Dave Kline (ex-Bridgewater): How to Manage Up and Build High Impact Teams
Practical tips to manage up well, delegate effectively, and help others grow
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Dear subscribers,
Today, I want to share how you can manage up and become a great manager yourself.
Dave Kline spent 20+ years leading teams at Bridgewater and other companies. He now runs a popular management course and newsletter. I spoke to Dave about:
His journey from leader to solopreneur
How to manage up well
How to delegate and help others grow
Check out the full interview below.
Dave’s journey from leader to solopreneur
Welcome Dave! Let’s start with your time at Bridgewater. Ray Dalio's "Principles" is one of my favorite books. What did you learn from Ray?
I worked directly for Ray for a few years. One of his principles is:
You can have anything you want, but not everything.
Bridgewater became the world's largest hedge fund from just two products. Ray’s principle is a great reminder to keep your main thing the main thing.
Why did you decide to become a solopreneur after Bridgewater?
After college, I wanted to get some experience before starting a business. Before I knew it, 20 years had passed.
I finally made the jump after realizing that I didn’t need an amazing idea. Instead, I could simply teach others about my experience building high-impact teams.
I’ve now taught 500+ leaders via my course. It’s been a wild ride.
How to manage up well
How can you manage your manager?
Be proactive in setting expectations with your manager:
Create a 1:1 doc to share your goals and progress.
Be realistic about what you can commit to.
Propose solutions when flagging problems.
Building a better relationship with your manager boils down to this:
Do your job well, solve your manager’s problems, and communicate to avoid surprises.
How do you ask for constructive feedback from your manager and others?
Again, you have to be proactive:
Be transparent. Tell your manager what your career goal is and what you think you need to work on to reach the next level. Once you bring your gap out in the open, it loses all power over you and empowers your manager to help.
Ask for feedback frequently. For example, if you just led a big meeting, ask: “Do you think that went well? How could it have gone better?”
Say thank you. Don’t get defensive, always say “thank you” after receiving constructive feedback.
Identify patterns vs. dots. One criticism is just a dot, but similar feedback from different people is a pattern. Work to improve the latter.
How can you get a good performance review from your manager?
You have to both do great work and help the right people notice that work.
3 ways to do the latter without being obnoxious:
Know who the decision-makers are. At a startup, the CEO may review your performance. At a big company, it may be the promo committee for your function. Make sure these people know what you delivered.
Know what the inputs are. Many companies have a performance matrix that describes the responsibilities and traits of the next level. Make sure you have great examples of these traits from your work.
Know how your manager can help. At a big company, your manager often doesn’t have full control over your promotion. But they can definitely help highlight your impact. Make a game plan together.
So work with your manager but also be your own biggest advocate.
A company’s leaders are often busy. How do you make them notice your work?
Be intentional about building your internal brand.
This brand is just the sum of all of your work and interactions. What are 3 things that you want people to recognize you for? Work intentionally every day on those 3 things.
How to delegate and help others grow
You’ve trained 100s of managers. What’s their most common mistake?