Tag: team

Meeting with my boss

Yesterday I had a usual meeting with my boss, and he told me to not worry about work.

He also offered to back me up for my work, and was glad I took some time to reflect.

I, in fact, offered to do some work today since I was offered in the evening, and he refused.

Bestest boss ever!!

Life lessons at Rishikesh – 1.0

First day of offsite.
Life lessons learnt:

  1. Never waste your sleep for people who would NEVER wake up early for you.
  2. Once you become a leader, you stop having friends.
  3. The so-called friends are your friends only because you have access to information that they don’t have.
  4. It’s okay to enjoy your company. And dwell in it.
  5. Eat less. Happy more.
  6. Also, be grateful for the team. Yet love your own company.
  7. You attract people to you when you are on your own.

Also, did I mention – how to find solace in your own company 🙂

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.

The making of a Manager

The more you care only about getting positive feedback, the more you will escape your growth.

Your work is to excel at your work. If you’re constantly degrading at it, you’re making it impossible for others to trust you.

Don’t focus on being liked. Focus on being curious, learning, and really really listening!

Don’t send that angry message / email. Calm yourself down.

People are people. They are going to overestimate what they do. So don’t feel let down when they

You won’t be a superhero when you commit to doing 10 projects and you do 6. You will be a superhero when you commit 6 and do 6. Your words matter. A lot.

Don’t try to impress your boss. Or anyone. The more you try to do that, they will sniff it. They just expect you to be real. And do the good old hard work. Along with the smart one.

Talk to your boss. Talk about your problems, what’s troubling you, what isn’t working, etc. Don’t expect him to get back to you every single day.

But, at the end of the day, you should be happy going to work each day 🙂

The dark side

Everyone has a dark side.

I am good to you, but maybe I am not the same way to everyone, where I should be.
Someone is a good boss, but he fires one of his employees after every half a year.
A human being talks about culture, yet fails to maintain it for themselves.

What should we do when do have a dark side?

Here’s what: Think about challenging your beliefs in solitude. It would be hard, but then you would not be hard on others.

Yes versus no

Yes. No.

Most people want the first answer to everything they do.

A few want the second one as well, especially in the absence of no response.

We all work in teams. Even if you are a solopreneur, you work with your clients, partners, etc.

And a great team is built by communication.

Here’s some of the best ways of communication:

  1. When you want to say yes: Say yes, and few more words to show your appreciation, such as: “Go ahead!”, “Good to go!” “Perfect!” What these words will do, is let them know that they are contributing meaningfully.
  2. When two or more people come together, they are bound to have different opinions, and we may want to say no as well. Here are some cardinal rules of saying no:
  • Never use the word “no”. Rather suggest, how it could be done.
  • Appreciate the parts that work. There is always something that works.
  • Always keep reinforcing the fact that the person is great, the work needs changes and then we are good to go.

Here’s the reason of this blog, and why practising this difficult exercise of “not saying no” even when the answer is no, is super important:

A. Most people are already suffering at an emotional level. Even if you think they aren’t, still they are. One more disapproval, is too big a thing for an already tired mind.

B. The goal of any business, any team, any work, is to make things better. If we are making things better and making people worse, we are simply accumulating opposite of blessings into our business. That karma, has to come back some day.

C. People want to know the response. Learn to say no gracefully instead of giving no response. No communication is the best miscommunication.