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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.
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Leading a meaningful career conversation is one of the key responsibilities we, as leaders, have toward our team members.
Over time, I developed a simple framework - the 3C framework - that focuses on what I consider the 3 key aspects of an effective career conversation.
Content.
A career conversation should:
- Starts from the past. A brief review of the journey so far helps identify possible patterns and learnings.
- Sheds light on the future. It is totally fine to have bold aspirations as well as be completely blind. Our role, as leaders, is to encourage self-reflection and deeper thinking to identify a career “direction”.
- Leads to a concrete action plan. Once the direction is clear, it is vital to set concrete actions to move forward.
Cadence.
While it is true that long-term aspirations do not change overnight, it is also true that it is key to regularly monitor the progress toward them.
My advice is to schedule longer 1:1s every month to track the progress and a dedicated in-depth career discussion to revisit the long-term goals every 6 or 12 months.
Context.
Factors such as company dynamics, market trends, and personal situation can influence career goals and the progress toward them.
We, as leaders, should make the context clear enough so that potential repercussions on career goals can be analyzed and thought through.
