Readme for Ozgur

Preface:

I always have been a fan of README documents. Back in 1998, I remember getting FreeBSD ports collection getting posted to me in a CD (Since I was using a 56K modem and you had to pay for the phone bill for the time you were connected to the internet) and reading through all the readme files one by one. That said it helped me a lot to base my articles on which I would start writing in later years.

Having worked in the IT industry more than 20 years now it’s time to unleash the geek inside and do a readme for me.

Jokes aside, throughout years I have always tried to keep transparent in every aspect so what is a better way to be transparent and have the next people I will meet know me better?

Values first!

Throughout our time together with my colleagues, my peers, my CEOs realize that I keep the values and ethics above all. So let’s dig in:

Ethical: We all have different personalities, and we find ourselves in a million different circumstances, changing each day. I care much more about how things are done than what. And how things are done for me is and always will be in an ethical way. I can start a conversation on what ethical is, but I know it means a million things to million of us and we would result in million other answers. What I can do is to give you a clue on how to find it. I always use three heavy arms which guides me through finding the ethical:

• Empathy with others
• Use common sense
• Listen to your gut

Always there: I breathe and live for my teams and for my people. I don’t care if I am on a Board of Directors meeting, I don’t care if I don’t go to the bathroom on a 5-minute break or not have coffee. Find me, talk to me even it is a 30 second on the way to the meeting when / if you have a difficulty. I am normally busy with a lot of meetings but it does not mean I am not there for you.

To err is human: I intentionally avoided using “People First” here which for me means a whole a lot a different thing. This principle for me is always, always to remember we all are human, we all have our own fights, our good days, bad days, happy days, days we give thanks for having born to this world and wish we were never born. But remembering and always keeping in mind that we all are humans with all our defects is something that always helped me empathise and change the way I think about things and people.

We over me: “Me” means absolutely nothing “We” means everything to me. I believe in achievements as a result of many contributions made by all members of a team, group, company. Think twice before coming to a conclusion that only “YOU” and you alone finished that project. It is never you only it is “WE”. Talk to me in “we” as much as possible.

Egoless(ness): I have seen so many bosses passing for leaders having a bigger ego than ”los calzones de mi abuelita”, I have witnessed how our egos and how we see ourselves as we go up in status can ruin people and valuable relations. I have seen million dollar projects fail and huge fights over who has a bigger ego. I believe the first characteristic of a leader is being egoless and showing the value of this to others in any way he can. It is a constant fight that needs you to control yourself every minute, in every decision you take it takes time but you learn it so well you can spread it to others. Don’t be water, my friend. Be egoless.

Status means nothing: My status at work means absolutely nothing. It does not define me as a person, it does not give me superpowers. In the other hand, my status in the minds and the hearts of the people I work with and for is everything. I believe in doing the best work I can in the best and most ethical way I can do it. I don’t care if I am called a Director, CTO or just a janitor. Do the best work you can I don’t care who you are if you are able to show me you have really tried.

Trust and be trusted: Although with technology now getting more advanced every minute Trust is the only value that will make way for you create a strong team and company culture. It is the base of every human relation in and out of work. I choose to trust people, I make sure hard that other people can trust me. Remember trust is earned, not given. Trust is fragile and needs time to grow. Trust me and make me trust you.

Humility is the key: Humility for me is the key to understanding, changing and leading. Both in my professional life and the personal one I choose humility over arrogance and overconfidence. A quote from the great Dan Nielsen from his book:

“Humble leaders are able to genuinely relate to and empathise with ordinary people. They don’t consider themselves better or more important than others and are able to easily acknowledge their own shortcomings and laugh at their blunders. Humble leaders realize they don’t have all the answers and they are willing to heed the advice and learn from the feedback of others.”

Mentoring: I believe in the power of mentoring. It is never about the status but always about helping. I mentor students, new startup owners, people in my team and sometimes my colleagues. Find me and ask me, I will make time to help.

What do I do?

