For my next post in the Staff Engineer Series , I want to talk about a soft skill that has helped me in a staff+ role. I was told the following by our VP of SRE and it struck me that not everyone is approachable
Quote, VP of SRE
- be approachable
- know your shit
you do both pretty well, so hats off
What does it mean to be approachable?
So what does it mean to be “approachable”? I think there’s a few different definitions. The first, and most obvious is people will come to for your opinion or your help. They know you won’t bite their heads off when asked something, no matter how trivial. This comes from a willingness and happiness to share knowledge with others (this also relates to building up those around you, but that’s a topic that’s been written about plenty already). You may not always have time for people, but you always get back to them and try to help if you can.
A second facet to being approachable is that people open up to you, it allows you to see new insights, especially when there’s conflicts, and helps you play translator between parties and find common ground. Being able to gain these insights and help move conflict towards are solution is a core skill when working with multiple teams that may see things differently. A final facet I’ll mention is that people open up to you, but in a different way. Coworkers and managers will come to you to bounce ideas off of, to gauge reaction to a new initiative, or sometimes just to vent. Being a sounding board for people’s ideas can be very valuable and help provide different perspectives for both parties.
Why is being approachable a staff+ skill?
Now that we’ve defined some ways being approachable happens, why is this a staff+ skill? I think it is because its a soft skill that not everyone practices or has the ability to do. It requires empathy, the ability to pivot perspectives quickly, and the ability to comprehend the scope and context of a problem from a quick conversation. Not everyone is approachable, I’m sure you can think of at least one person you would be scared to ask a question at your company. I know I can, but that’s another staff+ skill, being brave. You may have all the knowledge in the world, but if you can’t share it effectively, you’re not really that valuable. Being approachable means you will get to share your info and help shape the direction that your company is taking. You’ll get to unofficially weigh in on projects you may not have even knew existed otherwise.
Additionally, you benefit from being approachable as well. You have a continuous supply of information from both the corporate side and from the trenches, allowing you to see any misalignment in the company. At many companies, what executives think the company is working on and what is being worked on can be two very different things. This also feeds into another responsibility of a staff+ engineer in connecting people with other people who know things. You can’t be a SME at everything, but you can know who the SME is and help people get the help they need. This information network gives you a pulse check on the company that most people aren’t afforded. Managers and executives can’t have this due to the overhead of having authority (not everyone is comfortable giving information to authority figures). As a staff+ engineer, you only borrow authority from your managers occasionally, so while you’re respected and seen as knowledgeable, you’re also seen as one of the people in the trenches as well. This gives an unofficial comradery, but only if you’re approachable.
Overall being approachable is a skill to work on; it takes time, but it will pay dividends for you and your company.