Podcasts Other JavaScript Jabber JSJ 403: Why Developers Need Social Skills with Mani Vaya

JSJ 403: Why Developers Need Social Skills with Mani Vaya

Published: Oct. 24, 2019, 10 a.m.

In this episode of JavaScript Jabber, Charles talks about the new direction he has for the company. He wants\xa0 to drive people to the point that they have the skills that make people want to hire and work with them, to teach them how to \u2018Max out\u2019. Today the panel the skills that developers need to progress in their careers: social skills.\xa0The panel talks about their observations from work that the people who advanced and grow in their career were the ones with social skills, not necessarily with technical skills. The company wants to get stuff done, and if your social skills are getting in the way of projects getting done because you can\u2019t work with others, you are not that useful to the company, and you will be stuck in the lower ranks while others who may not have the same technical skills will rise in the ranks because they are pleasant to work with. Mani talks about his personal experience getting laid off for lacking these soft skills. But then he read the book 48 Laws of Power by Robert Green, realized his shortcomings, and started to apply just one lesson from the book. Within 6 months, he was promoted.Mani delves deeper into the first lesson taught in 48 Laws of Power, Never Outshine the Master. Fundamentally, this means that you don\u2019t try to prove in meetings how good you are, or that they\u2019re wrong, or that you think that you are better than them. The more you the aforementioned things, the less likely you will be to get promoted or trusted. Mani talks about how he used to do these things and how it cost him multiple jobs. When he put this lesson into practice, he changed his methods and the boss started to like him, leading to his promotion 6 months later. The panel discusses this lesson and what benefits can come from it.\xa0Mani shares another lesson that he learned through the story of a friend trying to get him to invest in his business. After Mani refused to invest multiple times, his friend stopped asking him to invest, but instead asked him for business advice. Eventually, Mani invested in the business because when he saw that his friend was influenced by his advice, it engendered trust between them. The panel agrees that if you want to influence someone, you have to be influenced by them. It is important to treat someone as a person rather than an asset or wallet, and ensure them that their investment is not their end goal. One of the most fundamental social skills that you must be able to like people, because other people can smell manipulation.\xa0The panel transitions to talking about the paradoxical nature of social skills and that they are often the opposite of what you think will work in a situation. Unfortunately, there will always be difficult people to work with. To illustrate how to work with difficult people, Mani shares the story of how Gengis Khan was convinced not to destroy a city of artists and engineers by his advisor, Yelu Chucai. Gengis Khan agreed because Yelu Chucai was able to structure his plea in a way that would also benefit Gengis Khan.\xa0The conversation shifts to how to conduct an interview to see if a candidate will fit into your team culture. First, you must know what you\u2019re looking for and understand your team culture, and then ask for stories of when they accomplished something in the interview. If every story is all about how they did something and they don\u2019t include other people, then that may indicate their self-centeredness. They discuss the Ben Franklin Effect.\xa0For those listeners wondering where to begin with all this self improvement, Mani has read over 2,000 books on business and offers a course on his website, 2000books.com. Mani has teamed up with JavaScript Jabber to offer a special deal to the listeners of this podcast. To get lifetime access to Mani\u2019s courses at a 40% discount, follow the links below.\xa0Panelists

  • Steve Edwards
  • Charles Max Wood
With special guest: Mani VayaSponsorsLinks Follow DevChatTV on Facebook and Twitter PicksSteve Edwards:Charles Max Wood:Mani Vaya:\xa0Special Guest: Mani Vaya.

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