Last week, I had the privilege of giving a dual keynote talk at the University of Maryland Product Symposium, organized by John Johnson, the Professional Programs Manager at the Project Management Center for Excellence, a part of the university’s A. James Clark School of Engineering.
Daniel Forrester and I delivered the talk together, with the goal of sharing our latest thinking and observations from our customers at Steady on how to lead high-performing teams in the age of AI.
We built the talk around a specific character: the rising digital team leader. This person – the hero of our story – is often a product manager, engineering lead, or tech lead caught in the middle of mounting demands: pressure from above to go faster with less, pressure from below to lead with clarity and care, and the ever-present swirl of AI and new tools that promise transformation but often deliver confusion.
We focused on three foundational elements of high-performing teams:
- Trust and Transparency – Using a classic trust framework (credibility + reliability + intimacy / self-orientation), we showed how real trust is earned and why psychological safety is non-negotiable.
- Balanced Accountability and Autonomy – We explored the tension between micromanagement and chaos, and how great teams find the right dynamic balance.
- Access to Fresh Context for All – We made the case that high-performing teams are context-rich, and that context must be current, distributed, and role-specific. Tools like Steady can help here.
One of my favorite moments was our story about the USS Santa Fe, a failing nuclear sub turned high-performer through a radical leadership shift: instead of giving orders, the captain gave context and asked his crew to share their intentions. That principle – “Don’t ask for permission; tell me what you intend to do” – became a cornerstone of our talk.
We also made time to caution against what HBR calls “work slop” – the shallow, performative output that’s flooding orgs via LLMs. We believe AI can be transformative, but only when paired with real human insight and intent. Used well, AI can help leaders ship context at scale, boost clarity, and reduce the coordination tax that’s crushing many teams.
You can watch the full replay here on YouTube, or register for access here to earn 6 PDHs towards your NPDP certification renewal from PDMA or 4.5 PDUs towards your PMP certification renewal from PMI.
Many thanks to the University of Maryland, John Johnson, and the other great speakers throughout the day.
