Leadership and Feedback
Some time ago I sent out a tweet extoling the virtues of timely, concise feedback as a responsibility of leadership in game development.This is absolutely not a reflection on any specific person I've worked with and more an overall topic I've been stewing on over my years in the industry - and what I've seen to be good, and bad in leadership roles. In Short, Director and Lead roles aren't collectibles, they aren't some magic threshold where you get to start doing the "cool stuff". You have a lot of responsibilities in these positions, one of the most important is feedback. I'd argue that often in these roles your highs and lows are more pronounced. A good day can be a truly great one, but a bad day is crushing. You often make no, or reduced commits in regards to your own project - your focus shifts from direct tangible contribution that comes with a revision number towards more people management, expectations, and giving clear, concise, and ON TIME feedback to those working under you. Leadership roles (And in my experience especially Director roles) aren't a license to just waive vague opinion around, or for your opinion in meetings to…continue reading →