influencing persuasion leadership

This course starts and ends with an assessment on leadership capability

The bulk of this course covers leadership, persuasion, and influencing

The scenario video covers the hidden promises that leaders agree to when engaged in DevOps

Next topic will be Leadership and Empowerment

Leadership and Empowerment

Why?

• In the evolving landscape of DevOps, leadership extends beyond traditional management roles
• It's about enabling, supporting, and empowering teams to thrive in dynamic, complex environments

Core concepts in effective leadership

• Clear communication - Ensuring transparency and clarity in all interactions
• Collaboration - Fostering teamwork and cross-functional synergy
• Continuous improvement - Encouraging ongoing learning and development
• Experimentation - Promoting innovation and responsible risk-taking
• Recognition - Acknowledging and celebrating team achievements

Empowering DevOps teams

• Enable team members to reach their full potential
• Empower and trust teams to make decisions and own outcomes
• Provide the resources, space, and encouragement to act independently
• Create traditions, habits, and expectations that support a culture of empowerment

Communication in leadership

• Clear, effective communication is both a skill and a leadership imperative
• Communication should align with the company's vision, mission, strategy, and values
• It allows leaders to
  • Provide support
  • Remove blockers
  • Offer context and direction
  • Foster alignment and motivation
• Good communication: Face-to-face interactions, online meetings with cameras on. well-written updates or reports
• Bad communication: Ineffective listening, failing to show up or follow through, creating or allowing communication barriers, Misunderstandings due to lack of clarity or consistency

Collaboration and teamwork

• Leaders promote collaboration by
  • Encouraging open communication to align goals across teams
  • Supporting cross-functional collaboration with the right tools and processes
  • Celebrating team successes and recognizing individual contributions
• Leaders build collaborative environments by
  • Creating a culture of trust where ideas are freely shared
  • Offering feedback and growth opportunities for all team members
  • Facilitating regular meetings for the open exchange of ideas and insights
• Leaders break down barriers by
  • Promoting cross-training and knowledge sharing
  • Removing obstacles that hinder decision-making or collaboration
  • Encouraging a "fail fast, learn faster" mentality to support experimentation

Continuous improvement and learning

• Strong leaders aim to create more leaders, not just followers
• They invest in their teams through
  • Access to learning resources
  • Training and upskilling opportunities
  • Knowledge-sharing sessions
  • One-on-one guidance and mentorship

Driving innovation as a leader

• Foster a culture that values
  • Idea generation
  • Experimentation
  • Risk assessment
  • Acceptance of failure as a learning process
  • Rewarding both effort and success

Enacting recognition

• Recognizing and celebrating achievements isn't just about giving credit, it's about fueling motivation, engagement, and a positive team culture
• Recognition should go to individuals, teams, and departments
• Reward both results and the behaviors/processes that lead to success

Empowerment in action

• Context
  • The speaker worked in a company where leadership was mostly critical and reactive even when things were done right, feedback was negative
  • The culture rewarded "firefighting" and urgent problem-solving, but rarely encouraged proactive thinking or innovation
  • As a result, the teams didn't feel empowered. They didn't improve processes, systems, or collaboration because they weren't supported to do so
  • A new leader entered the picture with a different mindset: Instead of praising people just for reacting, he recognized behaviors that embodied company values like learning from failure, innovating, and improving systems so issues wouldn't repeat
  • This shift encouraged people to stop plugging leaks and start redesigning the wall to stop surviving and start evolving
  • Ultimately, leadership became about rewarding principles-driven effort, not just outcomes about valuing the journey, not just the finish line
  • The story reinforces that empowerment is built on trust, support, and giving people space to grow, experiment, and contribute no matter your title or role
• Actions and Result
  • Empower through trust and autonomy
    • Create space for people to experiment, make mistakes, and improve processes without fear. Trust them to understand the systems they work in and give them agency to change what's broken
    • Teams move from reactive to proactive. They begin to take ownership of the way things work, not just what they work on. Morale improves, and so does system stability
  • Reward the right behaviors
    • Recognize not just the final outcome, but the choices, values, and effort that led there. Celebrate when someone prevents a problem from recurring not just when they clean up a fire
    • People start aiming for long-term system health, not short-term applause. The culture shifts toward continuous improvement instead of constant recovery
  • Lead without needing the title
    • Whether you're an individual contributor or a VP, lead by modeling empowerment encourage collaboration, support growth, and be clear and authentic in communication
    • Leadership becomes a shared responsibility. Teams become self-sustaining, resilient, and more aligned with the broader mission and values of the organization
  • Align teams with vision and values
    • Keep connecting daily work to the company's mission, strategy, and values. Make sure teams understand not just what they're doing but why it matters
    • Work becomes meaningful. People aren't just shipping features or fixing bugs they're contributing to something bigger, and that clarity fuels stronger teamwork and better decision-making
  • Encourage continuous growth
    • Push the idea that leadership is about evolving the people, the systems, and the ways of working. Keep asking: How can we do this better? How can we fail differently next time?
    • Teams develop a mindset of learning and adaptation. They stop fearing change and start seeking it deliberately, constructively, and together

