Category: Manager

Chilled out tonality

I am usually very chilled out in life however when it comes to work I really want to it done. Mostly because it has my signature on it.

For example, the website will go live tomorrow however my boss had a chilled out tonality while giving a loom feedback. Yes nothing would go live without his heads up however the knowledge that nothing would change if you worry about it – is something I gotta copy from my boss.

Not sure tbh. Maybe this sense of urgency also drives me and my team. However, we will figure it out 🙂

7 Tips No One Tells You, To Succeed At Work

7 life lessons no one teaches you about succeeding at work:

  1. If you are taking up extra work, it goes without saying that it will not affect your existing work.
  2. You can be best friends. Or you can do your work without biases. You can’t do both.
  3. If no one has to follow up with you, you are gold.
  4. Keeping your commitments and sharing your work status – are the two things that will make you a star.
  5. It is not the hours of work you put in. It is the heart in those hours you put in – that makes the entire difference!
  6. When you start giving away credit, you stop craving for it in the first place.
  7. Read #4 again.

Making of a Manager 8.0

Just completed a trip with my team.

Few life lessons learnt:

  1. If being a friend interferes with your ability to become a leader, helps to be the leader first.
  2. Talk about others in your mind just like you talk to them about them.
  3. Learn to value loneliness.
  4. Before loving others, have you tried to love yourself?
  5. Only broken people break people.

Also, a note to 2-3 of my teammates whom I know I wasn’t 100% present with:

I’m sorry. I can do better. I love you, no matter how much or how little we spoke during this offsite.
Also, you are an amazing kid. Let no one else make you believe otherwise.

Making of a Manager 7.0

Recently I happened to conduct the hiring process for a team member, starting from creating the form to making them run through several steps of hiring, and here are some life lessons I learnt:

1. People will reveal themselves if you just sit and listen.

2. Be real. I had fun while talking with them, did not ask weird interview questions, and more than anything else, made the conversation interesting for them by researching about them before the interview.

3. While you may come across many sad stories that you may want to give them the job even though they are not eligible, it’s best to not give them the job. Because it will set them up for failure anyway. Not the best thing to happen to them.

Making of a Manager 6.0

Recent life lessons from being a manager:

  1. When you do something that might come as offensive to the other person but in reality happens as a result of their neglect, sometimes mentioning the reason why you did it is important.
  2. People who are assets won’t give away their work (under pressure) even if you ask them to. The good way is to ask the one who is filling in for them, to take work from them. Always works!
  3. You may try your best to help a non-performing team member – by asking questions, suggesting them, presenting your PoVs. If they still don’t move, start taking actions and FYI-ing them. Not because you want to dominate them. NO! You’ve already tried your best. Rather because you do not want the work to suffer anymore, if the person responsible for it anyway can’t take ownership.

Making of a Manager 5.0

About hiring:

  1. Don’t make a decision while getting drifted by emotions
  2. Send a regret email + feedback
  3. Care, but understand that you cannot hire everyone
  4. Sometimes wishing for the best for your team means saying a lot of no.

About trust:

  1. Take a lot of time to trust anyone who has broken your trust before.
  2. Tell this to them
  3. Even when you trust again, verify.

About negativity:

  1. Even if someone in the team is performing negatively, talking to others would NEVER solve it.
  2. If you can’t resist, write it down. But NEVER talk to anyone about it.
  3. What you think radiates before what you talk.

Making of a Manager 4.0

Life lessons from being a manager:

  1. Your team will always be going through stuff – someone is in an airplane, someone is shifting, someone is occupied, someone will not respond, someone might be going through a break up – and asking them to work might make you feel apologetic. Why? Be the one who is there for them, helps them navigate life without excuses, and more than anything else – lets them shine in every area of life.
  2. Give away credit when you need it the most.
  3. Indulging in gossip groups with a subset of team is disastrous for the team. Not to mention, for you as well. Your team loves you, and you owe it to them to be unbiased.
  4. Taking time off for meditation and sleep isn’t luxury, it is a necessity.
  5. Karma yoga – where you say your affirmations and meditate for one minute – that is where all the magic happens. Doing it or not doing it will decide whether you are effective or impulsive.
  6. You may try your best on people and they may still choose to be angry at you, and then leave the company. If you have a pact of honesty with yourself, you need not feel bad. At all. People have their lives and they own their choices, not your mood.
  7. Chill baby, you have the Brahmastra – God. Everything else, will just fall in place.