Two and a half big life updates

Hello 👋

I have to start by saying the corny but true thing, which is that everyone receiving this email is someone I’m excited to be sharing my life with, whether it’s been a while since we last spoke or we just recently connected. The most important thing I have learned in these last few months is that I have a more full and wonderful community than I notice day-to-day, and I have been so grateful for it.

On that note, let’s get right to the point. I have two and a half big life updates I can’t wait to share.

Big update one

I left my job in November of last year. It was a hard decision, but it was clear that it was what I needed. In the months I’ve had since then for reflection, I’ve realized that while each of my last roles felt like a great fit in many ways, in other ways I felt like a square peg in a round hole. At first it was hardly noticeable; there was so much room to learn and grow, so I was very busy doing that. But, after a while, continuing to try to force the square peg through the round hole hurts, and it dulls the sharpest edges of who I am: the best parts of me. Realizing this has helped me understand what I need to do next: build for myself the career that is the perfect fit for my unique set of skills, strengths, passions, and energy. Which leads to…

Big update two

In January, I officially started working on my consulting business. The experience has been exciting, scary at times, and most of all, full of lessons.

Here is what I know so far:

I’ve been reflecting on my biggest strengths by thinking about the situations when I thrived most. I’ve worked with some very smart and talented people who deserve a huge amount of credit for the successes we experienced together, but I was specifically looking for the situations when it was MY contribution that was the linchpin to success. I identified moments throughout my career when something (a project, process, strategy or idea) was stuck, broken or wildly off-track and the team needed me to get things running smoothly again.

When I think about the skills I used to do that, they break down into two themes. There’s the curiosity, listening skills and ability to make connections that enable me to uncover and organize the information needed to see the whole system clearly. Then, there’s the empathy, insight and communication skills that I use to help others better navigate that system. Said more simply, when others are stuck, I have the ability to figure out the elements of the system that aren’t working and help everyone find more effective ways to navigate them.

As a shorthand for these skills for the rest of this email, I’m going to refer to them as my super powers, hoping you know me well enough to imagine a quick wink each time I say it.

Even better than identifying these as my super powers is that I LOVE using them. It feels amazing to help a team get unstuck, unlock their potential, achieve better and better outcomes, and create a momentum that keeps everyone motivated. Lately, I’ve been focusing on two situations where I know this skillset is particularly needed:

1. When there is a major incident, project failure, or a messy problem that a team can’t move past. I have a proven process for leading a team through a post-mortem/retrospective. It helps them uncover and connect the dots of what happened and tap into everyone’s expertise to plan a path forward. The plan (and process we use to get there) helps the team build the momentum they need to solve the original problem and reconnect with their excitement about their work.
   

2. New engineering managers trying to build and/or manage a high performing team. Often, new engineering managers (like all new managers) have been promoted for their exceptional skills as an individual contributor, but their new role requires an entirely new set of skills. Some people may understand and adopt those skills easily, but many new managers struggle. A key role I have often played as a partner to the engineering managers I’ve worked with is using my super powers to help the team reach their goals by improving their collaboration and communication skills.

Turning these skills into a business is an ongoing discovery process. My biggest priority right now is connecting with engineering and product leaders to learn more about their teams and the challenges they’re facing. On that note, there might be something you can do that would be a huge help to me.

If you know any engineering leaders or product leaders who often work with first-time managers, I would love it if you could introduce me to them. If you know any who could use some help getting unstuck from a sticky situation, definitely introduce me to them.

And finally:

A half big update

It’s looking very likely that I’ll be moving back to Toronto in the next few months. There is still a lot about this decision that is up in the air and so I can’t make any promises, which is why it’s only half an update for now. But, lots of you live in Toronto or at least much closer to Toronto than Mexico City, and so I hope to see you soon :)

Thank you for reading and I promise I’ll keep you in the loop as the next steps unfold.

Hannah

If you have thoughts or ideas about anything I shared, or if you just want to catch up, please please please reply to this email. I already said this, but it bears repeating: If you’re receiving this email, it’s because I’m excited to share this news with you and I would love to catch up.