Why this finalist deserves to win Best Tech Manager:
A team's success is often a direct result of how that team is managed. As you'll see in my uploaded documents and LinkedIn recommendations I've received from teams I've managed, I constantly encourage my team to believe in and support each other, so we can do remarkable things together that lead to our growth and the company’s growth. I believe in interdependence over independence. By being interdependent we are able to draw on each other’s strengths and deliver superior results often. I believe that putting our team over our selves is how we win. I believe that accountability has a massive impact on performance and results. It gives my team the ability to hold each other to a higher standard, provide support when things go a little awry, and offer praise and encouragement when we are doing well. As a leader with strong passion for continuous improvement and innovation, my teams constantly solve problems. Our team is made up of problem solvers who are curious knowledge seekers, outside-the-box thinkers, and always looking for new ways to deliver greater value.
Over the years, I've also learned that managing millennials requires a different type of leaderships. I've learned that millennials do not respond well to rigid protocols or displays of power. Rather, they need their leaders to be approachable, to encourage and guide them.
I've learned that I need to avoid setting myself up as role models or flexing my authority. Rather, I should earn the respect of millennials through my professional prestige and the consistency of my actions, not through some innate sense of respect for the established hierarchy or obedience of authority. I've learned that I need to recognize millenials' need for recognition. One of this generation's most distinctive features is the need for others' approval. They are one step short of being "addicted" to recognition, which they not only expect from their managers, but also from their peers. Their work is an important part of the daily life that they so brazenly share on social media. It's another tool to convey the image they want to project of themselves. I continuously encourage my organizations to give each other high fives on our public communication channels (slack, email, etc.). High fives make every day employee appreciation day. Our high fives lift office morale and create a better work culture by easily giving our employees some well-deserved praise. This also has been great for our remote team members. Remote workers often lose out on the recognition in the workplace that naturally occurs when in-office employees interact on a daily basis. This approach has helped us to also keep remote employees motivated, engaged, and happy.
The vast majority of technical managers at the companies I've interacted with have solid technical skills. Unfortunately, the same is not necessarily true of their team and people management skills. If a technical leader isn't lucky enough to have a mentor or the appropriate training, then learning on the job is the only real alternative. I've been lucky enough to have amazing mentors helping me become the technical leader I am today. Over the years, I've learned that these are the necessities for building and leading a high performing team:
- Establishing a clear North Star for the company to employ a clear and communicated vision to produce a great product. The North Star Metric is the single metric that best captures the core value that our product delivers to customers. Optimizing our efforts to grow this metric is key to driving sustainable growth.
- Creating meaningful, challenging work for employees by considering individual values, abilities, and skills along with the objectives of the company
- Setting an example and leading by example. Do as I say and not as I do is not a recipe for success.
- Coaching and developing employees to support their career and professional growth goals.
- Motivating employees by recognizing and reinforcing effective performance.
- Create a clear path and career trajectory for top performers to become managers. The rule of thumb here is to identify and develop talent who can capably replace me.
I'm also sharing my learnings and thoughts on building high performing teams at the upcoming Product Management Festival in Zürich (https://productmanagementfestival.com/speakers/amin-bashi/) and 3rd Annual Entrepreneurship Conference in Toronto (https://orbitconf.com/schedule/).
