Programming EQ

I really appreciate how you provided several possibilities/options based on what I told you. While you tried to hold me accountable for my goals, you still provided options/ideas that I should look into that could help me with my goals, which was helpful in my experimentation of how I accomplish those goals. One thing I would have wanted more of was actually you being less hesitant in providing your opinion. For me, I came into the coaching sessions, actually wanting all your opinions based on what I was saying. I wanted to get more feedback from you, even if I disagreed with it because my use-case is I am someone that looks for lots of feedback when I come to a coach with my progress/shortcomings because I never know when something really helpful or helpful to learn will come from someone else. Thanks!

Which year and quarter I coached you? >>2012, 2nd/3rd quarter, Ruby What you liked about the coaching session? >> each of the lesson/concept was very clear . No confusions or misleading thoughts about each topic. Clear and easy way of explanations. What helped you progress? >> Writing ruby codes for Hadoop streaming. Starting with map reduce . What I could have done better? Or any feedback you can think of! >> just adding assignments to course for students to ramp up for tech.

What I liked about the weekly coaching sessions was that you could talk about your personal and professional goals and knowing that someone’s keeping a tab on it so that you don’t take them lightly (which is a human tendency!). I also liked how you could get alternative ways of solving your technical issues or a direction towards the path where you might find the answers you want. It’s always good to know that there’s someone you can look up to and discuss your problems. What can be improved – I feel if the coach can perhaps create a weekly challenge/task (for e.g. a technical questionnaire with just 1-2 exercises or even a challenge related to personal goals) that’d be really helpful. After all, taking out 1 hour out of your routine ain’t much of an ask and it’d teach you something about time management too.

I enjoyed Preethu's coaching method b/c he offers genuine advice that's catered to my specific needs. He always manages to support ideas with resources such as books, articles and techniques that account for real life situations and events such as long work weeks, stressful events in life and other factors that affect the process of achieving goals. I still utilize the techniques he's instilled, to stay aligned with the progression of my business and personal goals.

Preethu was my coach in Q3-2019 and found his subject matter expertise and guidance indispensable. Preethu provided sound advice to better manage my work/school/life balance, as I am actively pursuing an advanced degree while working full-time, and have, at times, found that trying to juggle all three is a challenge. Preethu was also an effective coach at listening to my career goals and recommending helpful online courses to best achieve those goals. Areas to improve: I do not have any recommendations for Preethu to improve as a coach. He provided quality feedback and support to help me achieve my goals, and made a concerted effort to avoid discussing office politics or reactions to ongoing initiatives, which are counterproductive to the coaching model.

5 Monkeys were placed in a closed room, with a ladder leading up to a bunch of bananas. The most curious (or hungriest) monkey would cautiously start climbing up. After crossing a threshold on the ladder, a shower of ice-cold water would drench them. This would deter the first monkey, more startled at the sudden rain; jumping off the ladder and retreating to the corners like everyone else. After overcoming the initial shock, someone would try again; like the last time, ice-cold water is sprayed, everyone rushes to the corners. At the third attempt, the remaining four monkeys would stop the daredevil and beat him up. At this point the beaten up monkey is removed, the sprinklers shut down, and a new monkey introduced into the room. The new guy walks in, looks at the drenched monkeys, the ladder and BANANAS, and heads towards the ladder not believing that the others are so stupid to let the free lunch pass. As he reaches the ladder, his fate is similar to the one before him, beaten

Storytime My first encounter with the word “culture” was in my mom's workspace, a microbiology lab. She used "culture" to describe a collection of Petri-dishes; each had a different solution with the same food sample placed in it. She would then place it in a fridge (it was like a fridge, to control the temperature) and wait to see what happens after an allotted amount of time, after which the results were noted. The point of this experiment was to see the presence of certain bacteria, fungi, etc. Depending on the solution one kind of micro-organism would thrive while others starve. The growth patterns within each Petri-dish was different, indicating a particular micro-organism within the sample. Alternative tale I came across a similar experiment in "Game Changers: What Leaders, Innovators, and Mavericks Do to Win at Life" by Dave Asprey. He was describing Dr. Bruce Lipton’s research on stem cells, he used the exact same stem cells in different environm

Goal setting helps highlight the milestones and targets that define the success criteria of a task. Priming oneself to the iterative process of goal setting helps in setting up for success, enables continuous improvement, and manage expectations and anxiety. Let's begin with describing a process to set and review our goals; SMARTER 1 goal. SMARTER goal S: Specific M: Measurable A: Achievable R: Relevant T: Time-Bound ER: Evaluated and Reviewed Specific This is easier explained with an anti-thesis, avoid setting goals such as "Be healthier" , "Become rich" , etc. Instead have a specific task, which if done consistently will help achieve your lofty, non-specific goal, "Stick to my diet" . Measurable Making your goal measurable may be the most crucial aspect of goal setting. It helps in two ways; one it helps track progress, two, it helps with every other step of this process. If your goal is not measurable, you do not know if it

“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” Ken Blanchard. Feedback should be timely, on a cadence, effective to elucidate objectively what occurred. If it is positive, it enables repetition; if redirecting, it enables correction. The ability to detach subjectivity from feedback is difficult and takes deliberation and practice. Outlined is a simple structure whose application can pave the path to gracefully give and receive feedback. STAR/AR Feedback STAR/AR is an acronym for ST: Situation/Task A: Action taken against the situation/task R: Result A: Alternate Action R: Alternate Result STAR is for reinforcing (positive) feedback, STAR/AR is for redirecting (critical) feedback. STAR example Situation/Task: We were struggling with the daily report Action: You introduced and conducted sessions to the new process for the daily report Result: We streamlined our daily report STAR/AR example Situation/Task: We introduced a new process for the daily report Acti

"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." Jim Rohn . Assuming this is the case, then self-improvement is not enough. You must also work to coach your colleagues to help them level-up their performance. This will help you create an environment where you can all be successful. This idea came to me recently after a recent conversation. During a meeting I suggested to a colleague to use CMD+SHIFT+T to re-open a closed tab on Chrome. He did not know this and responded - "How do you know that?" My response was - "I have worked long enough with you to know that it is common to prematurely close a tab; I should help recover from that mistake." This was not my attempt to show off how much I know. This was instead an anecdote to highlight the power of leveling up your teammates. Every person within a team should be comfortable enough to know the strengths and weakness of their colleagues; play to their strengths, cover w