From Geek to Star #42 - “I am with you”. Simply powerful.

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🗓️ This Week – Episode 42: boost your Soft skills with a simple motto

One month ago, I started a new tech leadership job in a “family in business” hospitality group. When you start in a fully new professional environment, you have a high learning curve and you discover a lot of things that you don't see from the outside. One particular detail that struck my attention was the signature my boss and many others had in their email, ending their email with this motto: “I am with you”.

As I was going through my induction program, I learned that many years back, one of the co-founders was in a city, taking a taxi at night. There was a bit of a walk from the taxi drop-off to the location in deserted streets, and she did not feel safe. The taxi driver told her not to worry, stopped his car and accompanied her making sure she was safe. Ever since, “I am with you” has been a motto of the company, illustrating how hotel staff may care for their guests, and how colleagues in the company may care for each other, not sticking just to their jobs or departments' scope but looking at how they could support each other.

Developing your SHINE: I am with you.  

How does that matter in our line of work as tech leaders or engineers? As much as for everyone I believe, if not more because many tech people sometimes feel difficult to engage with other colleagues, especially non tech colleagues. 

Many people working in tech functions are still perceived as working in “support functions”. This is particularly true in more traditional industries, but even in companies which may already have invested a lot in digital transformation (e.g banking typically), the IT department is often perceived as still very much of a cost center, attached to finance, and therefore in a support role more than an enablement role. Even if you are not the CIO / CTO at the forefront to push towards a change of perception, you can change the perception that the non tech colleagues and the organisation may have about you - and about your team if you are managing one. 

It does not have to start with grandiose and ambitious plans, but just by a slight shift of behaviours. And I realised that keeping in mind a motto such as : “I am with you” can help tremendously. 

Let's take the example of how to manage the request of business colleagues to push for “quick and dirty” solutions to meet the timeline because the correct solution can not be delivered in time. Sounds familiar right? This is a constant cause of tension in many organisations between business priorities versus technical priorities. Many would approach this kind of situation with an argument-based approach explaining why their approach makes sense and why the other side is creating issues. This usually escalates the ladder of management until a decision is made that will leave one side frustrated by the other. And repeating other times, creating a wider distrust gap between departments. 

In a “I am with you” genuine approach, this starts with understanding what is at stake on the other side first. It does not mean to say blindly “Yes” to anything. But instead of saying “No, it's not possible because", it helps to reframe the dynamic more into "No, but here is how we can help in your needs” if what is discussed is too far from what you may accept. Not only does it have the benefit of reducing tensions and putting people in a more collaborative dynamic, it also contributes to position you more as an enabler.

Try it. Start small, just in how you reply to your emails. Before hitting “send", take a pause and review your reply with this in mind: “am I with you” the way I reply? 

🙏 I’d Love to Hear From You

Is there a situation in which you noticed that communicating differently made a real positive difference? 

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Follow me on LinkedIn for more reflections and “behind-the-scenes” thinking between newsletters. Don’t hesitate to comment or reshare,  it’s one of the best ways to grow your SHINE 🌟. If you want to know more about how I can support you or your teams to thrive in a tech career in this AI-age, have a look at my offerings here.  

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✨ May the SHINE be with you!

From Geek to Star by Khang | The Way Forward