The speaker shares insights from their career journey, which began in 2005, highlighting the evolution from working with diverse teams at Oracle to co-founding a startup. The initial discussions with a co-founder about creating a startup revolved around financial planning, team hiring, and customer engagement strategies. Despite facing challenges like the 2018 flood and the COVID-19 pandemic, the company grew from a small team to a team of thirty, emphasizing the importance of building a dedicated team to develop a recruitment automation product.

Building a great team is more than just focusing on deliverables; it involves cultivating passion and commitment. The speaker uses the example of Jason and the Argonauts from Greek mythology to illustrate the power of diverse perspectives. Key components for a successful team include diversity, technical expertise, and cultural fit. By aligning individual and organizational goals and fostering a psychologically safe environment with opportunities for personal growth, a team becomes more driven to achieve common objectives.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. pedigree [ˈpɛdɪɡriː] - (noun) - The background, history, or lineage of a person or organization, often indicating quality or reputation. - Synonyms: (background, lineage, ancestry)

So that was the kind of background and pedigree that I had over the past 19 years.

2. regrouped [riːˈɡruːpt] - (verb) - To reorganize or gather after a period of separation or disarray. - Synonyms: (reorganized, reassembled, reorganized)

Everything was normal, and we regrouped.

3. treacherous [ˈtrɛtʃərəs] - (adjective) - Extremely dangerous, involving betrayal or deception. - Synonyms: (dangerous, perilous, hazardous)

You know, you're going for a very, you know, treacherous journey and you wanted to have somebody to, you know, calm the entire thing.

4. composure [kəmˈpoʊʒər] - (noun) - The state of being calm and in control of oneself. - Synonyms: (calmness, self-control, poise)

You need to have the best and you need to have the people who can bring composure to the team.

5. retrospect [ˈrɛtrəˌspɛkt] - (verb) - To look back or think about past events. - Synonyms: (review, reconsider, reminisce)

retrospect every three months, work with them and understand.

6. integration [ˌɪntɪˈɡreɪʃən] - (noun) - The process of combining or incorporating new elements into a whole. - Synonyms: (combination, incorporation, amalgamation)

Then there was another set of group of people who says, it is not work life balance, it is work life integration.

7. calculated risk [ˈkælkjəˌleɪtɪd rɪsk] - (phrase) - A risk taken after careful consideration. It is a chance taken after weighing the potential consequences, costs, and benefits. - Synonyms: (informed risk, measured risk, considered risk)

Allow them to take a lot of this calculated risk. Calculated is important.

8. cushion for failure [ˈkʊʃən fɔr ˈfeɪljər] - (phrase) - A safety measure or support that allows one to recover from failure without severe consequences. - Synonyms: (safety net, fallback, buffer)

The last bit, the third bit, the first one was personal growth. The second one was psychological safety. And the third one is cushion for failure.

9. alignment [əˈlaɪnmənt] - (noun) - The arrangement or positioning in a straight line or in correct relative positions, often used metaphorically to mean harmony or agreement. - Synonyms: (harmony, agreement, coordination)

So all that you have to do is communicate, talk to your team member, understand what does that person need? What does she need? You talk to her and you try to understand, this is my aspiration in life or in career, keep it on one side. On the other side, look at your organization or look at your team's goal and understand what do we need and see how much overlap you can create between these two. And the moment you find an alignment with your team members aspiration and what you as an organization need.

10. hierarchy [ˈhaɪərˌɑrki] - (noun) - A system of organization where entities are ranked one above the other based on authority or status. - Synonyms: (ranking, grading, structure)

Now, as I said, the level five of team building is personal growth.

Alone we can do little - together we can do so much. - Deepu Xavier - TEDxAJCE

Good morning to each one of you, and thank you for having me here. So I started my career back in 2005. That is like 19 years back. When I look at that time, it was all about working with different types of teams, teams starting from three member team. Then end of the day, I was working with Oracle. In the Java programming language team, where you have hundreds of people. We had teams from different geography. We had teams from diverse culture. So that was the kind of background and pedigree that I had over the past 19 years.

