interesthings #9 - Reflecting on a year of work

Well hello there! Apologies for missing last week's newsletter as I was under the weather and lacked the energy to complete it. But fear not, because this week's edition is going to be extra special 😉.

As you may recall, I wrote an article last year reflecting on my first year of work. This time around, I'll be sharing my 2022 learnings in this week's interesthings. My aim is to not only discuss the challenges I've faced but also to inspire you to learn from them.

Thoughts - Learnings of 2 years as a projectmanager 🤔

Reflecting on my two years of work experience, I recently took a moment to look back on the past year and was struck by the progress I had made. Taking the time to reflect on my journey and the lessons I have learned has made me more mindful of my growth and inspired me to continue striving for excellence in my career.

I believe that sharing my experiences and learnings can be a powerful way to inspire and motivate you to reach your full potential. With this in mind, I hope that by sharing my progress and insights, I can inspire you to achieve your goals and become better at your job or career.

Reflecting on 2022 👀

Last year was an intense year for me, as my career took a big leap forward, and I became the lead of our development and design team. This came with a lot of responsibilities and a need for growth in becoming a high-performing team and manager.

One crucial step in this journey was figuring out my leadership style and how to communicate effectively with my team. My leadership is primarily based on compassion and personal growth, prioritising understanding others and giving them the energy and space to grow as individuals.

I believe that leadership is not just about achieving results but also about creating a positive impact on people's lives. By embracing a leadership style focused on compassion and personal growth, I aim to empower my team members to reach their full potential and achieve their professional and personal goals.

This mindset has enabled us to build a team that is highly motivated, engaged, and committed to achieving excellence in our work. We prioritize open communication, honest feedback, and collaboration, which fosters trust and creates a supportive environment where everyone can thrive.

Looking back on the challenges and successes of the past year, I am grateful for the opportunity to grow as a leader and to work with such a talented and dedicated team. I am excited about the future and the potential that lies ahead, and I am committed to continuing to lead with compassion and a focus on personal growth.

Leadership style 🏋️‍♀️

Discovering my leadership style was crucial in understanding how to effectively communicate with my team. My approach is primarily based on compassion and personal growth - I prioritize understanding my team members and giving them the space and energy to develop as individuals.

Many people I encounter tend to focus solely on generating profits with their team, but this narrow mindset fails to recognize the true source of financial success: people. By treating others with kindness and respect, and allowing them to thrive both in their job and personal lives, we can build a team that is not only profitable, but fulfilling and purposeful.

Recognizing this has made me deeply appreciative of the individuals I work with. Our team is founded on trust and a commitment to personal growth, rather than simply maximizing profits for the company. These profits are a natural outcome of our collective efforts, rather than the sole objective.

Being lazy 😴

You might wonder, "What can being lazy teach you?" Let me explain.

Being lazy doesn't mean that I spend my workday binge-watching Netflix. Instead, it means that I strive to automate and streamline my work processes. Having a lazy mindset helps me to:

• Automate my out-of-office replies based on calendar events.

• Automate client onboarding using tools like Microsoft Forms and Power Automate.

• Automate critical issue notifications with Power Automate.

• Set up reminders in my calendar for recurring tasks.

• Automate our Jira dashboard to avoid repetitive tasks.

• Fully automate the creation of a project in Jira with preset issues and dependencies.

Being lazy makes you more efficiënt. Look at something you do and ask yourself, how can I make this task easier and more efficiënt?

Building a high-performing team 👏

As a manager, my primary responsibility is to build a high-performing team. A bad manager only thinks of themselves and their reputation, creating teams that lack trust and engagement, eventually leading to failure. But our development and design team is a high-performing team, thanks to:

• Trust, established through bi-weekly meetings where we reflect on our work and progress.

• Belief in quality, efficiency, and productivity, knowing that revenue is a result, not the input.

• Honesty, valuing each other as individuals, and taking feedback without taking it personally.

• My protection of the team from outside threats and facilitation of their work.

• Fun, interest in each other, and humor.

• Clear goals for the future, for ourselves, and the team.

Recently, another manager at our company praised our team as a blueprint for others to follow. The focus is on creating teams capable of achieving great results together, which is partly my effort, but ultimately a team effort.

Is a high-performing team done learning and growing? No. We face many challenges, but we tackle them together, and we continue to race forward as a team.

Cycling - Indoor season

Things I found

• This weekend I watched the movie Everything, Everywhere All at Once. An absolute masterpiece. No wonder the movie won 4 Oscars last night.

• Look at these Mario inspired real-life boots by Red Wing Shoes. Take my money 💸.

• The third season of the feel good sitcom Ted Lasso will premiere this week. A 2-time Emmy award winning serie. Ted Lasso is an emotional rollercoaster about an American trainer that starts coaching the fictional Premier League division footballclub AFC Richmond. Watch it on Apple TV.

Gif of the week

The new Mandalorian series is in full swing and so is Pedro Pascal. What an absolute icon.

Songs - Kill Bill by SZA

This song grooves and the album is a pure masterpiece. Nothing more to add. Find Kill Bill by SZA on Apple Music and Spotify

Thank you for reading this weeks Interesthings. Next week I will be back with another interesting thought. Support me by subscribing to my newsletter 😁. I would appreciate it.

Have a great week!

- Mark