Engineering Manager / VP Engineering
“In the long run, it’s just a bunch of short runs”
Values
Positive
Being positive expresses itself in many ways. I’m the kind of person who forgets all the bad stuff that happens instantly and remembers the good parts. Because of this, I tend to be optimistic about what is still to come. If everything so far went just fine, why would that be different in the future, right?
Assume the best intentions. Especially in remote work, it’s easy to misinterpret a message over written communication. Whenever I sense an undertone in a message, whenever something does something that seems off, assume they did with the best intentions. When in doubt, ask the person directly.
Helpful
In a way, I was doing supportive leadership before I was leading any team. I’ve always prioritized helping colleagues over finishing my own work. While this has not always been a successful strategy in the past, I still strongly believe in supporting the team in order to achieve results rather than pursuing individual achievements.
No harm ever came from helping others. Sometimes people return the favor when an opportunity presents itself. Sometimes they don’t. The worst thing that can happen is that people take advantage of it. Then again, it’s up to you how far you want to go in helping others. Never blame them for not paying back. And who knows, maybe they’ll pay it forward instead.
Strengths & weaknesses
Of course, being positive only takes you so far and nothing good comes from sitting on your own hands. When problems occur, my first reflex is always to think about how we can solve them. I used to say: think solutions, not problems. It’s a terrible mantra for product management, but it works just fine when applied with some common sense. I try to focus on the smallest thing we can do, even if it just buys us time to solve things properly. And when things are big & complex I love working out a way to get there step by step. Just as running long distances basically comes down to running a lot of short distances.
Over time, I’ve learned to go beyond just putting out the fire. Taking time afterward to take measures to prevent the problem from happening again is as important as fixing it.
When my positivity empowers my strengths, it’s my helpfulness that shines through in my weaknesses. I often end up with too many monkeys on my shoulders. Trying to please everyone often results in a lack of focus. I try to detect this trap early on, prioritize the things on my list, and delegate what can be done by others.
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