So when I look at that, fast forward 13 to 14 years from then, when I sat with my co founder, Jyotas, you know, in one of the beachside restaurants near Cherai in Kochen, and we were discussing why not we start up a organization on our own. Basically, we wanted a startup. And then we were discussing what all we had to do. We discussed about, you know, how much money we need to put for the first twelve to 18 months. We discussed about what is the initial kind of team that we need to hire. We discussed about how do we approach the customers. Everything we discussed and we started, it went fine.

And then we had the great 2018 flood. You know, we were a very small team, but the team stood together. It was just a matter of few weeks to a couple of months. Everything was normal, and we regrouped. And we said to ourselves, the worst is over. We started up, we had the flood once in a century, and it's all done and dusted. We'll start over. And then we grew to around eight member team, and that was around in 2020. And then Covid hit again. We somehow, you know, swam through the entire thing. We came to, to the other side and we again said to ourselves, I think the worst is over second time.

So we were like a very small team at that point in time. And then I think to our surprise, in the blink of an eye, we were able to grow to a team of around 30 people in another one year. And that is when we understood the worst is not over yet. You know, we had to build a team because the vision was to build a great product. We really wanted to build something in the recruitment automation industry which can be accepted and used by people or recruiters all over the globe.

If we have to build a great product, what do we need? Right? We need a great team. I don't think we'll be happy with having a medium team or a good team. We need something like a great team. So that is when we started discussing about, let's build a great team. Now, I'm sure each one of you in this room would have been a part of some of the other teams, right? It may be a small team, it may be a big team, it may be something like working for a course, a non profit, could be anything.

Now, the thing is that end of the day deliveries that matters is what people believe in. There is a task, there is an agenda. You need to complete it, you need to deliver it. But is that it? Is that what we are expecting from a high performing great team? Not really. Because the moment you focus only on deliverables and delivery, it's like there is no passion, there is no commitment. You deliver and you're out. That I would call it like a working group or it's a pseudo team, or you can even call it as like a high potential team. It's not a great team.

So that is when we started sit together, the initial team members, we started sitting together and we started discussing about what does it take to build a great team? And that is when we identified some of the key components or characteristics which we really wanted to focus on when we are planning to hire. We wanted people with multiple, from different perspectives or multiple diversity cultures. How many of you heard about this greek mythology of Jason the Argonauts? Anybody heard of it? Any raise of hands? There was a hero, the greek mythology hero called Jason. He was tasked to go to land, not seen anywhere. He had to go and collect a golden fleece. That was the task. He had to cross oceans and go.

So for that, Jason curated a team. And to your surprise, I would say it was not just warriors and hunters and soldiers. Not just that. He also had a character called Orpheus. And Orpheus was a musician. Now imagine why would Jason, a greek mythical hero called Jason, had a musician in the team. And that is where the diversity, the different perspective matters. You know, you're going for a very, you know, treacherous journey and you wanted to have somebody to, you know, calm the entire thing. Don't focus on too much of trouble. Be peaceful. You know, that music, everything was mattering a lot. And that is where the.

The diversity matters. It's not always like you have to hire the best and the best of the people to get a great team. You need to have the best, you need to have the average, you need to have people with a different perspective who can actually, you know, compose the team altogether. So from that perspective, diversity, you know, technical know how, growth, mindset, there are multiple parameters and metrics that we identified that this is crucial for hiring. We wanted to hire a good team. Now, in your perspective, it's not always about professional team, right? What are you going to do? You're going to do a small college project. Still, this applies.

You know, you wanted to have the best of the lot always. It's not like that. You need to have the best and you need to have the people who can bring composure to the team. That's also critical, and that is what we focused on in the initial set of, you know, recruitments and hiring that we have done. Now when I'm talking again about our organization, how did we go about and build this? It starts with the right hiring. And it's not just about, as I said, not always about organizational, professional team. In our case, it's about that.

In your case, any team, any group of people that you are collating for a common purpose, the same thing applies. You'll be looking for the technical expertise. Yes, because that is critical. You'll also be looking at whether this person is a good cultural fit. A good hire for Google may not be a good hire for Oracle. They may not be a good hire for a company like us. Right. So what you have to consider is, from the cultural standpoint, is that a good hire? And that's what we have been looking for many a times we have said, you know, no to some good hires because they don't feel that was a good cultural fit.