1. I find, hire and motivate the best talents for the company I work for.
2. I think, plan and move pieces to get ready for the future
3. I UNBLOCK problems, bureaucracy so that you can do your job.
4. I organize and fit loose bits together and make them work.
5. I communicate problems, tasks, achievements between the teams and between the technology and the business.
6. I detect the missing or non-working pieces and replace them with fresh-well thought ones.
7. I multitask 20 projects, tasks, problems together and coordinate them.
8. Continuously learn, teach and apply them.
9. Start the necessary change and make sure the momentum continues until the change is done.

What’s my day like?

What it’s like working with me:

I love data: As much as I believe the gut power and I believe that gut power is a result of many years of decisions we kept making. It also always should be consulted before making any decision, I believe in claims, and decisions which are backed with data. Not only the data but quality data that really proves the correctness of the claim or the decisions made. Come to me with as much data as you can to prove it.

Decisions are consensus: My role calls for a lot of decisions and I need your view to take the correct ones. I believe the power of decisions taken by consensus over by one person. I will ask you to take part in the decisions, base your decisions on data and vote.

Don’t be a Bottleneck: I create teams, groups, change companies in a way where people and processes can work without me. I take all the responsibility when something goes wrong and I take action when I see a task or processes needs me constantly to change an automatize it.I lead, hold accountable my people to do the same for themselves.

Delegate: I believe in the power of delegation. And I believe the reasons for delegation is where the power lies. I delegate for the following reasons, I expect my bosses and my team to delegate for the same reasons:

• Delegate to share the knowledge so that the other person has the opportunity to learn from it.
• Delegate to teach others the responsibility of carrying out a task. Let it be a small project or a 5 M worth.
• Delegate to empower others so that they can also empower the rest.
• Delegate so that you can attend to the matters that your work requests. You cannot be a CTO and still take part in the decisions with the junior team on what type of s3 storage will be used to save the photos in a bucket.

Challenge the status quo: I am good at detecting the problems and I am normally the person that starts the change. I challenge the status quo continuously. Don’t be surprised if I expect you to do so.

Backbone: Don’t be surprised if I challenge you. I will do it, and I will do it so because I believe you can do better. Challenge me if you think there is a better way to do anything. Ask, talk to me and prove it. I won’t have any problem accepting it.

Out of your comfort zone: I do always find a way to be out of my comfort zone. This is the way we learn and broaden our experiences. I will ask you to broaden yours too. Do it and do it often with me.

Calculated Risk-Taking: I believe in failing and the experience and lessons it brings to us. Fail for lack of preparation, not being on top of things, not using the tools in hand would only be failing. I do and want my people to Fail after taking calculated risks, fail early in the process and fail with a small radius and impact.

I choose not to:

I believe life is a result of decisions we make and ways we choose to follow. There is a huge difference between not knowing and knowing and choosing not to. I refer to the latter. I choose not to:

• Work for money. I never work for money I work for my teams, I work for my values, I work for making the place I work in a better place for everyone but never ever for money.
• Stay where I see people are not valued. Work for companies where people mean nothing more than an entry in excel worksheet waiting to be paid.
• Get involved in office politics. It is real, it is there, you don’t normally know what caused it but you know it ends ruining people, projects, relations, and companies. You will not see me fighting this fight, ever.
• Choose task over people. People are more important than tasks. Good and on time tasks are the result of happy, motivated people. The better people feel the faster, better tasks are completed.
• Stay where I see I am not needed. I work for the people and the companies as long as I can see there is a need for me. I am never in a company because it is comfortable and that I can get retired there.

Prologue:

There are many days where we would go isolate ourselves in a Canarian Island with just a couple of books and enough piña coladas but would it then be a good fight? Would we really accomplish the reason why we are living? I believe in continuously trying and I believe success (whatever it means for you) is a result of all these attempts that you failed.

Hopefully, this article has given you a good sense of my values. Use this readme extensively, use it to talk to me, understand me, ask me to explain to you what they mean.