My greatest career tip? Be authentic and open doors for others

When I was growing up, I was told that I shouldn’t study engineering because it’s “not for girls.” ?Like many young women who were raised with traditional constraints, I wasn't encouraged to ask questions or push boundaries – nevermind pursue a professional career in STEM. Yet, the best part of my 25-year career has been finding the courage to speak up and own my voice.?

Embracing who I am and drawing on my strengths led me to my passion and a path that truly excited me: a transformative career in Cloud. Today, as a Director of Engineering at Google Cloud, I feel inspired to share how authenticity and transparency have helped me build my leadership journey.

Embrace your team’s unique strengths to build something new?

As the first Googler to join my team in Hyderabad, India, my job was to build a team from the ground up. While establishing a team was a herculean task, I relied on my experience to find a set of talented people within my first year. Soon after ramping up on Google technology and taking on existing projects, we were motivated to tackle even bigger technical challenges. As a newly created team, we brought fresh perspectives and began asking, “How can we build for the future of Cloud?”

Innovating from scratch can feel daunting, but I saw it as an exciting opportunity to embrace my strengths: leading with authenticity and encouraging people on the team to bring their unique perspectives to work. Together, we looked at Cloud’s business and tooling, examined the user experience from every angle and aligned on how we could make an impact. Ultimately, we decided to focus on building tools to make it easier and more efficient for sellers and partners to sell Google products to their customers — connecting the dots between the big picture and all of the important details. Using Googler and industry experience in the mix, we were able to define north-star vision, while breaking the vision into smaller milestones!

Getting sign-off on our project was incredibly challenging yet rewarding, and it led us to partner with teams in Seattle to bring this concept to reality. It still amazes me that a new team could propose a new product and start working toward a launch – all within two years. From day one, I have been empowered to advocate for my team’s ideas and needs and set expectations around our work. Thanks to these open conversations with fellow leaders, I get to not only showcase our team members’ strengths but also be my best self at work. 2023 is the year when all of this work will transform to real-world impact with our customers and we are excited to scale even further!

Encourage creative thinking to innovate together

From the moment I joined Google, it was clear the culture here encourages teammates to embrace everyone for who they are. The people I met took the time to get to know me as a whole person, which helped me feel comfortable to be fully myself in my role. I had an incredible manager who understood me and my needs, pushed me to do my best work and encouraged me to consider new ways of thinking. When someone supports you like that, it becomes possible to take risks. Anytime I join a team, project or meeting at Google, I contribute knowing that people want to hear different experiences and perspectives, including mine.?

As my team builds new products from scratch, my role is centered on inspiring us to think outside the box and innovate. To do this, I start by sharing my favorite mindset: there are no bad ideas. When it comes to grounds-up engineering, creative thinking drives us to work together and dream bigger. That’s why being authentic is so important – creativity can come from any aspect of life. For me, it’s Kuchipudi dance. I’m currently completing a Masters in Performing Arts, and dancing regularly helps me unlock new ways of thinking that I bring to my team. I encourage my team to share their ideas and put themselves out there, because that’s when magic happens.

Every day we come together to build better for everyone, proving there are no bad ideas (except for the ones that don’t get shared!). After two decades in the tech industry, I have never experienced a more open culture. I’m so proud to be part of this.???

Embed transparency into your team culture

As I’ve grown as a leader at Google, I strive to bring the same open, hands-on approach that my manager brings to me – encouraging me to be autonomous and give her direct feedback. To lead a team, you need to be part of the team.?

1. Build trust. Show up to work authentically and encourage your team to do the same. Doing this has helped me lead by example, encouraging everyone on our team to connect to one another and the culture. When we can be our full selves, we do our best work.
2. Connect the dots. Challenge everyone on your team – whether seasoned engineers or? those just starting their careers – to think beyond the day-to-day design and connect the dots from different angles to see the bigger picture.?
3. Celebrate small wins. Build excitement about the future while addressing current challenges. We come together to set incremental goals and celebrate small wins along the way, helping us all stay motivated about achieving our long-term vision.?
4. Make time for yourself. Don’t feel like you have to be a superhuman! Set expectations and boundaries in your professional life so you can pursue your passions. Earlier this year, I completed a solo Kuchipudi dance recital that was a major milestone for me. I was able to grow as a dancer and a Googler because I felt comfortable being transparent with my team and blocking time to practice on my calendar.

Ready to kickstart your own journey at Google? Explore opportunities as a Staff Software Engineer .