Natalia always thought her calling was to be a great technician. And then she became a executive of service at Yandex. In this article Natalia shares with us her story and tips for those who have just become an executive or want to become one.

I started out as a developer. I worked at a startup for 10 years, and then after a few not-so-great jobs I ended up at Yandex. I came to be a developer, I always wanted to grow in technology. After 4 years I became team leader of the development team. And after another year I became the executive of the service. And now I am in my third year as executive of the service, and now I am looking for new opportunities for myself.

When I started working at Yandex, I often came to the executive with some ideas. I was reading quite a few books at the time about teamwork, development efficiency, and system optimization, and I was interested in sharing that with my colleagues. I think I had quite a large degree of influence as an informal leader because of this.

My executive was eager to find someone who would take some of his responsibilities off his hands and offered me the role of team leader. At first I declined because I didn't see myself in a leadership position, but eventually after a year I agreed, but it was a decision made with logic, not with my heart.

The first is the expectation that the people you supervise are just like you. I've always wanted to develop, and it became a problem for me that for many people the job is just a 9:00 to 6:00 job. When they started coming to me and asking me how to make more money, I had no answer but to do more work and start making more money as a result. But I don't understand how to lead someone to success who wants to make more money first, but is not willing to do more, invest in training. In general, I had difficulty with the team.

The second thing, I had a whole new process of communicating with people, it was wearing me out. I wasn't getting anything done. I found myself in a situation where I was doing a huge amount of things, a lot of operational work I work a lot on weekends and in the evenings, a lot of work, just a lot.

I started to wonder if it was time to quit. Then a therapist came into my life. Now, a year and a half later, I realize that my problems were not really caused by any objective circumstances, but simply by distortions of perception and self-twisting. Much of it was caused by a desire to be the best, to achieve perfection everywhere, to do everything perfectly.

Then I found a mentor in the company, he helped me for about a year and a half to solve current problems, and it was very helpful. At the same time, I realized that the managers in the company could only tell me something from the point of view of their previous experience. I wanted to work with an expert who would have a systematic and conscious understanding of all managerial processes.

In the fall of 2020, I took a course on production efficiency. In that course there was a module on leadership and management. And when I began to analyze my situation with the tools that were in that course, I realized that I was not realizing the position of a leader at the level that I was supposed to. I was acting like a foreman who knew everything, helped everyone, was trying to write more code, and was afraid to lose my technical expertise.

And I was already an head of executives. I didn't let go of the processes that had been with me when I was a team leader, but new processes were added, and because of that there was a huge ball of tasks that I didn't know how to get out of. It became clear that I needed to go through a transformation process and I found a coach.

At each session we sorted out what was going on in the unit, thought through the next steps. Next, my intention was to trust what we came up with and just do it.

And I did. This is where it's very important to have a person who is not traumatic, but somehow very gentle who will create a sense of safe progression. It's important to trust the coach. And the changes started to happen. And now I feel that I'm already ready to move forward.

I'm in the process of changing career vectors. I decided that I wanted to find a place where I could spend most of my time doing what I like: setting up processes. I am now looking for a new position: I am actively negotiating with various executives in the company, exploring opportunities.

By the way, coaching helps at this stage, too! When making difficult decisions, people's brains shut off and emotions replace everything. Emotions are what cause us to assess the situation inadequately: we underestimate ourselves, we may agree to frankly absurd proposals in a panic. A person with a rational, objective view of reality is very much needed next to us.

The first piece of advice is to invest time and money in something that can help you quickly get into a new role: training, mentoring, coaching.

At the beginning of your new role, you'll understand where you lack skills, go learn them. Find a mentor, he or she will help you solve problems from his or her own experience. I think you will need to work with him for at least 6 months.
Find a coach. When a person comes to a new job he has a lot of emotions, stress, worries. They interfere with the correct perception of the situation. We are afraid of making mistakes and here, of course, it is good to have a person who will help you look at the situation rationally.

The second advice is to make an agreement with your family. At first, you will need to invest more in your work, in your training, and it shouldn't be a surprise to your family.

Third, develop skills of introspection and reflection. When something goes wrong, a person's emotions begin to overtake him and it seems to him that everything is very bad and there is no way out. Although in fact often the way out lies on the surface it just needs to be seen.

1. If you have moved to a new position and feel that you are not doing well, do not rush to the conclusion that "management is not my thing," "I should quit”. It is important to separate your emotions and worries from the facts. Look at the situation objectively, and see what problems inside you are preventing you from getting results.

2. Do not try to go this way alone. Find support, take action, and gradually move forward. Changes will not keep you waiting, and after a while you will feel in your place.

3. Even if you feel that at heart you are not a manager, do not hurry to give up the experience of managing people. It will help you better understand yourself and others, open up new opportunities, and be useful for the next stages of your career.