Summary

• As covered here, communication is extremely important in DevOps Leadership
• Empowerment is about expressing and doing actions of trust, support, and growth in your teams and your people
• Leadership occurs no matter what position you are in or your title
• In DevOps, a leader is focused, clear, inspiring, and authentic

Creating Safety and Trust

Why and What?

• Trust isn't just a value or buzzword, it's the foundation of high-performing teams

Pillars of trust and safety

• Trust and safety are both built on agreements
• Trust is based on shared expectations both expressed and unspoken
  • It involves confidence in teammates' decision-making, reliability, clear communication, and transparency in work processes
• Safety is the inherent agreement that no individual will be harmed physically, emotionally, or psychologically
  • It ensures that team members feel secure to express ideas, ask questions, and raise concerns without fear of ridicule or punishment

Building trust through agreements

• Trust is created through repeated communication and consistent actions that align with agreed-upon expectations
• These agreements can come from anyone you interact with, including colleagues, cross-functional partners, and the people who consume your software, services, or content

Fostering a safe environment

• A safe environment is built on the consistent respect for people and their contributions
• It includes clear
  • Expectations
  • Agreements
  • Boundaries around physical, emotional, and mental well-being

Cultivating trust and safety

• If a leader values people, they won't push them to overwork
• Safety and trust grow from
  • Open communication
  • Opportunities for growth
  • A supportive, non-punitive atmosphere

Acceptable behaviors and reactions

• The tone you set as a leader or team member directly influences the behavior of others
• If you expect your team to act a certain way, you must model those behaviors yourself
  • Want your team to be methodical? You must be methodical
  • Want them to be open? You must show openness

Establishing clear goals and boundaries

• Set clear goals that everyone understands
• Define healthy boundaries to avoid burnout and misalignment
• Establish shared expectations for work and communication
• Provide regular feedback to reinforce alignment

Acting in alignment with agreements

• One of the quickest ways to destroy trust and safety in an organization is through uncommunicated or poorly handled layoffs
• RRenegotiating an agreement may reduce trust slightly but that's manageable if communicated clearly
• Breaking an agreement without communication results in the maximum loss of trust and safety
  • If you break a promise or change direction, explain why and what will happen next
  • Silence or avoidance damages relationships far more than the change itself

Trust and safety in action

• Context
  • The speaker was hired as an architect and team lead for a DevOps group that initially seemed promising and high-performing
  • But in team interactions, there was a noticeable shift in energy and behavior whenever one particular team member entered the room less talking, more tension, body language changed
  • This individual didn't align with the team's mission or values: Missed deadlines, wandered into other departments (like marketing and advertising), and didn't really engage with the DevOps work
  • The team didn't feel safe or supported with that person around, and leadership hadn't addressed it for some reason
  • After multiple honest attempts to align and redirect that team member offering a chance to switch departments the individual finally acknowledged they didn't want to be in DevOps and moved on
  • The moment that person left, team trust and safety rebounded naturally. No top-down control was needed after that the team just re-centered and became high-performing again
  • This scenario revealed how critical psychological safety and mutual respect are in team dynamics, and how even one out-of-alignment person can break that down
• Actions and result
  • Remove the blocker to restore trust
    • Observed team dynamics closely, identified the individual causing trust breakdown, attempted multiple times to realign or reposition the team member before ultimately helping them transition out of the team
    • Once the misaligned individual was removed, team trust was instantly restored. The group returned to a collaborative, engaged, high-performance state almost automatically
  • Build trust and safety through agreements
    • Reinforce that trust and safety aren't just abstract ideas they're based on clear, visible, and respected agreements. This includes deadlines, role clarity, communication styles, and how people show up
    • Teams operate with more confidence and emotional security, allowing them to take risks, collaborate deeply, and focus on delivering value without fear of interpersonal disruption
  • Communicate with consistency and respect
    • Match words with deeds. Be consistent. Speak with dignity. Back up respect with action, not just lip service because people will notice the difference over time
    • Authentic respect becomes a foundational layer. Team members trust each other and leadership more deeply, which strengthens team cohesion and personal accountability
  • Set and translate expectations into agreements
    • Define clear goals and boundaries. Make expectations visible and shared across the team, so everyone's on the same page and has something to point to when behaviors drift off-course
    • Misunderstandings decrease. Accountability increases. Team members know what's expected and can support each other in upholding it without constant top-down management
  • Define safety as a right, not a perk
    • Affirm that safety emotional, psychological, physical is a non-negotiable. Set the tone that disrespect, manipulation, or harmful behavior won't be tolerated, no matter how "skilled" the individual is
    • Teams feel protected. People are more willing to speak up, share ideas, and challenge assumptions all key behaviors in high-functioning DevOps environments

