Andela — 3 months on, 3 short stories & 3 lessons learnt
Exactly 3 months ago, I became a human of Andela, got onto this bus as Andela’s Tech Leadership Evangelist, received my Andelan ldap *insert happy dance gif* and couldn’t have been happier in this new chapter in my life! I had hoped to hit the publish button earlier than 3-months-later, but the bus has been on the go, non-stop, sometimes at 1000miles/hr, but hey, goals are there to either be surpassed and scaled, or not hit and lessons drawn from… I digress…
So, why Andela (after Google)? Why Tech Leadership Evangelist (after being a Developer Ecosystem Community Manager)? On my previous post, On New Chapters, I highlighted my work at Google, and my desire to join a team that “.. [has a key focus in] unearthing/promoting/giving a platform to top tech talent in Africa and other emerging markets because I have always been passionate about setting this lot up for success on a global platform.”
Andela is one of those places. Andela believes that talent is equally distributed. Andela is a collection of brilliant minds across Africa; a platform for tech-enabled growth across the globe, with a mission to advance human potential by powering today’s teams and investing in tomorrow’s leaders.
Suffice it to say that this was one of the easier decisions I’ve had to make in my career moves; I’ve never looked back, even when it get’s rocky, all there is is to keep going, keep learning (and unlearning).
In 2016, VC funding raised by African tech startups was a little over $366 million. This is a crisp indicator of robust technical talent in the African ecosystem, and opportunities such as those Andela advances to developers in Africa are what we need to magnify the rich technical talent in the African continent.
I write this post to share with you personal lessons I’ve learnt in my first 3 months at Andela, but first, 3 short stories (don’t we all love those :p)
Story #1
A few days before starting my new job, my SO and I were chatting about his job (then), how the first few month’s had been, highs, lows, lessons, then he asked (about my new job):
“How do you feel? Are you excited?”
I told him something that had often rushed through my head since I put my signature on my offer letter:
“… I’m super excited, never been this thrilled and elated about an opportunity! However, I’m super anxious… Don’t know what awaits… just tensed.”
“Well, you don’t just wake up and change the world in a day. A step at a time. So, show up and give them your best on the role, [because] that’s what got you the job!” he said.
Story #2
A few weeks after I kicked off on my role, I get a ping on Slack from Evan Green-Lowe (VP of Talent, Andela).
“Hey Mercy Orangi, any luck with the xyz strategy doc? Can you share it with me for initial thoughts and feedback?” he asked.
“… still WiP.” I Slacked him back. “I don’t have everything yet.”
“… we need to find a way to assign relative priorities so that “not everything” is most important.” he said.
Story #3
One of the Andela developers approached me for advice on a project he wanted to start on. I kept on asking questions, poking holes on his proposal, and at the tail end of our sync, he asked me:
“Why so many questions though?”
“For me to give you worthwhile feedback, I need to understand where you are coming from, and the particular areas you’d like my input.” I said. “It’s more like a relationship between a giver and a giver, compared to one of a giver and a taker. ”
In short (lessons learnt)…
- Be bold, take that 1st step — it’s always the hardest, but the pain doesn’t last that long :)
- Perfection is the enemy of progress and action — roll out that MVP, hit that publish button, share that manuscript; few ideas work on the first try, iteration is key.
- Have an ask feedback mentality — get to hear other peoples’ points of views, ask questions that will be helpful in giving you clarity.
These valuable lessons have been quite important in my 1st 3 months at Andela and continue to make this journey a more fulfilling and worthwhile one. I still have a long way to go, join me!
(Much appreciation to Babajide Duroshola, James Ndiga, Evan Green-Lowe for constantly asking the tough questions)
Your turn. Do you have your own stories of career points that have given you valuable lessons? Share with me in the comments below or on Twitter.
Enjoyed this piece? Want to share this with the world, colleagues and friends? Hit ‘Recommend’ a.k.a the hand-clap at the bottom left of this post.