And many a timesheen we have hired people who are not really technically so great in the initial days, but the mindset is good, the cultural fit is good. So we just said, let's take and see. And luckily, and fortunately, I would say till date it was all great. And that, I think, is something which is always working for us. Now, as I said, the level five of team building is personal growth. Now, how do you focus on personal growth? There are certain things that you need to understand. Every person who joins a team, they have a personal agenda, they have a career plan, they have their own wish list. Their priorities are different.

The growth pattern and expectations are different. Right. So all that you have to do is communicate, talk to your team member, understand what does that person need? What does she need? You talk to her and you try to understand, this is my aspiration in life or in career, keep it on one side. On the other side, look at your organization or look at your team's goal and understand what do we need and see how much overlap you can create between these two. And the moment you find an alignment with your team members aspiration and what you as an organization need. Maybe it requires some sort of, you know, realignment discussions, iterations, but doesn't matter. It's worth it, believe me.

Try to find an alignment between your team's goal and your team members goal. The moment you find it aligned, period, it's sorted out. You don't have to go behind them. You don't have to keep on asking them, can you deliver this? Can you do this? Can you do, can you put in some extra time or hours? No, that's not required. The moment you have is this alignment. They will work for this particular common goal, right. So the moment you have it, it's all about, you know, trying to talk to them and understand what is that you want to be point b, help them understand where do they stand.

Point a, talk to them to understand. What does it take from going from point a to point b delta? There are certain things. Help them with your experience, with your expertise, with your mentoring. Work with them and understand how can you bridge this gap step by step, retrospect every three months, work with them and understand. Okay, how did you progress over the last three months? Is it better? Is it getting there? Are you getting there? Do we need to retweek it? Spend time with your team and it is worth it that they will ensure that your common goal is something which is achieved.

Second aspect that we are given a lot of priority is on the psychological safety of, you know, our team. There was a saying earlier that work life balance is important. Then there was another set of group of people who says, it is not work life balance, it is work life integration. Those people say that there is nothing like work life balance. Work is always there. Integrate it into your life. But we don't believe in that. What we believe, and if you want to have a healthy team, ensure that you have a psychological balance that you are instilling in your teammates.

And how do you do that? Communication. Try to understand what they have and any failures that they do. Don't finger point, accept it. You know, these will work in, it's not like that. Hallow around the head and saying peace. No, nothing like that. It has its own professional advantages. Give them time. Give them time to fail. They'll come over it. But you can always mentor them. You can always guide them. And another thing is, how do you include them in decision making? I would say in team building activity.

To have a great team, it is highly crucial that you give space for them to, you know, make decisions. Even if you want to make a decision, there are two ways to go about making a decision. One, you make a decision. And then you tell them, this is what we have planned. Do it second way. This is what we want to do. Let's find a way how to achieve it. I will tell you from our experience over the past three years, we've been doing this consistently. Every year around December, January, we make it a point that the management meets and we decide or we discuss saying that, what is that highly optimistic goal that as an organization we need to achieve.

So maybe this year we're going to make x revenue or this year we're going to make x number of additional customers. Could be anything which is highly optimistic. We put that and then we include all the team leads in the second meeting and we ask them, hey, this is our plan. We want to make three x revenue or we want to make, say, x million dollar recurring revenue this year. What do you think they will give their points? We say that, why don't you do one thing? You go back to your team, discuss with your team, this is what we are thinking about achieving in the next twelve months.

How can we achieve it now? The team is a part of the decision making. Genuinely. They will come up with a lot of interesting viewpoints which from management perspective we may not have even thought about it. They come up with a lot of things now. The difference is they suggested that something can be done to achieve this. Now it's their responsibility because they decided it. We just guided them, we just directed them. But they took the courage to say, let's do this and let's achieve this now.

Once this is done, the third step is we have an.org wide meeting where the entire people from the organization come together and each team lead presents their team's proposition, how they are planning to achieve this particular goal. And the last important aspect of psychological safety is how do you respect each other for what they are. You know, you may be having a high performer in the team. You may be having a person who is not so performing, but that's okay. There may be something else that the person is good at. There are many cases in our organization where we were able to find the gem of resources when they were moved from one team to another team.