Summary

• Trust and safety are agreements that must be kept to have a high-performing team
• Trust and safety are both built on consistency, communication, and respect
• Trust requires setting clear goals, boundaries, and expectations that translate into agreements. Keep them
• Safety is an agreement, an expectation, and a right to not be attacked or assaulted. Respect and dignity are required for safety

What You Say vs. What You Do

Balancing communication and action

• The balance and harmony between what we say and what we do defines our success in any environment
• Misalignment between words and actions undermines trust, credibility, and team cohesion

Aligning words with actions

• The alignment between your words and actions is both influential and transformative
• Example
  • What you say (words): A manager tells the team to work efficiently to meet a project deadline
  • What you do (actions): A team member later observes the manager procrastinating, which causes project delays
  • → Misalignment leads to confusion, disengagement, and distrust

Limitations of actions alone

• While actions can speak volumes in DevOps, actions without communication can be misinterpreted or go unnoticed
• If you act without communicating, others may
  • Not know what you did
  • Not want the outcome you delivered
  • Not understand why you did it

Achieving trust through consistency

• Consistent alignment between what a person says and what they do is the cornerstone of building trust and achieving meaningful results
• If you are
  • Acting independently without seeking feedback
  • Operating out of sync with your team's strategy, mission, values, or principles
• → You are out of alignment
• Misalignment is one of the most destructive forces in teams, departments, and organizations
• It's better for a team to fail and learn together than for four people to go in one direction while one person goes another even if that one person is "right" and the others are "wrong"

Summary

• Align words with actions to build credibility and trust
• Relying solely on actions will not get you the team, the agreements, and the connections that you need for DevOps teamwork
• Consistency in communication and results is important
• This is necessary not just for teamwork but also for the overall organizational culture

Persuasion Versus Manipulation

Why?

• The greatest power lies in influencing with integrity, not manipulating with deceit
• Persuasion: Honesty, empathy, trustworthiness, mutual benefit
• Manipulation: Deception, exploitation, lack of empathy, self-serving motives

A deeper definition

• Persuasion: Ethical influence that uses reasoning, discussion, transparency, and moral appeal
• Manipulation: Unethical influence through deception, coercion, or emotional exploitation typically for the manipulator's benefit

Positive (persuasion) vs. negative (Manipulation)

• Persuasion
  • Honest, respectful, and transparent
  • Seeks mutual benefit
  • Builds trust and long-term collaboration
  • Rooted in empathy and understanding
• Manipulation
  • Deceptive, coercive, and self-serving
  • Exploits vulnerabilities
  • Destroys trust and creates toxicity
  • Lacks empathy and undermines autonomy

Key differences

• Persuasion
  • Core approach: Reason & logic
  • Respect for autonomy: High
  • Ethical stance: Ethical, transparent, connecting
  • Outcome: Informed decision-making, mutual benefit
• Manipulation
  • Core approach: Emotion & control
  • Respect for autonomy: Low
  • Ethical stance: Unethical, secretive, isolating
  • Outcome: Distorted reality, forced compliance

Real-world examples

• Persuasion
  • Gaining support for a project through open dialogue
  • Encouraging collaboration across teams`
  • Facilitating adaptation to organizational change
  • Getting buy-in through shared goals and mutual respect
• Manipulation
  • Exploiting someone's insecurities to gain compliance
  • Presenting misleading or partial information
  • Using fear or guilt to influence decisions
  • Gaslighting questioning others' perception of reality to maintain control

Cultivating ethical influence

• Lead by example, walk your talk
• Promote transparency in intentions and communication
• Encourage data-driven, informed decision-making
• Respect team autonomy and diverse perspectives
• Build trust through consistency and empathy

Summary

• Defined persuasion versus manipulation in DevOps
• Reviewed the benefits of persuasion and the dangers of manipulation
• Reviewed examples of both
• Listed strategies for fostering ethical influence in teams and organizations

