Strengthening the 8-Dimensions by Braze Talent Development

2024-12-18 16:48:59 UTC

Get to know as many people as you can, across varying levels of seniority and tenure

Clear is kind... and effective

2024-12-18 16:49:06 UTC

For me, the key to delivering results is creating and communicating really clear expectations. I never want to leave a meeting or discussion without a clear (and focused!) set of next steps -- if everyone knows what needs to happen, the owner, and by when, it's a lot easier to achieve or even exceed those outcomes.

2024-12-18 16:49:59 UTC

Ability to think multi-threaded, effectively
Ability to arrive at a decision logically, even in the absence of all the data

Challenging in a comfortable way

2024-12-18 16:51:00 UTC

While debate is enormously fun for me, I know that's not true for all -- whether you're the person on the other side or the person that wants to challenge the statement/strategy/etc. I've found a more comfortable approach lies in asking it as a question. "Have we considered an approach like...?" can get the same point across without feeling combative

Seek to understand what matters to your team

2024-12-18 16:51:09 UTC

Different people have different skills, different needs and different goals. The more we can understand these up front, the more agency we have in crafting the team composition (and things like work projects) to align with areas of strength and growth/opportunity/interest

Vision Boarding

2024-12-18 16:51:17 UTC

Every December I create a vision board for the next year. I use pictures and words and color to reflect on the next year. I post the vision board in my office to keep me on track and each quarter I do a bit of reflection on what I am on track on and what I need to focus on.

Data is confidence + conviction!

2024-12-18 16:53:52 UTC

I think more folks should be confident in their perspective, and sometimes getting information down on paper to back up your POV makes it less about defending your "perspective" and more about showing the data and the logical conclusion that is drawn from it. The trick here is always knowing how much data you need to validate your conclusion, and testing the data/recommendation on a few stakeholders before presenting to the full group will help iron out possible gaps. That said, there will always be gaps! That's ok. Follow ups aren't a bad thing -- but you can still hold to your conviction on the strategy if you've thought through 90-95% of the possibilities in advance.

Let go of a singular way to do things

2024-12-18 16:53:56 UTC

Avoid anchoring to a specific activity you must do. Instead, consider the outcomes you want to achieve. Challenge yourself to consider several other ways you might accomplish this than just sticking with your instinct.

Clear and concise visual to comms

2024-12-18 16:54:28 UTC

I write and re-write messages that I want to be compelling to my team and use the same language over and over again. Example - we are pivoting to skills-based learning as a strategy for Braze employee development. I worked a lot of the exact language I wanted to use to share with the team about this pivot and got it down to a sentence. So every time we talk about it, we have that sentence as our north star - it is consistent and unifies us around

2024-12-18 16:55:30 UTC

Ability to stay focused when under stress
Not passing on the stress from "above" to the team members, letting them do what they do best

Building trust

2024-12-18 16:56:12 UTC

In order to communicate with impact, you have to have trust on the team. I love Brene Brown's work on building trust - it is called the BRAVING Trust framework - https://www.mindful.org/brene-brown-on-what-it-really-means-to-trust/

Understand how and when people like to receive feedback - and be direct when providing it

2024-12-18 16:56:51 UTC

Have initial conversations with your team about how and when feedback is best delivered. Communicate up front to set expectations and establish shared norms about directness in delivering feedback -- in both directions

Look for your opposite wheel in research

2024-12-18 16:56:59 UTC

I love drawing inspiration from roles or industries that are the opposite from ours to inform our own vision and strategy. More often than not, we're already on a positive path and with the right components for what we know is in front of us. But a vision needs to look around corners, to a further out horizon etc. What are others doing? What inspiration can we draw from your favorite historical figure? Mentors?

Motivators, demotivators, strengths

2024-12-18 16:57:33 UTC

Getting to know your DR is key in helping develop them. Doing exercises with them, or leading them through exercises to identify what their strengths are, what motivates them, what demotivates them can unlock a lot

Regular career dev conversations

2024-12-18 16:57:59 UTC

schedule these meetings and keep them sacred!

2024-12-18 16:58:28 UTC

Provide constructive feedback to team members, while praising them for what they do best. Maintain a balance of kudos to improvement feedback. Helps build the trust.
Identify improvement areas and coach team members for their professional development.

