4 Lessons From My Time at Facebook
Tomorrow, June 25th, marks my 3rd anniversary at Facebook and my last day at the company — a poetic end to an incredible journey. In my #BadgePost (departure message to the team), I shared 4 lessons that I’ve learned during my tenure. I thought I’d share them with you, too.
🚩 Prioritize your professional development: This is especially important for those who manage other people, as I’ve found that leaders are often so focused on leading others that they unintentionally omit their own development. What does that look like? For me, it’s doubling down on a leadership skill that I’d like to develop and finding a course that can help me hone that skill.
🚩Set scary goals: When Michelle Bonner Techel encouraged me to apply for the Business Lead role, I almost laughed. It is a high stakes, highly visible role that just didn’t feel like something I was ready for. (Looking back, I was totally afraid.) Without a doubt, this experience has been the most remarkable opportunity in my professional career. I’ve grown at warp speed and am all the better for it. Are you doing something that scares you? If not, you need to start!
🚩Seek feedback early and often: This is something that I learned from observing my manager Ty Ahmad-Taylor pretty early on. Seeking feedback doesn’t need to happen only at performance evaluation time. You should incorporate feedback loops on a regular basis to ensure you can respond in real-time to things that aren’t working well. Doing this has been incredibly effective and is something I’ll continue to take with me.
🚩Building Inclusive Teams: During my time at Facebook, my thinking on this topic has expanded. In addition to advocating for underrepresented groups (a personal mission of mine), I’ve realized that inclusivity means time-zone inclusivity, so that our colleagues in other regions don’t always have to watch the replay of a meeting, but can feel apart of the live discussion. It means using inclusive language so that everyone feels represented in your message. It means prioritizing check-ins and social interactions so that people are invited to bring their authentic selves to work. Next time you’re working on a project or planning for an offsite, try asking yourself: “How can I make this more inclusive?”
I’m very excited for what’s next, but more on that in a bit. For now, sitting in this moment of gratitude for an incredible run at a terrific company.
