A very close article. Thanks for being super transparent, Raviraj. I'm sure identifying and sharing all these vulnerabilities was hard. It'll help many people.
I liked the emphasis you put on finding mentors along the way. I'm the kind of guy who thought "I can grind my books and my tasks and progress". But lately, I have realized that on my own I can only do linear progress. Every step is connected to the previous one. But someone who has been there can point and apply pressure to the right levers to make a meaningful change.
Your story is still being written. I'm sure what's coming next is exciting 😁
Thanks for the kind words, Fran. It was harder identifying it, sharing is easy as long as it helps people. As Ryan said, having a strong mentor short circuits growth.
I really enjoyed reading the story! What impressed me the most, is the patience and willingness to listen to feedback, and improve the place you are at. One of the qualities I remember Ryan talking about for Staff engineers is 'everyone likes to work with them'. For some people it comes naturally, and some (me among them) need to work harder, balancing on the edge between defending your principles/people and being approachable and respected.
A lot of young engineers have dreams of 'Junior to stuff in 4 years' (some probably inspired by Ryan's story 🙃), and your story shares the less glorious side of the journey.
Thanks Ryan and Raviraj for putting it together :)
Glad you enjoyed it! My goal was exactly to share that. The pace of promotions is different for different people and it could be due to a combination of internal and external factors!
Wow! It's easy to tell how much effort both of you put into this article and making it the awesome piece it is.
Thanks for sharing your journey, Raviraj.
I relate a lot to the times of receiving vague feedback, so your points and examples around that are very helpful to hopefully demystify it.
The story around the managers switching sounds really tough... I get you on the build up of context and trust that's needed again and again when your manager switches. Very cool that even with that you powered through and worked with the new manager and TL to get the Staff promotion.
Thanks again for sharing your journey for us to learn from :)
Loved the story! Thanks, Raviraj and Ryan, for putting in so much effort.
Totally resonated with the following points regarding feedback and learned it the hard way. I used to have a hard time receiving feedback, staying in denial mode for a long time, which can slow down growth. I also used to negate everything I was doing right when I received feedback.
"Receiving feedback does not mean everything else I am doing is wrong."
"Your instinct will tell you to deny it, but pause and listen."
"Receive vague feedback; respectfully dig in. Ask for tactical action items you can work on."
A very close article. Thanks for being super transparent, Raviraj. I'm sure identifying and sharing all these vulnerabilities was hard. It'll help many people.
I liked the emphasis you put on finding mentors along the way. I'm the kind of guy who thought "I can grind my books and my tasks and progress". But lately, I have realized that on my own I can only do linear progress. Every step is connected to the previous one. But someone who has been there can point and apply pressure to the right levers to make a meaningful change.
Your story is still being written. I'm sure what's coming next is exciting 😁
Thanks for the kind words, Fran. It was harder identifying it, sharing is easy as long as it helps people. As Ryan said, having a strong mentor short circuits growth.
Guidance from a mentor is the difference between night and day. Especially if they’re strong in the skills you need to develop
I really enjoyed reading the story! What impressed me the most, is the patience and willingness to listen to feedback, and improve the place you are at. One of the qualities I remember Ryan talking about for Staff engineers is 'everyone likes to work with them'. For some people it comes naturally, and some (me among them) need to work harder, balancing on the edge between defending your principles/people and being approachable and respected.
A lot of young engineers have dreams of 'Junior to stuff in 4 years' (some probably inspired by Ryan's story 🙃), and your story shares the less glorious side of the journey.
Thanks Ryan and Raviraj for putting it together :)
Glad you enjoyed it! My goal was exactly to share that. The pace of promotions is different for different people and it could be due to a combination of internal and external factors!
Glad you liked it Anton! Thanks for reading
Wow! It's easy to tell how much effort both of you put into this article and making it the awesome piece it is.
Thanks for sharing your journey, Raviraj.
I relate a lot to the times of receiving vague feedback, so your points and examples around that are very helpful to hopefully demystify it.
The story around the managers switching sounds really tough... I get you on the build up of context and trust that's needed again and again when your manager switches. Very cool that even with that you powered through and worked with the new manager and TL to get the Staff promotion.
Thanks again for sharing your journey for us to learn from :)
Thank you 😊
Yea even looking back on my journey made me appreciate how having the right attitude and mentors/managers can be a huge differentiator.
My takeaway from this read is, be a life long student. It serves well in multiple and surprising ways. So thank you for writing this.
That’s well put. Yea, we never stop learning and there are always more things to improve.
Love the story. Especially liked the focus on the importance of empathy and people skills. Without them, it's not possible to grow.
Glad you liked it! Yea they are foundational to be a leader.
Loved the story! Thanks, Raviraj and Ryan, for putting in so much effort.
Totally resonated with the following points regarding feedback and learned it the hard way. I used to have a hard time receiving feedback, staying in denial mode for a long time, which can slow down growth. I also used to negate everything I was doing right when I received feedback.
"Receiving feedback does not mean everything else I am doing is wrong."
"Your instinct will tell you to deny it, but pause and listen."
"Receive vague feedback; respectfully dig in. Ask for tactical action items you can work on."
Glad you enjoyed it! Yea it is hard to listen and accept tough feedback. Thanks for sharing your experience.