The first section my "working with me doc" is about My Commitments to You and My Expectations from You. This reflection was a lot of fun and helped me better understand what I value. It is a long list right now and I can't decide which to remove...over time I imagine it will shrink a bit.
My Commitments to you & My Expectations for you
1. We want everyone to feel happy and fulfilled, but we put our Helix team first, then our customers, then partners, and finally “investors”
2. There are many ways to be smart - look for how everyone is smart in their “way”. Find your way and help others find theirs, then fuel it. Our team will benefit greatly.
3. Show up with your full self, to actively listen, learn, and contribute. Find a way to bring value to every meeting or work session you are a part of… our team doesn’t get any better if you’re always on mute…unless you’re focused on taking amazing notes we can all use after…but still, we want, and need to hear from you!
4. Be the change, if you wish or hope something could be different, take the first step…speak up, reach out, lead by example.
5. Open mind but not an empty head, I want to hear your recommendations, thoughts, and advice. Our team gets great results when we hear from everyone, and if needed, constructively debate a problem and solution. Positive tension is a great thing, it is hard to pull anything forward with a lot of slack in the rope.
6. Speak your mind, especially when you do hold a minority point of view. Respect others at all times, especially when they have the courage to do the foregoing.
7. Don’t get so attached to the first solution and get good at not knowing - try to think like a scientist…focus on the problem, create a hypothesis, test it, analyze results, repeat. When brainstorming the solution or testing ideas, use high quantity to get to high quality. The first idea is never as good as we think it is.
8. Lead with positivity, there’s enough negativity out there.
9. Know the why, achieving a great outcome only gets you 50% credit. If you can’t explain the why, we can’t repeat the win, this turns it into a future loss.
10. Help others be the best version of themselves - not your ideal version…a great team is the sum of many unique and talented parts working towards a common goal.
11. Strive to practice radical candor, be direct AND have good intent when working together or providing feedback. This lets our team know where you stand and why…so we can more quickly learn together and spend less time dancing around the real topic. It may feel a bit uncomfortable at first, but in the end, stronger relationships are usually formed. Let’s get real or let’s not play.
12. I wonder, what if, let's try…value learning more than being right.Embrace play, curiosity, and experimentation. This also applies to connecting the dots between “abstract” - knowledge you learn from TV,Podcasts, Books, Life…I’d love to hear your stories, we never know what creates the next big spark of innovation or discovery for our team. Worst case, it helps us get to know each other more.
13. If you don’t know who the decision maker is, it’s probably you and if it’s not, ask…don't get stuck - too many people get stuck. It's helpful for us to think of decisions as Hats, Haircuts, or Tattoos...ask me to explain if you're curious.
14. Meetings generally should start with the following statement: “This meeting will be successful if…” They generally should end with a clear list of action items and deadlines.
15. Challenge me and my ideas. I can be quick to offer solutions to tough problems -- we will not be successful as a team if you or I blindly follow those. It may be that I’m wrong, or that the best solution is a variant of my suggested course of action. One of the fastest ways to earn my admiration is to publicly disagree with me, and/or find a solution superior to one I propose.
16. 5 minute favors - if it is going to take you less than 5 minutes, the 80/20rule I practice is “do it now”. These quick acts of kindness can have a significant impact on building relationships and fostering a culture of reciprocity. Not to mention, it frees up your memory bank.
17. Show appreciation, be specific and brief - the more specific, the more valuable it is for the receiver, and it almost always feels good as the sender.Nothing is too small or big to be grateful for either, it helps set a tone of positivity.
18. Dedicate time to spend with your family/friends/partner/pets. Block it off on your calendar. If I inadvertently ask you to compromise that time, tell me.
The next section I'll be sharing...Things I'm working on...
Until next time,
T