I love this.

Usually when I encounter folks who are tired of explaining things to peers, the issue is with them not having strong teaching skills.

Not being good at teaching is perfectly fine for a regular team member. But on my teams, senior title means doing mentorship. And lead title means doing Mentorship often and well.

I’ve inherited a team lead who was frustrated with how much of his time I expected him to spend mentoring. (I would not have promoted him to that level, prematurely, but he already had the title when I was hired to save the team.)

My response for him (in private one on one) boiled down to “get good, newbie, or there’s the door”. Anyone on my team with a senior or lead title is expected to prioritize teaching and mentorship. If they want to spend less time doing mentorship, they can either get really good at it, or find a team that fits them better.

Of course, I rarely hire unteachable folks, and I do fire them if needed. I know we’ve all worked with someone that makes us think “what about this clown?”

Edit: The ending of my annecdote is that team lead improved at mentorship dramatically, and discovered that his effective influence on the team increased dramatically in lock-step.