Tag: #work

As the leader of our close-knit startup, I am truly grateful to have such an incredible team by my side. I understand how essential it is for my staff to become familiar with my work style, the way I operate, and my personal endeavors. Recently, I felt inspired to put together a self-bio to communicate these aspects more effectively, helping me become a better colleague and support system for all of you. In 2023, I am eager to refine my ability to articulate these things, becoming a more effective executive in our startup. Here are some key elements of my work style and approach:

Introduction:

Hello, I’m Adem, the CEO of our team. I am thrilled to collaborate with all of you and your teams. One of my main goals for 2023 is to improve my communication skills and become more approachable.

Operational Approach:

• I conduct biweekly or weekly 1-on-1s to keep everyone informed and on track.
• Consistency is crucial so you can plan effectively.
• I’m an advocate of shared documents featuring agendas, action items, goals, and updates. The GitLab handbook has been a source of inspiration for planning and operating a remote/distributed company. I believe remote work is the future, and we are in the early stages of this transition.
• Weekly team meetings are scheduled as needed for updates and decision-making.
• I expect team members to be prepared to participate in meetings, even if they are via video conference in different time zones (I always try to accommodate the best option for the team).
• Quarterly and yearly planning sessions are held, with strong pre-work and follow-up to ensure alignment between internal and external teams.
• I am currently working on improving this process.

Personal Development:

• Eventually, I’d like to schedule career sessions to understand your goals, history, and future ambitions.
• This will help me comprehend your personal development interests and aspirations in relation to your long-term plans.
• I believe in reviewing top 3-5 personal goals on a quarterly basis (separate from team plans).
• I am more than happy to share my personal goals with you as well.
• Every 3-6 months, we can discuss and plan how to get the support and time needed to achieve personal goals.

Team Communication:

• Feel free to add me to emails or documents as an FYI or to keep me informed about what’s happening within the organization.
• I prefer “no presentation” meetings, as in-person meetings can be costly for the company.
• I appreciate context and find it helpful to be included in conversations and kept up-to-date on organizational happenings.
• I am passionate about understanding and improving the organization, so don’t hesitate to keep me in the loop.
• I eagerly anticipate meeting everyone in the company and learning about our collective work and goals.

Management Style:

• I am collaborative and enjoy discussing decision options through documents and group calls.
• Although new to whiteboarding, I relish writing out ideas and working through them together. I’m a fan of Miro and Apple Freeform for organizing visuals and Docs.
• I value deep thinking and strive to apply first principles as much as possible.
• I can be slow to decide at times, but if you need a decision quickly, just let me know.
• I am generally hands-off as a manager but may be more involved initially in new initiatives to gain a better understanding of the project.
• I expect team members to make many decisions independently, but I am happy to help if you face a particularly significant issue.
• I am always here to listen and support you, and I want to know what’s going on with you and your team.
• I am working on being less hands-on and overly supportive, focusing instead on being a better leader and coach.

Thanks for reading this. I’m sure this will continued to be updated as I progress and uncover new things that I think can be helpful.

Kind regards,

Adem