choong pw

Thanks, to my manager for recommending so many good books. Read many of them, just too lazy to take the time to write down the thought. This probably will be the first book that I’ll be writing an actual reflection. And, how can I apply the knowledge to my current job?

Anyway, my first impression about the book was seeing the familiar name from the book cover “Eric Schmidt“. Coming from the guy who once leads Google, should be something worth reading. It didn’t disappoint me.

However, the main character in the book isn’t him. It was “Bill Campbell“. Never heard of his name before this book. After reading, I admire the compassion that he brings to the table and eventually grows so many top-notch CEO.

This book is mainly about coaching. Especially from the perspective of a manager in the tech company. I have been working in a small traditional tech company and to a startup-like-company. Thus, the story that was shared in the book resonates with me well. If I were to write every point that I have bookmarked. It will be another “Trillion Dollar Coach” mini-book by then.

For that, here are those that highlighted me most.

Don’t Tell people what to do, tell them stories about why they are doing it

I can see why storytelling is so powerful. Steve Jobs sells his idea through storytelling. It is easy to make people resonate and emerge with ideas or visions.

And, this applies to coaching too. I always wonder as a coach, how do you coach people who are more technically skilled than you? For one, my first advice I got (from my ex-boss) is to embrace and be glad when that happens. Still, the question remains, how do I coach?

Like most of us, I bet even Bill is not an expert or to say technically better at problem-solving than the person he is coaching. But, is different when he can empower people, giving people confidence, and most importantly seeing things from a different angle.

This is done by asking the right question that triggers the thought process, and storytelling to see things from a different perspective. Some sort of transfer experience.

Reflecting back, personally when I listen to people storytelling. My mind sometimes tends to drift away, getting new ideas, and absorbing the lesson and experience learned by other people without going through it. Talk about speed learning. I can see why this can be so powerful. Is not easy to tell a good story, but is something that can be learned. I believe.

Courage is hard

Is a manager’s job to push the team to be more courageous. People are naturally afraid of taking the risk for the fear of failure.

Reflecting on this. Have I been doing a good job at this? No. Personally, as a manager are human too, I fear of failure as well. At times, I would take a step back and digest further reading, and research before responding when I am unsure.

Anyway, that is not the point here. In engineering, we often face challenges on a daily basis. Is sort of normal to us. At times, requests can be abnormal and are outside of the scope of what we used to do.

For that, is a fine art of looking at the priority at hand. Making sure that it is the right thing to do before we can push for it. Is easy to tell people to do the work given the authority we have as a manager. And, is a whole lot of different story when they embrace it. Back to #1, storytelling.

Always work the team, then the problem

As a manager, we tend to focus on the problem at hand. What are the issue, problems, and so on? This is valid. As a coach, the instinct is to lead with a more fundamental problem. Who is working on the problem? If they are, did they have the right resources and help needed to succeed?

Ever since I join ServiceRocket. My manager coaches me well to be a servant leader. Solve the team need, and let them deals with the problem. If they need knowledge, we find a way to get the team up skills. If they have concerns, we address them.

This brings me back, at the time of incident or escalation happen. Should I be the one who steps in? Something that can be done better, which I think I would still do the same. However, my role there is to let them do their work and be ready to facilitate when is needed.

Being an effective giver

Being an effective giver isn’t about dropping everything every time for every person. It’s about making sure that the benefits of helping others outweigh the cost to you.

This is something that I have not been doing well until now. I tend to jump in whenever I see that there are areas I can help with, I will. But deciding what outweighs what is not something I am good at.

I think the time is the teacher. Through the experience and results of the action that I have taken, I learn what is the best use of my time and what is not. Still, something that is worth the constant reminder to think about once a while.