge Assessment had just completed marking examination scripts for millions of students worldwide. The existing system, though functional, was slow, inefficient, and error-prone.

The team responsible had to work long hours to ensure accuracy and timeliness. It became clear that a more robust, scalable solution was needed.

As I detailed in my previous post, "How Agile Helped Cambridge Assessment to Scale," I was hired to architect and build a new system as part of a team.

Leadership in Action

Our tech leader, who had been with Cambridge Assessment for a couple of years, fully understood the complexities of the existing system and the organization's politics.

Some stakeholders were concerned that introducing a new team and system would alienate the existing staff, potentially leading to valuable team members leaving and taking with them the knowledge of running and supporting a key system.

However, our leader, who interviewed and hired us, believed in our ideas and the team's capabilities. He fought to keep politics away from us, advocating for the new system's benefits and value.

Navigating Challenges

Our leader faced a lot of pushback. People questioned our team's methods, our tech choices, and our shift to agile practices like pair programming and test-driven development.

He backed our "strangler-fig" approach, where we'd gradually replace the old system. This step-by-step plan reassured everyone that the switch would be smooth and the new system would deliver.

Unwavering Support

Our leader's support went beyond advocacy to active engagement. He stood firm against scepticism in countless meetings, making a case for our approach and ensuring we had space to experiment, especially with scalability — a critical aspect of the new system.

As an architect, I faced many criticisms and doubts. Without my leader's trust and willingness to gamble on me, I would have been removed from the project. His support was a turning point in my career, and I'm grateful for his faith in me.

Taking an innovative approach meant experiencing and failing, which put my leader in challenging positions. Yet he never gave up on me.

His reputation was on the line, but he continued to fight for me and our team.

A Successful Transformation

By the summer of 2008, our solution was fully operational and easily handled the increased workload, significantly benefiting the entire organization with a smoother, more efficient process.

This experience was life-changing for me. Our leader's support created an environment where we could grow, innovate, and feel psychologically safe.

His trust in us was critical to our success.

The Power of Leadership Dedication

A leader who fights for their team can make all the difference. It's not just about making intelligent technical decisions; it's also about navigating the complex human side of projects and building a culture of success.

Our leader's tireless support enabled us to build a solution that raised the bar for Cambridge Assessment. His leadership showed us that believing in your team — and fighting for them — can lead to unprecedented outcomes.