Bring directs along for the ride

2024-12-18 16:58:44 UTC

Career conversations are a great way to establish areas of strength/weakness, but also to identify areas to focus on for growth. Use these as a springboard to stretch projects -- either to own or to ride along

Regular self-reflection

2025-03-25 17:02:31 UTC

I try to set aside time regularly on my calendar for my own self-reflection of what is working and not working. If I don't operationalize the time on my calendar, I can get stuck in the action orientation of constantly delivering results and unable to adapt my style just-in-time.

I also ask for constructive feedback from my DRs regularly (outside of the 2x performance cycles)

Know your team's personalities & what motivates them

2025-03-25 17:02:43 UTC

Do they thrive on interactions, how do they like to receive praise, how do they like to receive feedback, etc. These are all really fundamental questions that help build the foundation of a secure team and relationship that is steeped in trust and respect. And adding to that the ability to share strengths among the team so that they can rely on each other is a great opportunity for all to feel like a leader in their own way.

Get to know your team on a personal level

2025-03-25 17:03:19 UTC

Be intentional about doing "fun" things with your team. Doesn't necessarily need to be in-person events if your team is not all in one place. We have done March Madness brackets, scheduled one-off team meetings to discuss fun topics, etc. It makes you feel connected to Braze as a company and to your team.

Operationalize team hygiene

2025-03-25 17:05:32 UTC

Every DKO season we get together as a team and go over our team hygiene. We look at our cadence of meetings, review our team meeting structure, 1:1 structure, and set the schedule for the year in terms of strategy check-ins, OKR planning etc. We find that year after year we consistently make small tweaks to our SOPs. It feels good to know that there is a 'clean-up' session on the books so we don't get stuck doing the same thing, the same way, just because we have always done it that way

Seeing the wood from the trees

2025-03-25 17:05:41 UTC

Being able to take a step back and think about the entirety of the problem or situation you are trying to solve fore. It's very easy to get caught up in the minutiae

Create a project plan with clear ownership early on

2025-03-25 17:05:44 UTC

Clearly define project scope, ownership, due dates and next steps early on, and continue to revisit these to make sure the project is progressing. Check in with owners to understand blockers and communicate with all parties impacted.

Consistent vision reinforcement

2025-03-25 17:07:34 UTC

Once you have the vision articulated it is important to consistently reinforce it in every channel within the team - via team meetings, 1:1s, convos with stakeholders and with your chain of command. The more times it is said and re-said, the more it will stick as your team's north star

Connect with people in your network to understand how other companies solve for the same problems

2025-03-25 17:07:41 UTC

The challenges we face are often not unique to Braze. Speak with people in the same role to understand how they solve for these challenges. This will spark an idea that you can then use as a jumping off point to come up with a proposal for how we could solve for it at Braze.

ADKAR

2025-03-25 17:09:28 UTC

Becoming familiar with how people process change can help you when you are building your change strategy. I prefer the ADKAR model https://www.prosci.com/methodology/adkar

Over-communicate

2025-03-25 17:09:52 UTC

Make sure you are communicating with your leaders, team, and stakeholders often. This will ensure they are always in the loop on where things stand. This will build a level of credibility and confidence that you are on top of your work.

Trusting your Gut

2025-03-25 17:10:04 UTC

Sometimes we can over rely on data and metrics. I believe in trusting your instincts and giving yourself the space to sit with an issue or situation when something feels "off". Don't ignore it - trust your spidey sense - and dig into it.

Drive the team culture you want to see

2025-03-25 17:11:24 UTC

Make sure you set a good example for your team. Take PTO and encourage your team to do the same to avoid burnout.

Vitals

2025-04-24 16:50:14 UTC

Think about the "vitals" or indicators for your team. What are the regular signals you can get a pulse on to know if they are improving, stagnant, or worsening

Always try to have a good understanding of the issue before acting

2025-04-24 16:51:55 UTC

More often than not, when we think of agility we think of fast paced action. However, agility can also be thought of as being able to respond fast when the situation changes and you can only do that effectively when you actually understand the situation clearly.

