Working with Sonakshi
Hello there, here’s a quick guide to understanding how my mind works.
Leadership Principles
Challenge internally, champion externally. I find it's most helpful when our team is each others' biggest critics by challenging the status quo, asking "Why?" 5 times, so our stakeholders don't have to. Once we make a decision, we move forward together.
Listening before acting. I tend to listen before I share my opinions to ensure l understand the others' PoV. In doing so, I hope to remove frictions with debates & incorporate as much feedback into our team's work as possible.
I hope to be predictable. I'm a firm believer in being consistent in principles. In doing so, I hope our team & stakeholders would be less confused & can easily predict expectations.
Directed Independence. My ideal working style is we work together to define project deliverables & timelines & let the team run with it. I love the Now, Next, Later framwork. I love to get involved to remove roadblocks, problem solve or whiteboard new ideas.
Working Style Preferences
Emails vs. Slack: For action items eg reading & reviewing, email is the most effective way to reach me. For any questions or discussions, Teams/Slack is the preferred platform.
I prioritize constructive feedback. I work best when my feedback sessions (e.g. projects, OKRs) are structured 10% on areas I did well & 90% on areas where I could have done better with tangible examples.
Strong opinions, loosely held. I’m flexible, yet I will take a side. It has helped my teams get out of analysis paralysis while ensuring they can change course if that decision proves invalid.
I appreciate direct communication rather than indirect communication. I tend to misunderstand indirect communication. Therefore, convos over video/audio works best for me.
More communication less communication. I like to send & receive updates on my projects for feedback. Soft responses like "will read later" or "sounds good" let me know that emails & projects have value. If they don't have value, then feedback is welcome.
I love asking questions. Oftentimes, I will ask many questions. I do this to understand the thought process & logic of decisions / projects / concepts.
Logic + data speak volumes to me. Naturally, I can be skeptical. I need to understand the data and/or thought process for me to accept concepts.
I work best with timelines & project plans. I record projects with timelines, often on JIRA, because it's important for me to see the light at the end of the tunnel for each project.
Complex concepts require time for me to process. Certain concepts need time for me to completely process. Sometimes, I won't fully understand in one meeting / conversation. If that's the case, then I will come back to you later with questions.
I am a visual learner. Flow charts will be a big part of my work The best way to explain a concept to me is to visualize it. It allows me to easily understand how things are connected.
I'm a goofball. We spend too much time at work for us not to enjoy it. I love cracking jokes, sharing memes & talking about personal interests.
