People don't care about your title or about your past, but they care about what you show them you can do. Remembering that prevents you from feeling entitled, so you always do your best work.
Thanks for the mention to my article, Jordan, I appreciate it!
I really found your insights valuable and can totally relate! As software engineers, we often forget how important it is to share updates and provide visibility into our work. We sometimes think our code will speak for itself, but effective communication not only keeps everyone aligned but also shows confidence. Thanks Gourav for sharing your experience—it's a great reminder for all of us!
Gourav, this is a fantastic article. I think your title for #2 is particularly good, “trust and clear communication triumph raw intelligence”.
It’s a hard pill to swallow, but it’s true. One thing I often tell people is that if you can’t articulate what you’re doing and why it is important to other people, there is an extremely high probability that it is because you can’t articulate it to yourself. And if you can’t articulate it to yourself, you probably aren’t taking the driver’s seat for your own career (point #1) because you are relying on someone else to articulate your value for you.
So, combining #1 and #2 is something I often say, “don’t outsource the communication of the value you bring to the table”.
I can see the confusion here. Without going into the exact words they spoke or written here - the intrinsic meaning alings with what you have been reading about other leaders.
The point of view here was that I needed to take initiatives myself and not look out for someone else to provide me the kickers. I want to clarify they kept providing me opportunities for growth, however engineering maturity was something I developed after that point in time.
[...] Telling others (especially leadership) that they are wrong is harder but worth it [...]
This for me was a big game changer. From that time, upper management started to "respect" more and take my opinion more in consideration. I did not anticipate that!
All 5 lessons from Gourav resonated with me.
People don't care about your title or about your past, but they care about what you show them you can do. Remembering that prevents you from feeling entitled, so you always do your best work.
Thanks for the mention to my article, Jordan, I appreciate it!
I really found your insights valuable and can totally relate! As software engineers, we often forget how important it is to share updates and provide visibility into our work. We sometimes think our code will speak for itself, but effective communication not only keeps everyone aligned but also shows confidence. Thanks Gourav for sharing your experience—it's a great reminder for all of us!
Gourav, this is a fantastic article. I think your title for #2 is particularly good, “trust and clear communication triumph raw intelligence”.
It’s a hard pill to swallow, but it’s true. One thing I often tell people is that if you can’t articulate what you’re doing and why it is important to other people, there is an extremely high probability that it is because you can’t articulate it to yourself. And if you can’t articulate it to yourself, you probably aren’t taking the driver’s seat for your own career (point #1) because you are relying on someone else to articulate your value for you.
So, combining #1 and #2 is something I often say, “don’t outsource the communication of the value you bring to the table”.
Thanks for sharing Jordan!
These are insightful comments. I believe even a person who is not in management can benefit from these observations.
About the first point.
My experience taught me the same.
However, I find this a contradiction with all the people writing and talking about leadeship.
In those readings, people read about how a leader is a beacon, a supporter, a mentor.
In my humble opinion, that's a contradiction with "Gourav, I can’t drive your promotion anymore. You have to do it yourself."
I can see the confusion here. Without going into the exact words they spoke or written here - the intrinsic meaning alings with what you have been reading about other leaders.
The point of view here was that I needed to take initiatives myself and not look out for someone else to provide me the kickers. I want to clarify they kept providing me opportunities for growth, however engineering maturity was something I developed after that point in time.
Solid article guys!
Being a trustworthy person is crucial. That's one of the prerequisite for being promoted, imo.
[...] Telling others (especially leadership) that they are wrong is harder but worth it [...]
This for me was a big game changer. From that time, upper management started to "respect" more and take my opinion more in consideration. I did not anticipate that!
Thanks a lot Gourav for sharing these learnings!
Great advice
This is an impressive article ! I wished I read this article 8 years ago ❤️