Finding opportunities for 70-20-10 Learning for DR

2025-04-24 16:52:04 UTC

As a leader I try to find opportunities for my DR to implement a variety of learning into their development. For example 70% (learning on the job) - delegating tasks/projects to them that practically apply the skill they are trying to enhance. 20% (through others) being a coach or a mentor to them to discuss, reflect and sound board their approach to the skill. 10% (formal) some form of formal upskilling from e-learning, a conference, a book, or a training course to help give them the theory of how to improve this skill.

2025-04-24 16:52:58 UTC

I run a biweekly newsletter for the team to share my thoughts on things going on and to highlight interesting goings-on from other teams that are difficult to passively find otherwise

Create a team culture around a growth mindset

2025-04-24 16:53:42 UTC

Similar to facilitating development, but by being intentional about making this more of a team-wide culture than just a downward coaching mindset, the team will rally around each other's strengths. A rising tide lifts all boats.

using EI when communicating a message

2025-04-24 16:53:48 UTC

I try to always be mindful of what this message/change might mean for every person I speak to. As a leader it is my job to make sure I change my style/approach/communication depending on the skill/will of the DR I am speaking with.

Lead by Example

2025-04-24 16:54:02 UTC

People learn and act as they see around them so make sure you are the first one in your team to act and do as you would like to see from others.

Aspire to be inspiring to others.

2025-04-24 16:55:02 UTC

I assigned a mentor from within the team for each of my junior employees, and have a regular sync with the mentors to identify where we can have team-wide discussions

Find the diamond in the rough to inspire and ignite passion in your work

2025-04-24 16:55:51 UTC

Regardless of the level of interest in the project or subject matter, approach it with curiosity and a growth mindset. Challenge yourself to learn something new, approach problem solving in a new way, and understand how success in your work lends to our overall priorities or objectives! You'll be surprised how interesting and valuable the apparently mundane can be.

Focus on principles

2025-05-07 15:25:07 UTC

Break down topics into sets of principles rather than an action plan.

This will allow you to teach fundamentals that your team can apply to multiple scenarios, rather than just the task at hand.

Active Listening

2025-05-07 15:26:14 UTC

When joining a team from an IC to a People manager role, it helped a lot to first listen to them and what they have to say. Let them tell you what are their struggles and how you can support. Make sure you tell how you understand what they are saying so you are all at the same page. This helped with the trust relationship I have with my team whom used to be my peers

Believe in the process

2025-05-07 15:26:41 UTC

The role that I lead is very outcome focused. From day one I make it very clear what the expectation is, and how we are going to get there! We have data that drives these outcomes and if they follow the process they will be successful. We naturally see a hockey stick of productivity and outputs that will lead to these outcomes. As time evolves we will help to refine individuals to be more successful

2025-05-07 15:26:57 UTC

When I was an IC and a peer of my current direct reports, I had developed a relationship with someone in marketing who managed external speaking opportunities. As my team expressed interest in building certain competencies - parternships, public speaking, building their brand, doing things outside of normal job description - I surfaced opportunities from marketing, allowing them to build those muscle. This has gone a long way in giving me credit in that bank as I have transitioned into their manager.

Optimal Decision

2025-05-07 15:27:00 UTC

Find optimal time to be allocated when dealing time pressure; don't sacrifice deadlines over quality, but have proper balance for this

Trust the team

2025-05-07 15:27:01 UTC

Give the team the trust and confidence that they are able to do a solid job on their own. Give them the space to fail if necessary, it's the best way for them to learn. This is key in helping them develop their skill and confidence.

Celebrate progress

2025-05-07 15:27:14 UTC

Be a cheerleading for your team

We're all working on the same goal.

2025-05-07 15:27:19 UTC

One of my favourite things one of reports said to me around a year ago

'Whenever you ask me to work on something, it's never a thing I know you wouldn't do yourself, this is just my part of pie' which they all know to be true. We're all working towards the same end goal, and growing as we go.

I always also aim to get their buy in and opinion as we're looking at new projects and work, so it's our project.

Strengthen vision with other teams

2025-05-07 15:27:49 UTC

A vision can be even more compelling if it's clear how your teams vision, along with the vision of other teams will lead to really exciting outcomes for the companies. Look for these opportunities to build shared visions across teams and highlight where you're contributing to an even bigger scope.

Know your direction and make it happen

2025-05-12 15:12:56 UTC

Always have the end goal in mind and concentrate all the resources into making it happen. Make sure everyone believes in what you are building and that everyone gets the best of it for themselves.