This is Part 2 of my 4-part series: Navigating The Stages of Growth. [View the Full Series Roadmap] You recognize that your team or professional relationship is storming. What do you do now? How do you successfully navigate those choppy waters and steer the ship toward norming? Below, I’m sharing the exact tools and techniques I used throughout my career to help move my teams up the performance curve. 1. Recognizing That You Are […]
Communication - Mental Health
The xGoogle EM’s Guide: A 5-Step Roadmap to Building A High Performing Team
In my 25+ year career in tech, I led three engineering teams at Google after many years as a tech lead in consulting. Over time, I began to realize that team building is one of my superpowers. Seeded in my MBA and fine tuned after years in the industry, I’ve put together my best practices, which I’ll share in this series of posts. When I was getting my MBA, it seemed every class presented at […]
Communication - Mental Health
Introducing Tuckman’s Model of Team Effectiveness
This is Part 1 of my 4-part series: Navigating The Stages of Growth. [View the Full Series Roadmap] When I was getting my MBA, it seemed that nearly every class presented at least one theoretical model. The one that has really stood out to me throughout my career—from my time in consulting to leading three teams at Google—is Tuckman’s Model of Team Performance. I have seen this model play out hundreds of times. As a […]
Career Planning - Communication - Interviewing - Mental Health
Welcome To My Career Playbook
When I retired early after a career leading engineering teams at Google and beyond, I knew I wasn’t done with the work that had become most rewarding to me: coaching. While I was still at Google, I started a coaching practice to help engineers and leaders navigate the unique pressures of high-growth tech. I saw firsthand how a single shift in strategy could help an engineer overcome imposter syndrome or turn a new manager into […]
Communication
From Dread to Delivery: The Feedback Model This xGoogle Engineering Manager Used
If I’m being completely honest, giving feedback used to be one of my least favorite parts of being a manager. In fact, when I first joined Google, I dreaded it. I was worried about sounding like I was attacking my team or, worse, ruining a good working relationship. But as a leader, avoiding feedback is—to put it mildly—suboptimal. I realized that to help my team grow, I had to grow first. After attending several workshops […]