As a new leader in Bizom, my daily decisions often rely on intuition, some successful and some become lessons. This drove me to join the 10Xer program, aiming to arm myself with new ideas and frameworks to refine my decision-making process and find the most effective leadership approach.

Reflecting on my journey with 10Xer, one standout memory is the candid conversation during our first offsite dinner with Lalit, Nikhil, Sridhar, and Revathi. We delved into the challenges of leadership, discussing team management, trust-building, networking, and more, setting the program’s tone and highlighting the complexities of leadership. While the program flooded me with a plethora of ideas, I cherry-picked and implemented those that resonated most with my leadership style, simmering others for future use. The experience transformed my approach to feedback. I now focus on providing outcome-based actionable steps when delivering challenging feedback. This gives clarity and inspires my team members to take action, ultimately aiding in better engagement and, in some cases, even the retention of my team.

Another skill I want to hone to perfection is team management. Sridhar mentioned during one of the offsite dinners that “managing a team member is like flying a kite. Depending on the wind situation, one must learn when to let go, relax and when to hold on tight and when to be careful. If you do not master this art of subtle balancing, there is no pleasure in flying a kite. You hold on too tight, and the kite ultimately collapses, and if you let it loose, you risk it flying away.”

Learning from this analogy, I shifted to delegating ownership and responsibility instead of just assigning tasks. Empowering my teams with resources and the freedom to make decisions has led to increased self-driven initiatives. The program’s small yet impactful insights inspire ongoing experimentation and reinforce the notion that I’m not alone in this journey, and that support and resources are readily available when needed.