OS, products, innovation and coaching with K Nageswar Rao (KNR)

In this episode, K Nageswara Rao - known as KNR - shares his story and experiences related to:Four threads related to his careerIndividual contributor, team leaderConnecting digital switches in the telecom industry; each switch being a digital exchangeTraveling to locations that he is not supposed to talk about, due to security reasonsJoining Tata Unisys and learning a lot in terms of working with teams Working on the operating system : Unix SVr4Moving to the Solaris OS group with Sun microsystemsCreating a community for Open Solaris, engaging with various stakeholders, including studentsNext thread: leading R&D and product teams in India for large multinational organizationsGaining ability to work with people Fundamental challenges faced by him 20-25 years ago, still existingThird thread: driving innovation cultureFourth thread: influencing people’s lives: through processes and systems in companies or through coachingQuitting a corporate job to start - What is my North - a coaching company, continuing to help individuals growHow he combines or switches between working with people or with machines [embedded or systems software] using systems thinkingHow it helps when one abstracts specifics and infers patternsAsking open ended questions and helping people figure out the answersAbout the impact of not having direct customer connect and experience, when developing products and solutionsImportance of the ability to pay attention to detail and not jump to conclusionsHow an articulated shared vision by the leaders enables every individual to rally around a larger causeThe need to accept contrarian viewsHow humility is a strong characteristic for a great leaderEstablishing genuine connections with peopleIf humility a trainable skillHow humility can co-exist with confidenceIf it was easier to connect computers, compared to connecting peopleCreating an environment where people want to help othersThe role of constructive or creative dissonance in nurturing great communitiesCompassion being the common theme between being line managers and being a coachCreating a startup culture within a large organizationAspects related to product leadershipWhat he has enjoyed being in ITHis career tips for people considering a career in IT or mid-career professionalsAfter 34 years of a strong leadership career in IT, KNR decided to pursue his passion for helping people achieve success. When he quit his job as VP of Engineering in Unisys last year he started “What’s My North?”, to help people achieve success through Personal Transformation.  Before Unisys, KNR has worked in Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Tata Unisys and ITI, primarily in Embedded Systems and Operating Systems.https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayenarr/[email protected]