LLenny's Podcast
← All frameworks
Leadership

Players, Coaches, Captains

Split leadership into on-field captains and sideline coaches so top ICs never leave the game.

Difficulty
Advanced
Time to result
~months to results
Steps
4
Confidence
—

Reforge distinguishes three leadership modes: players (do the work), coaches (managers who coach from the sideline — hiring, positioning people, spotting problems, then handing them off), and captains (senior ICs who lead from on the field, owning the strategic problems). To break the 'manager death cycle' — where the only way to gain title, pay and compelling work is to become a manager — Reforge flattened the org, converted many managers back into 'Captain IC' roles, removed any compensation trade-off between the tracks, and gave the same titles to both. The captains get the strategic problems; coaches focus on hiring, coaching and identifying problems to hand off. Balfour expects AI leverage to push the future toward these super-ICs and smaller teams.

Origin

Balfour notes the players/coaches/captains ideas aren't new (long-standing in software engineering); Reforge applied them across every function and changed comp to remove the trade-off.

Core principles

  • 01Management shouldn't be the only route to title, pay and status.
  • 02Captains lead from the field; coaches lead from the sideline.
  • 03Give strategic problems to captain-ICs, not just to managers.
  • 04Remove the comp trade-off so people pick the role they're suited to.

How to run it

  1. 1

    Name the three modes

    Distinguish players (do the work), coaches (managers who coach from the sideline: hire, position, spot problems, hand off), and captains (senior ICs who lead from on the field).

    Pro tip Use the sports analogy so the difference between sideline and field leadership is intuitive.

  2. 2

    Break the comp trade-off

    Restructure compensation so choosing to grow as a captain-IC costs nothing versus becoming a manager.

    Pro tip Balfour even floats paying captain-ICs higher than managers to counteract the pull toward management.

    Watch out If management still pays or signals more, your stars keep leaving the field.

  3. 3

    Equalise titles and signalling

    Give the same level titles across tracks so people don't feel they're trading external status to stay an IC.

  4. 4

    Assign work by mode

    Give strategic problems to captain-ICs; keep coaches focused on hiring, coaching, positioning players, and identifying problems to hand off.

    Watch out Reluctant managers who don't want the role recreate meetings and process, restarting the death cycle.

In the wild

Reforge org flattening

Through the macro downturn, Reforge massively flattened the org, converted many managers back into Captain-IC roles, changed the entire comp structure to remove the IC-vs-manager trade-off, and gave matching titles across levels.

→ Star ICs stayed on the field and only people who genuinely want to manage take manager roles.

Common mistakes

Management as the only ladder

When title, pay and compelling work require becoming a manager, you pull star ICs off the field and fill management with people who don't want or aren't good at it.

The manager death cycle

Reluctant managers create meetings and process because that's 'what managers do,' then teach their reports the same path, and the whole pattern repeats.

Is it for you?

Best for

Scaling companies redesigning career ladders and compensation across functions.

Not ideal for

Very small teams without a real IC-vs-manager distinction yet.

From the episode

Brian Balfour: 10 lessons on career, growth, and life

→