No to a team leader who only manages!
The "hands-on team leader"—a hard worker with a keen understanding of practical matters—is the new trend.

A survival strategy book has been published for 'practical team leaders' who must take care of their work, team members, and performance.
Lim Hee-geol, the author of "Practical Team Leader," is a South Korean office worker who has worked in a large corporation for over 20 years.
After serving as a team leader for a long time, I participated in reading groups and study groups to build my expertise as a team leader model, and consistently studied how to "grow together and become a master of my work."
And this book contains methods that have been developed and applied directly in the field.

The position of 'team leader' was and still is a difficult one.
However, the reason why being a team leader in the present era is particularly difficult is because the role required of a team leader has changed due to 'restructuring' caused by the recession and the spread of AI, and 'management trends that seek to benchmark startup leadership' while admiring the tremendous growth of innovative companies like Google and Apple.
The 'management-type team leader' who only supported the performance of team members and did not engage in practical work is no longer welcomed by companies and team members.
A team leader who does not know the field well cannot take care of the team, its performance, or even his own career.
In today's changing work environment, leadership is about practical skills, not management skills.


The author's practical and realistic advice for today's team leaders, who must juggle two daunting roles—general and soldier, coach and player—will serve as a North Star for practical team leaders of this era, who struggle to find their footing in the field.
Just because you're a team leader doesn't mean you can be perfect at everything.
However, if you properly understand the actual work environment, establish a proper work system, consider appropriate leadership, and strive for self-management, you will be able to become the team leader this era truly desires, leading to trust and performance from your team members.

Many organizations still worry that if team leaders get involved in practical matters, they will lose focus on managing their teams.
This is because I believe that a team leader's main job is to help team members achieve greater results rather than directly handling the tasks at hand.
However, many team leaders have already become practical and are changing in that direction.
The question is not whether it is right or wrong for a team leader to be hands-on, but rather that reality has become one that demands a hands-on team leader.

--- p.23~24

Let me emphasize again that there is no absolute right answer to the criteria for determining the proportion of practical and management skills.
It's important to think carefully about the criteria that fit your team's situation and set priorities in advance.
We design an appropriate distribution of practical and management tasks by comprehensively considering the team size, team leader's practical expertise, career history, and goals.

--- p.116

In order for an autonomous management team to operate properly, the team leader must establish a working system and document and share it before creating the autonomous management team.
The goal is to create a guideline so that anyone assigned to a task can work according to certain standards.
Documented content should be updated regularly within the team.

--- p.143

Most leaders have a set of criteria for what constitutes a "good person," but they don't clearly define what constitutes "someone you shouldn't work with."
However, in order to create strong teamwork and high performance, the criteria for 'who should be excluded' must be established first, rather than 'who should be good to work with.'

--- p.190

In this way, growth is contagious among team members, and this contagious growth returns as performance.
The team leader's job is to create this 'learning point'.
Let's increase opportunities for collaboration, design joint projects, and make sure to take time for reflection after each success.
In this process, teamwork improves, and team members feel their own growth and become motivated.
As a result, the overall team's skills improve.

--- p.224

Team leaders must create leadership content not only for the growth of their team members but also for their own competitiveness.
The 'leader's content' mentioned here means that the team leader first acquires expertise and then processes that expertise so that it is easily accepted by team members.
The first step to building a leader's content is for the team leader to constantly learn, research, and think to become an expert.
Finally, it includes thinking about how to convey it.

--- p.274

For a leader's recovery routine, to stay strong without breaking down, and to find the strength to run again, be sure to set aside time and budget for self-care.

--- p.311

You don't have to struggle to find a grand answer to the question, "Why should I become a hands-on team leader?"
First, let's try one of the methods introduced in the book.
Even if you are not a hands-on team leader, you must systematize work processes and create a team management system.
Even if you're not a team leader, you can work more effectively by creating a work system and improving collaboration methods.
Rather than blaming the organization and lamenting our fate, it is wiser to make an effort to improve the current reality, even if only a little.

--- p.321