Leading Like a Team Coach: Insights from Harvey Smith on Building High-Performing Tech Teams
Team coaching is fast becoming one of the most effective leadership approaches in the technology industry. Yet despite its growing popularity, many professionals are still unclear about what it truly means to lead as a team coach. In our latest Get Amplified podcast episode, we had the pleasure of diving deep into this topic with Harvey Smith, a seasoned channel leader whose impressive career includes senior roles at VMware, Tableau, Salesforce, and DocuSign.
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Harvey embodies the essence of leading like a team coach, creating environments where teams don’t just function, but genuinely flourish. Unlike traditional management, which often leans heavily on control and directives, team coaching strikes a balance between authority and humility. It’s about fostering trust while keeping sharp focus on clear business objectives – a delicate equilibrium that sets exceptional leaders apart in today’s complex business landscape.
Ruthless Simplicity: The Power of Focus
One of Harvey’s standout leadership principles is the importance of simplicity. In his words,
If you’ve got 27 priorities, you haven’t got any priorities.”
This straightforward wisdom drives him to ruthlessly prioritise initiatives, stack-ranking just three critical objectives at any one time. He complements this with simple, one-page plans that include measurable KPIs, helping his teams stay laser-focused on what truly matters.
This clarity empowers team members to confidently say “no” to distractions that don’t align with core goals. A practice so impactful it became affectionately known as “Harvey says no” within his teams. By cutting through complexity, Harvey creates space for teams to execute with speed and confidence.
Reflecting on workload and pressure, Harvey shares a powerful insight:
A team will always be overloaded. When under pressure, don’t add more – subtract instead.”
This “Power of Subtraction” mindset encourages leaders to empower their teams through purpose, clarity, simplicity, and trust by focusing on what really counts and removing unnecessary burdens.
Building Trust Through Vulnerability and Authenticity
Trust isn’t just a buzzword for Harvey, it’s a leadership cornerstone. He believes authentic vulnerability is key to building psychological safety within teams. As leaders mature, he notes, they often grow more comfortable acknowledging both their strengths and weaknesses. This self-awareness encourages openness and honesty, allowing team members to feel safe speaking up and sharing their ideas.
To nurture this trust, Harvey introduced several meaningful practices, such as skip-level meetings, career development conversations, and personal development plans. These initiatives show genuine investment in people’s growth, even when that growth might lead them beyond the immediate team.
Breaking Down Silos with Cross-Functional Collaboration
Silos can cripple innovation and slow execution, so Harvey champions breaking them down through deliberate collaboration. His “pod model” aligns individuals from various functions with specific sales leaders, fostering cross-functional teamwork and shared accountability.
He also encourages “stretch projects”, assignments that push team members beyond their usual roles and domains. These projects not only broaden skills but also build relationships across the organisation, strengthening the overall team fabric.
Aligning Channel and Sales Leadership: A Non-Negotiable
For channel leaders, Harvey underscores the critical importance of alignment with sales leadership. Without agreed-upon plans that clearly define each group’s role, friction and inefficiency inevitably arise. This alignment extends beyond internal teams to partners as well.
Effective partner management, Harvey advises, is about understanding what motivates each partner and identifying where their objectives intersect with yours. Rather than simply asking for time and resources, leaders must foster mutually beneficial relationships rooted in trust and shared purpose.
Handling Conflict with Directness and Education
Conflict is inevitable in any team, but Harvey’s approach focuses on direct communication, ownership, and education rather than blame. For example, when onboarding channel partners new to indirect sales, he recommends proactive steps like creating clear onboarding materials, establishing communication channels, and holding regular educational sessions. These efforts help prevent misunderstandings before they escalate into bigger issues.
Balancing Empathy with Business Outcomes
Perhaps the most vital takeaway from Harvey’s leadership style is the balance between empathy and business focus. As our podcast co-host Vic summarised,
The trick to success is getting the balance right between the empathetic bit and always being focused on what the goal is.”
This balance creates an environment where teams feel supported and valued while delivering results at speed.
Recommended Reading for Leaders
To deepen your understanding of team dynamics and leadership, Harvey recommends two excellent books:
- “Rebel Ideas” by Matthew Syed – exploring how diversity of thought drives innovation and problem-solving.
- “Culture Map” by Erin Meyer – examining how different cultures operate and reach agreements, essential knowledge for anyone leading global teams.
The Future of Leadership in Tech
Leading like a team coach is not just a leadership trend. It’s the future of effective leadership in technology organisations. By fostering trust, embracing ruthless simplicity, breaking down silos, and balancing empathy with business focus, leaders can build high-performing teams ready to navigate today’s complex challenges.
If you’re ready to elevate your leadership style and unlock your team’s full potential, consider embracing the team coaching mindset Harvey champions. It’s a powerful way to help your teams execute at speed while feeling truly supported.
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