It is not because the team was bad. It's not because the person was bad. It was just because the match was not made. Like I said earlier, you need to align between these two. The person's goal, the team or the organization's goal. Try to align. You get best out of the best from the people who you initially think are not highly performing. So respect the knowledge that they have respect for what they are and you will be able to do, you know, miracle. The last bit, the third bit, the first one was personal growth.

The second one was psychological safety. And the third one is cushion for failure. So failure again, the whole point yesterday I said I was having a discussion with my team. One of the important thing that they said is personal growth is one aspect. Another dimension that was given by our team is they get this opportunity to just come and tell, hey, why don't we do this? Why do you think this works? Let's do it in a different way. We, I don't think there was ever an instance where we said don't do it in the past six years. I can commandingly say that. So we say try it, let's see if it fails.

We found this won't work. Let's try another way. But maybe we will kind of give them, you know, from our piece of, I wouldn't say advice, some, you know, tips saying that maybe you can try in a different way, maybe try this as well along with this or so watch this when you go forward. But never we have said don't do it. So in our team, also, the moment you have a small team, whether you are an entrepreneur or whether you are a, you know, employee of an organization, whether you are a part of an ngo, whether you are teaching or anything, any profession you are in, you will have to create team because you can't achieve a thing alone.

If you want to achieve big things, you need to have a team. And if you need to have a team, give them opportunities to suggest, allow them to fail. You know, failure is basically, it's an opportunity to learn and nothing to, you know, finger point and say, why did you do this? You shouldn't have done this. I would have done it in a different way. No, it's a collective responsibility. So as a right leader, you always say that you did it and somehow we couldn't do it. Whenever it comes to something negative, you put take it on us, okay, let's do it better next time. When somebody does a good thing, always say you did a great thing.

And that is how, you know, you culture this, you know, mutual respect, you know, winning together kind of philosophies and, you know, allow them to take a lot of this calculated risk. Calculated is important. It's not like you have an idea, just do it. No, make them work. Like typically the format is you ask them to do, okay, do this. Great, now how are you planning to achieve it? Ask them to plan it, then execute it. Then measure it, then reiterate. So any risk that you're taking, it is totally good. As long as you go with plan, execute, measure, iterate. These four are important.

As long as you're abiding, you're asking your teammate to go for this four bullet points. It's a calculated risk that they're taking totally fine to fail. Alright. Now, having said all these things, it is equally important to have an extremely diverse team so that they come with a different perspective. We always make it a point that if the person is very good at sports, we don't do much of an interview. If there is good, take him, because the person knows how to handle failure. Because you always can't be the first in every sprint that you do, or every basketball match. It doesn't work like that.

You will win, you may lose, but they take it in the right spirit. Similarly, try to accommodate people from different perspectives, different diversities, and give as much as opportunity to everyone you know. Don't curtail opportunity based on anything, maybe gender or anything for that matter. I would say, because that is something which has not worked. It will never just not work. Now, end of the day, I would wrap up this entire thing by saying again the three things I would reiterate. You can't have great goals or a great product or any great initiative alone. It doesn't work.

You may be lucky if you manage to do it. I would say you are extremely lucky, but generally you can't achieve things alone. Point number two, since you can't achieve alone, you better have a team. And if you have to have a team, ensure that you pick the right diverse mix of team. Give them opportunity, give them space, give them opportunity to fail. Give them respect. End of the day, help them grow as a person from what they are now to something much, much better. So that if you are a part of a great team, you should be very confident in saying that my team members can get a job or can get any task done anywhere in the world, but they don't feel like moving out of your team.

Make a team such that they feel, I want to be a part of this team, I want to achieve this common goal and that is exactly what we need to do. And ensure that this cycle of plan, execute, measure, reiterate the continuous improvement. This keeps going every quarter. You should look at this. So with that, I would thank you, all of you for your patient listening and thanks a lot.

Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Technology, Team Building, Diversity, Recruitment, Tedx Talks