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Vinod - About me

This is a quick writeup about me and my working style. The goal of this writeup is to help everyone understand how I work, what my expectations are and also to give an insight into how it might be different from yours. My hope is that this allows us to bridge the gap in our different working styles, thinking patterns and eliminate the guessing game as much as possible. At the end of the day most of us work in a remote environment and this write up is to help expedite the getting to know me part.

First Impressions

Firstly I have strong opinions but loosely held. As a manager most of my job is to make decisions and I cannot make them if I am not confident in my opinions. I do my research and believe in things strongly backed by my work. So when I propose something I am very confident of my proposal. However if anyone shows any evidence of why and how I should think otherwise, I am more than happy to accept your perspective. I’m focused on achieving our objectives, not on proving a point.

Secondly, I am a very transparent and direct person in a professional setting. I ask straightforward questions and practice acknowledging and communicating my limitations. Sometimes, this direct approach may come off as too strong, but I assure you, I have no intention of judging anyone’s character or competency. I truly believe that I am neither better nor worse than anyone else. I believe that serving my truth is best achieved by asking direct questions, especially in crisis situations where my only goal is to resolve the issue quickly and efficiently.

Finally, I value honest and vulnerable conversations. During 1:1 meetings, feel free to dig deeper and ask probing questions, as I will likely do the same. I am interested in understanding your motivations and reasons. This is one of the reasons I chose the leadership track—I love learning about the strengths and weaknesses of those around me. I find as much value, if not more, in understanding your weaknesses as in your strengths. Our weaknesses make us human and allow us to be of value to one another and more importantly give us the signal to the direction of our growth. I strive to create a psychologically safe environment when I am present. I believe that it promotes vulnerability, reduces defensiveness, fosters acceptance and alignment despite disagreements, and leads to built-in accountability.

P.S - I was told that I have a very intense facial expression when I am focusing or listening to someone. If you notice that, I assure you I am not angry and that I just have an intense focus face especially if I am trying to understand something new to me.

Management Philosophy

My management philosophy focuses on creating high-functioning teams. I believe three key characteristics define such teams:

1. They deliver results in alignment with business expectations 2. Such results are delivered on reliable timeline 3. They do step 1&2 by maintaining a healthy team morale (Playground and not Battleground)

I guide my teams to embody these characteristics. To achieve this, I emphasize the importance of alignment, accountability, and influence. I believe these skills are crucial for building and sustaining high-functioning teams. I will probably write more about alignment, accountability and influence in another post.

A hallmark of a high-functioning team is autonomy. When my teams feels empowered to make decisions and create value independently, I believe we are on the right path. Conversely, a lack of autonomy is indicative of a low-functioning team.

Drivers

My top drivers are purpose, alignment, and ownership.

I like to understand why we are doing what we are doing and who benefits from it. The "why" always propels me.

A fully aligned team can achieve anything. I am always driven to create alignment with the people around me.

I take ownership in what I do. I believe delivering results in what I own is a good way to earn trust.

While that’s how I earn trust from others I aim to do the reverse when I am working with others. I start with 💯 in trusting others and have them define the trajectory going forward.

Feedback

Receiving

Be candid with feedback and give them as early as possible. Provide examples if possible or point to a real scenario. Constructive is good. I follow radical candor in giving feedbacks and if you are familiar with it then I prefer that method a lot. If you have a positive feedback for me please don’t hold back as it for sure fuels me and shows that I am moving in the right direction. I like feedback as often as possible. It is not easy to overwhelm me with feedbacks. I really appreciate upward feedback so if you are someone reporting to me you shouldn’t hesitate to share your feedback with me.

Giving

I usually like to learn your preferable way of receiving feedback first and try to adopt to it as much as possible. My default method is to follow radical candor and give them as early and as often as possible. My feedback will always come from a place of rooting for you and focused on providing value to you. I also am aware that it is of my opinion and interpretation and I am open to evolve out of my opinion if convinced. So feel free to challenge it if you think otherwise. I am usually good at giving positive feedbacks but if you are a person who are driven by recognition feel free to source feedback from me as often as you can.

Here is a quick

video⁠

about Radical Candor if you are not familiar with it

1:1’s

With Supervisors

I want to align with your expectations for me and understand how well I am meeting them. To achieve this:

I always seek to clarify and understand how my work is bringing (or not bringing) value to the business.

I actively seek feedback as often as possible.

I aim to learn as much as possible from those around me, whether through feedback or by assisting and taking some work off your plate.

During 1:1 meetings, I tend to speak my mind and be vulnerable because I trust my manager to not reduce me to my weakness but to help me overcome them.

With My Reports

My 1:1 time is dedicated solely to you.

If you don't have specific topics to discuss, my focus will be on earning your trust. I want you to feel psychologically safe to share your true strengths and weaknesses, so I can learn how to best support you.

I strive to coach and share as much as I know. It's important that you share the direction of your growth so I can discuss the right opportunities for you at the right time.

Turn on’s

Ownership

Team players

Working to lift each other up

Inclusivity

Transparency

Believing in the best of the people

Curiosity

Playfullness

Turn off’s

I am not a fan of lone wolves (intelligent Jerks); I believe in teamwork. I value people working together towards a common goal, with everyone contributing fairly. If you think you are the only one capable of accomplishing something, it's not a point of pride. True growth comes from uplifting others to your level, enabling the team to achieve dreams far greater than you could alone.

There are no small or menial tasks; you do what needs to be done because you believe in the team. If something is preventing you from thinking this way, it may be rooted in insecurity. Addressing this will greatly benefit both you and the team.

Disengagement. If I feel like you are not engaged in your work I will provide the feedback and I expect that to change. I also acknowledge that engagement means not just talking in team meetings. To me it means creating alignment and showing accountability with your work in your own preferred way of communication. For some it’s written communication, participating in slack conversations and for some it’s just simply completing their tasks on time.

Working hours

My regular working hours are from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST. I'm an early riser and one of those people who goes to bed embarrassingly early. I try to structure my days into three parts:

6:00 am - 9:00 am: Provide value to self. I work out, meditate, journal, make smoothies, and try new things to start my day right.

9:00 am - 5:00 pm: provide value to others.

5:00 pm - bedtime: Recharge. I spend it with my loved ones to unwind and prepare for the next day. This time is very valuable to me.

If you need to schedule a meeting beyond my regular working hours, I'm surely willing to accommodate, but please be mindful of tapping into my recharge time. Thank you!

Meetings

I prefer written communication whenever possible, as it helps to structure thoughts and clarify the purpose and audience of the message (hence this document). That said, I am always happy to hop on a synchronous meeting. I appreciate having a clear agenda and knowing what is expected of me, as well as the main objectives of the meeting. This allows me to prepare effectively and contribute meaningfully.

P.S

This is a living breathing document - as I evolve by learning from my awesome peers my values and working style evolve too. So I’ll keep updating this document!

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