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About me
My name is Mauro Bagnato and for over 15 years I have been leading tech organizations.
When I first stepped into leadership, I believed technical expertise was the key to being an effective leader. However, I quickly learned that organizations are living and complex systems and that leading them demands much more than just technical know-how. I believe that curiosity is at the heart of effective leadership. This is what fuels learning and experimentation, both crucial for continuous improvement. This blog aims to explore engineering leadership in all its aspects and to provide insights in a tangible and pragmatic manner. It will also be a space where I will share insights, reflections, and personal takeaways from books, podcasts, and articles that influenced and keep influencing my journey.
Find out how I can help you!
Consider the following situation.
You are at the end of an interview process at a fast-growing startup.
You spend a full day at the company, everyone is kind and welcoming, the energy is vibrant, and it feels like a great opportunity for your career.
They offer you the job.
You have some concerns about the work-life balance but you feel very excited and don’t want to miss this great opportunity.
What would you do?
Over the years and at my own expense, I learned a simple lesson that can be summarized this way:
Don’t make decisions when strong emotions are at play.
It might seem like a no-brainer yet, we often fall into this trap.
When making decisions, we tend to give high importance to the present moment.
What we see, sense, and feel constitutes the biggest part of our decision-making process.
By doing so, we miss the big picture, the long-term perspective.
The best strategy to avoid this risk is to step back, distance ourselves, and gain more clarity.
The clarity of distance!
One simple way to get there is to ask ourselves the simple question:
“What would I advise my best friend to do in this situation?”
When giving advice, we set aside short-term emotions and focus on the most important factors in the decision-making.
Another powerful technique is called 10/10/10. It is about asking ourselves the following three questions:
- how will we feel about this decision in 10 min?
- how will we feel about this decision in 10 months?
- how will we feel about this decision in 10 years?
These questions help shift focus from the present to the future, providing a more holistic and long-term view of your choices.