Story - The Loudest Promise

Context

• The speaker, working as a systems administrator at a growing startup, was asked by his boss to update local login naming conventions as part of standardizing systems
• Believing he was doing the right thing, he implemented the change only to be aggressively confronted by the CEO, who reacted in a loud, disrespectful, and hostile way
• The speaker was shocked not just by the confrontation itself, but by how out-of-proportion the response was especially since the directive came from his own boss
• In that moment, his boss, Joe, stepped in, calmly took accountability, corrected the CEO's behavior, and made it clear that the team would treat each other with respect
• This moment revealed the presence of an invisible agreement between leaders and their teams, one built on dignity, psychological safety, mutual trust, and respect
• It also showed how easily that agreement can be broken, and how hard it can be to rebuild once trust has been breached even if apologies are made

Actions and result

• Uphold psychological safety through accountability
  • Joe immediately intervened when the CEO's behavior crossed the line. He took ownership of the decision, stood up for his team member, and reinforced respectful norms
  • Trust in Joe's leadership deepened. The speaker felt protected, valued, and safe, reinforcing the invisible agreement that leaders will advocate for their people
• Lead with transparency and clarity
  • Joe had consistently been clear about expectations and held team members accountable respectfully. That pattern of clarity helped reinforce trust over time
  • Even in stressful situations, the team understood where they stood. There was no confusion around responsibilities or expectations, only growth through honest dialogue
• Embody leadership values daily
  • Joe's behavior wasn't a one-time thing. He lived the team's values consistently, quietly, through his actions, showing alignment between what he said and what he did
  • His credibility grew. The team didn't just hear about values they saw them lived, which strengthened the team's cohesion and trust
• Recognize the Weight of leadership promises
  • The speaker reflected on how leadership isn't just about tasks, it's about promises, often unspoken, to create environments where people feel safe, respected, and heard
  • He learned that when leaders break those invisible promises (like Patrick did), the damage can be deep and long-lasting and repairing it takes time and consistent effort
• Create a culture of listening and integrity
  • Leaders should communicate openly, listen actively, show empathy, and align their actions with shared values all to nurture that invisible agreement
  • These habits build high-performing, resilient teams where people trust each other, innovate safely, and grow even through difficult situations

Quiz

Number	Question	Answer
1	Navigating professionalism challenges in DevOps involves:	Using assertive communication and seeking feedback
2	The '50/70 rule' for eye contact suggests	Maintaining eye contact 50% of the time while speaking and 70% while listening
3	In the case study about empowerment, effective leadership strategies included	Delegating responsibilities and providing resources and support
4	Balancing personal engagement and professional detachment in leadership means	Maintaining objectivity while being empathetic
5	Collaboration in DevOps is	The backbone of integration between development, operations, and other functions
6	Recognizing team achievements in DevOps	Helps boost team morale and motivation
7	True or False: Leaders should always say one thing and do another to keep the team guessing	False
8	Clear goals, boundaries, and expectations in DevOps leadership	Help guide team behavior and create clarity
9	Ethical persuasion involves	Convincing others through reasoning and moral appeal
10	Trust in a DevOps environment is	The foundation for effective collaboration
11	The 7 C's of effective verbal communication include being	Clear, Concise, Correct, Coherent, Complete, Concrete, Courteous
12	Acting in accordance with agreements as a leader	Demonstrates reliability and builds trust
13	Effective communication in DevOps leadership involves	Encouraging open dialogue and transparency
14	In the case study about trust and safety, the broken trust was restored by	Removing the team member who did not keep agreements
15	Continuous improvement in DevOps involves	Constantly seeking ways to optimize processes and tools
16	Experimentation in DevOps is	The fuel for innovation and growth
17	Mirroring in body language communication involves	Subtly mimicking the body language of others to create rapport
18	Leadership in DevOps is primarily about	Inspiring people
19	The unspoken compact of leadership in "The Loudest Promise" includes	Leading with respect and dignity
20	Which of the following is an example of an explicit professional behavior?	Maintaining confidentiality and adhering to communication protocols
21	Professionalism in DevOps communication is important	In all forms of daily communication
22	Non-verbal communication in DevOps	Can convey emotions and attitudes more accurately than words
23	Visual aids in written communication	Can significantly enhance readability and effectiveness
24	Effective written communication in DevOps	Requires distinct styles and approaches for different mediums
25	Which of the following best describes empowerment in a DevOps context?	Enabling teams to achieve their fullest potential