Level | Focus | Scope of Impact | GTM Fictional example | Tech Fictional example |
Contributor | Learning | Project: you independently work on well-scoped and well-defined tasks
Team: you ask for feedback and you know when to request help. | Based on the content prepared by the team, Alex scheduled a series of social media posts announcing folk's brand new Open API (Project).
They've asked Ari - the Marketing Manager - for validation (Team). | Alisha works on the subscription flow: introduction of a set of new modals. It is specified and designed. Modals and copy are clearly defined, including the display of the limits progress bar. Limits are already computed. (Project). They express their progress clearly, post their PR, and ask for help when needed. (Team). |
Owner | Shipping | Project: you have end-to-end ownership of a project with a controlled level of uncertainty, time, collaboration
Team: you proactively communicate clear and concise updates on progress. | Alex prepared the content for a series of social media posts announcing folk's brand new Open API (Project).
To make sure the tone of voice and messaging was appropriate they've asked Ari for feedback before scheduling them (Team). | Alisha works on the blocking of the workspace when above some limits. Limits are already computed. Blocking involves returning the limits in the API, and displaying a blocked screen when a user is connected. (Project)
Alisha clearly indicates the existing mechanism they will reuse and structure the communication on a step-by-step basis. (Team) |
Expert | Results | Project: you have end-to-end ownership over a project involving a level of uncertainty, time, collaboration, or operational complexity.
Team: you suggest solutions and help course-correct. You clarify stakeholders’ expectations when necessary. | Alex took ownership of the overall content calendar for the launch of the Open API. They're working closely with Ari who's leading the content strategy around the launch. Alex has defined measurable objectives, timelines, and stakeholders (Project).
They made sure to communicate these three items to the entire team during the pre-launch meeting and discussed with each stakeholder to make sure their role and impact were clear (Team). | Alisha is working on introducing new limits: we want to count the number of attachments and limit the usage to a certain value. Alisha needs to identify strategies to compute the limit in near real time and attachments can be added from different code locations. (Project)
Alisha has identified an issue in the pattern to compute all limits, suggests an improvement, and implements it. They clarify the changes it will introduce to the limit computation. (Team) |
Principal #1 | Evangelizing | Project: You take the lead on a project that involves a degree of uncertainty, time constraints, collaboration, or operational complexity.
Team: You become a key point of reference within your team, guiding others on how to approach tasks and setting the direction in your area of expertise. You prioritize the introduction of best practices, focusing on optimizing processes and workflows to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. | Alex is leading the overall content strategy around the Open API launch. They’ve sorted out priorities and laid down the overall action plan (Project).
Doing so, Alex realized there wasn't any framework for content strategy around feature launches and decided to document one for future launches (Team) | Alisha works on building a subscription machine: it involves computing the complete state of the workspace (members and limits) and sending a notification to the user when close to the limits or when it will trigger changes to the bill. (Project)
Alisha suggests a new centralized component to deal with workspace states, its communication strategy (sync/async) and defines the architecture of the service, compounding on existing strategies. (Team) |
Principal #2 | Advising | Project: You lead a project that spans across multiple teams, involving collaboration between different areas of expertise and addressing a level of uncertainty, time constraints, or operational complexity.
Team: You establish yourself as a reference and mentor across several teams, guiding individuals in similar roles or domains (e.g., development and infrastructure, acquisition and SDR). You introduce best practices that enhance cross-functional collaboration and optimize processes, driving efficiency and consistency across all involved teams. | Alex has identified an opportunity to launch a partnership strategy around Open API. They’re taking ownership of this partnership implementation: identifying adequate partners, negotiating partnerships, planning the launch, etc. (Project)
They have also identified the adequate stakeholders to be involved and their roles. They’re aligning with Finance and Admin teams, as well as Customer Experience to prepare the documentation and with Sales for the materials (Team). | Alisha works on scaling all async update processes, defines a new strategy, and updates the architecture accordingly. They implement it and lead the release and associated migrations. (Project)
Alisha presents this new strategy to the team, checks that the team gets it, and makes sure that the remaining refactoring is identified and listed somewhere. (Team) |
Principal #3 | Coaching | Project: You take charge of a project that has company-wide implications, involving coordination across all teams and addressing a significant level of uncertainty, time constraints, or operational complexity.
Team: You become the go-to person for all teams within the company, serving as a key reference and expert across departments. You drive the adoption of best practices that streamline processes and workflows, ensuring alignment and efficiency throughout the entire organization. | Following the success of the partnership strategy, Alex identified an opportunity to launch a partner marketplace. They’re setting up collaboration and action plans with the Product and GTM teams to launch the marketplace both on the landing page and in-app (Project).
They ran the kick-off meeting, making sure everyone's responsibilities and role scope were crystal clear. They also sat down with the Content Manager to prepare the messaging, tone of voice, and calendar (Team). | Alisha has detected that the async update process cannot scale because of how the way db changes are performed. This needs a global switch of technology on the platform over a long period. They lead the project and do the needed analysis to check the feasibility before. (Project)
Alisha convinced the whole team including the CPO and the CTO that this change is a requirement to meet future needs. (Team) |
Lead #1 | Mentoring | Project: you lead the delivery of all your team's projects
Team: you facilitate discussions to help your team find the best solution. | Ari - the Marketing Manager - is coordinating the impact of the overall Marketing team on the API strategy, including content, design, marketing, customer success, and sales. They’re making sure everyone has a clear vision of their objective and impact. (Project)
It's the 1st time for Alex to take ownership of the content calendar. They've sat down together to align on priorities, to identify adequate stakeholders, and to review the messaging as well as tone of voice (Team). | Alisha teams up with a team member and checks that they are moving forward at a good pace, that they face no blocking issues and answers any questions (Project)
Alisha helps the team member structure their work in smaller well identified tasks (Team) |
Lead #2 | Empowering | Project: you translate company-wide strategy into actionable projects for your team.
Team: you define a compelling vision for your team. | Knowing that the nb of sign-ups per week needs to double. Ari identified key Acquisition initiatives to focus on: Social media + Influence strategy + SEO + Affiliate pg + Ads (Project).
They presented the Acquisition strategy to the GTM team, aligning on related goals and attributing ownership based on team members’ expertise and will to grow (Team). | Alisha can coordinate and challenge several major projects, identify overlapping areas, and find solutions for the team (Project)
Alisha coordinates with the product and sets a new way to identify overlaps early to smooth the process (Team) |
Lead #3 | Strategizing | Project: you set a high-level vision and build a company-wide strategy
Team: you define a company-wide vision to achieve on strategy that reaches and inspires every team member | Discussing the Cycle goals, it has been decided that the next revenue milestone is to reach $1.5M ARR in 2024. With this in mind, Ari identified that the two existing channels will need to be scaled and we will need to add two channels on top. They plan the recruitment plans accordingly. The volume of leads underlying will have an impact on sales, customer success, and support and they plan the strategies and recruiting plans accordingly. | Alisha explains to the team why they are working on their current projects, explaining what’s the meaning behind the priority and why it matters (Project)
Alisha presents to the board how teams should be restructured to achieve more velocity and in the end more growth. |