KodeKloud Notes

Welcome, DevOps soft skills students! I’m Michael Forrester. In this lesson—“Leading with Impact”—we’ll cover how to influence, persuade, and lead teams effectively. Leadership isn’t just about managing systems; it’s about inspiring the people who build, operate, and rely on those solutions.

The image is about influencing, persuasion, and leadership in DevOps, featuring a DevOps logo and a quote emphasizing the importance of inspiring people. There is also a person in the bottom right corner.

1. Initial Assessment

Begin with a self-evaluation to measure your current influencing and leadership abilities. This helps you identify strengths and areas for improvement before moving forward.

The image shows a presentation on "Influencing, Persuasion, and Leadership" with a group of people in a meeting and a feedback rating system. There’s also a person speaking in a video call at the bottom right.

2. Leadership and Empowerment

Effective leaders provide clear guidance, remove obstacles, and build trust. Use the table below as a quick reference:

Responsibility	Description
Guidance	Clarify mission, values, strategy, and vision
Support	Remove blockers and provide necessary resources
Trust	Foster confidence and grant decision-making autonomy

The image illustrates the concepts of leadership and empowerment with icons labeled "Guidance," "Support," and "Trust," alongside a group of diverse people. There’s also a small inset of a person speaking in the bottom right corner.

Leaders empower teams to make decisions, excel, and learn within the guardrails of organizational context:

The image illustrates the concept of leadership and empowerment, showing a group of people at a crossroads with arrows labeled "Decide," "Excel," and "Learn." It emphasizes empowering team members to make decisions and learn from experiences.

Note

Alignment with organizational goals ensures teams focus on initiatives that deliver real business value.

3. Trust and Safety

Trust is the cornerstone of collaboration, enabling rapid decision-making and organizational agility. Psychological safety encourages experimentation, open feedback, and learning from mistakes.

The image is a diagram titled "Trust and Safety," featuring a circular design with "Trust" at the center and "Collaboration" linked to it, highlighting "Rapid decision-making" and "Flexibility." There’s also a person sitting at a desk in the bottom right corner.

Warning

Suppressing feedback or penalizing failure can erode trust and stifle innovation. Encourage safe-to-fail experiments.

4. Consistency: What You Say vs. What You Do

Credibility stems from aligning your words with your actions. Leaders who follow through on commitments earn lasting respect and influence.

The image features a presentation slide titled "What You Say vs What You Do," with a graphic of a key unlocking a padlock and a speech bubble with a checkmark. There’s also a small inset of a person speaking in the bottom right corner.

5. Persuasion vs. Manipulation

Ethical persuasion leverages shared goals to motivate teams, while manipulation breaks trust and undermines morale. Focus on transparent communication and mutual benefit.

The image contrasts persuasion and manipulation, highlighting their importance in ethical influence within DevOps, with a person standing at a crossroads between the two.

6. DevOps Scenario: The “Loudest Promise”

In practice, leaders make unspoken commitments—“Loudest Promises”—that shape expectations. We’ll explore how respect, dignity, trust, safety, professionalism, and leadership interact in real-world DevOps contexts.

Element	Impact on Team
Respect	Fosters mutual appreciation
Dignity	Ensures fair treatment
Trust	Enables swift decision-making
Safety	Encourages experimentation
Professionalism	Upholds standards and accountability
Leadership	Guides and empowers toward success

The image illustrates key elements of a DevOps scenario, including respect, dignity, trust, safety, professionalism, and leadership, with corresponding icons. A person is also visible in the bottom right corner.

7. Final Assessment

Conclude with a second self-assessment focused on leadership, influence, trust, safety, and ethical persuasion. Your results will set the stage for advanced modules on team empowerment and organizational transformation.

The image is a summary slide for a course on influencing, persuasion, and leadership, featuring icons and brief descriptions of course content. It includes four main points about the course structure and a small image of a person in the bottom right corner.

Watch Video

Watch video content

Section Agenda