Session: Persuading the Naysayers: The Subtle Art of Utilizing the 3 Rs to Turn Critics into Cheerleaders
Whether it's pitching the VCs for funding, a new product/idea to your organization or just getting things done in a complex matrix setup in large companies, leaders in tech regularly find themselves needing to persuade people by listening to objections and communicating their point of view in a way that is understood for maximum efficiency and productivity. As we rise through the ranks, communication is as important of a language as coding. We constantly need buy-in from team members, managers, direct reports and stakeholders, and we need to move quickly at the same time. Naysayers can be the biggest thorns in our side or welcome collaborators when managers know how to tap their expertise in a complex organization. Having successfully navigated her career in tech for more than two decades, Shobana Radhakrishnan has faced cynics and skeptics every step of the way. Over the years, she learned how to convert these naysayers into believers by using “the 3 Rs” — respect, relationship and real-time communication/feedback — to propel her team to success. In this session, Radhakrishnan will share her experience and practical tips to generate buy-in from the toughest critics on the front lines for organizational win-wins.
Bio
Shobana Radhakrishnan leads Google TV engineering at Google, focusing on experience, personalization and cloud systems. Prior to this, she led teams that built high-scale publishing platforms enabling personalization at Roku. Her experience also includes engineering leadership roles in companies such as Netflix, Symantec and Yahoo, as well as startups.
Shobana loves building great teams and products, and always enjoys connecting about innovation, personalization & AI for consumer products and complex organizational navigation topics.