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The importance of structure.
You might have noticed this newsletter arrived on a Wednesday instead of a Tuesday. Last Sunday, I got back from BA: Swiftable (which has been amazing!), but it also meant my structure got broken.
A jetlag combined with a lot of work to do made me decide to move forward my regular structure of releasing both article and newsletter on the Tuesday. It's important to have a healthy work-life balance, even more so if you're doing side projects like I do.
During a breakfast with some of the speakers at BA: Swiftable, it became apparent some of the speakers were intimated to talk with me. It didn't completely surprise me since one of my colleagues who joined WeTransfer had mentioned something similar before as well.
While I understand where it's coming from, it frustrated me. People who know me know I'm super open, friendly, and, once you realize, very approachable. The tricky part I realized is that I'm mostly sharing knowledge, which could create an image of someone who's very knowledgable and doesn't do anything else than writing code. It creates a 'knowledge'-distance which makes it intimidating to get in touch.
The reason it frustrated me as well is that it might prevent people from getting in touch with me. The whole reason I'm sharing knowledge at conferences and articles is to help all of you and I would love to connect and get an idea of what it means to you!
After I did my talk at BA: Swiftable, I mentioned on stage:
"I know I'm tall (203 cm), but don't let it intimidate you. Please talk to me, I'm here for you!"
I mean, it took me about 24 hours including delays to get there, so I better have a chat with all attendees, ha! It helped, and I've had great conversations with many attendees that follow my work.
Long story short: I want to improve. I'm thinking of ways to make myself more relatable and approachable, even though I'm likely unable to solve this completely.
Here's the ideas I have:
- Share more failures and show that I'm also making mistakes. This is a win-win since it will also inspire and help you
- I'm not only coding! And the way to show that is by not only sharing code but also stories about my private life. I'd love to share more footage of my chickens, cats, dog, other hobbies, sports, etc!
- Create videos. I'll likely start sharing these on social media first. They're a great way to show my personality (I'm smiling a lot), which would give you a better picture of who I am
I'd love to get your view on this if you have one. Feel free to be honest and reply directly to this email; any insights would be highly appreciated.
Enjoy this week's SwiftLee Weekly!
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