11 Comments
Jul 24Liked by Wes Kao

I love the use of analogy here - I've received feedback from neurodivergent peers that this also helps them think about the task from a different angle.

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Absolute gold in this post Wes 💪

Something that came to mind while reading this was:

What role does the hiring process have in this?

I have a note to write a post about good and bad hiring examples over the years.

In retrospect, bad ones were my fault, good ones not always because of me.

Do you think there is a connection from hiring to your message today?

Should I move up writing my article sooner?

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author

Yes I’d love to read your article Ramon. Please share when it’s ready!

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I loved the example. This is clearly about defining an SOP that everyone can replicate, regardless of being more or less familiar with Wes.

The key is also the people getting the feedback to accept it and iterate on their work, not getting defensive. When Wes started by answering for this particular event in the calendar and not directly giving feedback the person will feel less threatened

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Excellent.

“The best way to utilise me is…” as is a fantastic frame of reference to give to reports.

I have struggled with this. I moved from owning my startup (where everyone is frantically trying to keep the lights on, high agency, total ownership, etc.) to working at a mid-size org with a manager.

The uncertainty behind how to use these extra resources, particularly my manager, has been difficult.

I can see this simple breakdown helping a lot.

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Thanks for the post, it’s really insightful. I really like how you explained every piece of the message. Something that I would add is that sometimes when speaking is not enough to provide all this guidance if the audience is not good clarifying. It usually happens with the more junior people, you ask them if they got it and they even sometimes say they did and then they ask for help to someone else or do something wrong. Something that works is to ask proving questions confirming they understood the task well. Which I still feel it uncomfortable, I want to trust they did.

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I really like that you colour coded the advice you were offering, then deep dived on each point , it really helped to make it all sink in

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This is quite the timely topic. I have a team member who has had a long career in other type of work at other organizations, and she has now made a pivot into my function (People) and new company. Something I struggle with is wondering if giving so many details and guidance comes off as condescending or micromanaging. What are the signals that someone doesn't need this level of instruction?

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I love the color coded message here, makes me rethink think how am I responding to requests and questions going forward.

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love your newsletter! Full of so many actionable tips 🙌🏼

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So good. So helpful. Thanks for sharing.

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