Strengths, Blind Spots & Quirks
Core Goal: Familiarize yourself with my professional superpowers and quirks to help you anticipate my reactions and working style.
The Good & The Bad
- What are your “Superpowers”?
- Emotional Maturity: The best compliment I’ve received as an EM was from a manager who told me, “You are the most emotionally mature person I’ve worked with.” I lead with a commitment to doing what’s best for the team and the mission, trusting that this focus will lead to the best outcomes for everyone involved.
- Focusing on the Most Important Thing: I excel at identifying the core priorities of stakeholders and team members to build a shared picture of the team’s goals that everyone can agree to.
- Leverage Discovery: I have a knack for finding the 20% of effort that drives 80% of our mission’s results.
- What are your “Blind Spots”?
- Proximity Bias: I sometimes don’t look far enough out for challenges; I am working on identifying risks before they become urgent problems.
- Neglecting the Power of Kindness: I often assume others share my level of inherent mission-drive and can sometimes neglect the nurturing required to maintain a team’s focus and energy.
- What is something people often get wrong about you when they first work with you?
- The “Grumpy” Thinker: My deep thinking can be mistaken for grumpiness or disagreement. If I’m quiet, I’m likely just processing.
- The “Rigid” Expectation: Don’t assume the structured way I work is a requirement for you. I value finding the way we each work best and accommodating those differences to achieve the mission.
Quirks & Habits
- Share some of your professional quirks.
- Semantic Precision: I may over-index on the exact use or meaning of certain words. This isn’t pedantry; it’s a fear that misusing terms will lead to architectural or strategic confusion.
- Structure Over Casual Coffee: I value structured documentation on how the team works (SOPs, READMEs, ADRs) over casual commitments made over coffee. Documentation ensures the “Why” is durable and accessible to everyone.
- What are your “Pet Peeves” or professional “Triggers”?
- Lack of Punctuality: I value everyone’s time. In my mind, if you are “on time,” you are late.
- Meetings That Could Have Been Emails: If the goal is just information dissemination, let’s use a high-signal async channel instead of a synchronous meeting.
- Unplanned Surprises: I am a firm believer in “No Surprises.” Unless it is a literal surprise party, I want to know about risks, blockers, or changes in direction as early as possible.