The act of leading is invariable from scale, and so is its meaning. You may be the leader of a small, large, or somewhere in between team, yet the meaning of leadership stays the same. Yes, the larger the team, the more labor is required from you, and no, leading a team is not a function of size.

This essay continues on the theme of scale, following from my previous writing on Agile vs. Waterfall and how the size of projects matter.

Consider the geometry of an arbitrary circle. Drawing it twice as big or half as small does not change its shape, nor the fact that it has 360 degrees. No one will mistake it for a triangle or a trapezoid. It remains a circle, and it still has the same number of degrees.

Work

In physics, work (W) is defined as the transfer of energy through the displacement (ds) of an object by a force (F). It is given by the formula:

Raising a cup of tea for a sip or picking up a bottle of water to pour into a glass requires different amounts of effort but both actions mean lifting something.

An analogous to the physics concept of work in the leadership space are the many administrative and functional tasks necessary to run a team, project, and operations. Activities such as one-on-one meetings, performance reviews, scrum stand-ups, budget planning, and so on. These are all decoupled from one’s effectiveness as a leader.

Leading

But what is leadership? According to the consulting giant McKinsey & Company, leadership may be defined as “a set of mindsets and behaviors that aligns people in a collective direction, enables them to work together and accomplish shared goals, and helps them adjust to changing environments.”

Their definition is a good start and captures some key and necessary elements. But let’s take a step back and think of leadership from first principles. The following are must-haves:

• Clear communication. You must be able to plainly express intent—with minimal or no ambiguity—and expected outcomes.
• Build alignment. Disagreements are part of the conversation and part of a healthy debate for honing the best ideas. And once a decision is made, all hands must be on deck and pushing in the same direction.
• Enable success. Assure the team has the resources needed to complete the work, including, but not limited to, computers, data, equipment, and so on. Additionally, actively work to remove blockers and facilitate cross-team dependencies. Give the team latitude to execute—there is a fine line between following up on progress and micromanaging.
• Enforce accountability. You and the team are responsible for commitments and outputs. This includes learning lessons but also celebrating victories.

The meaning of these leadership principles is unchanging from team size. They are the same for small teams of 2 as they are for large teams of 200.

Different, but related

Being an effective leader is a trait of the person, their values, establishing an achievement-oriented culture, rallying the team around a common mission, and other intangibles, but perceptible peculiarities; it is invariable from scale. Larger may require more work, but not more leadership.