Bringing you the next episode of Everyone Sucks, I (Kartik Budhiraja) had the honour to have Leonardo Lima as the guest for this episode. Leo is from Brazil and is currently working as a Senior Software Engineer at a crypto marketplace company.
His story of being in development is really fascinating, as he studied journalism but pivoted into software development later. He talks about how many challenges he faced not being from a computer science background and how he was able to find what he loves and gets better at it.
Some key takeaways:
Never complain
Leo provides us all with an example of making the best of our resources without complaining. For his very first internship interview (which he got by sending a cold-email to the founder of the company), he was given a coding assignment. Fortune playing its usual role, Leo was moving at that time and ended up being without an internet connection at his place with an assignment to do in a programming language he did not have experience in ( If you’re a developer, you can imagine how hard can that be). But instead of complaining, Leo actually spent his days at the public library as they had internet and finished the assessment on time.
Talk about finding a way out no matter what.
Build and use the support network around you
When asked about his way of handling the pressure of moving into tech and dealing with the imposter syndrome, he talks about the importance of having a support network around oneself. He mentions how he used to talk with his best friend and other people around him openly about the challenges he’s facing and the doubts he has.
He puts it in a really impactful way by saying that “You do not have to fight alone. Help people around you and ask for help when you need it.”
Transform self-doubt to fuel
At his first development job, Leo talks about how he always felt the pressure to prove himself. Not being from a computer science background, the self-doubt added additional pressure as one could imagine. Leo turned that self-doubt around and started using that as fuel for more focus. He talks about how he ended up taking his work with intense focus and putting in more hours just because he knew he had something to prove. It’s not to say that the pressure is good, it’s more to show that everyone feels that self-doubt, but the only thing we need to do with it eradicates it by focusing on what we can do i.e get after it and work with more focus.
It’s always a people business
“No matter what your role is, you have to remember it’s always a people business” ~ Leo
Leo tells how calling people as resources make him a bit uncomfortable as people are human, no matter what happens. He explains how important is it to remember this whether you’re a developer or in any other job. At the end of the day you are still working and communicating with people, so behave like one.
Focus on what other person requires, not what you want to offer
When asked about his favourite failure, he talks about the importance of understanding other people’s needs. Through his own experience where he tried to help an intern by providing what he thought would be the best for them. He explains how that backfired and reminded him that every person is different, just because you think that one thing would benefit that person, does not mean they would agree with you.
If you’re in a management role, take a step to figure out what your team wants first, and then work on providing them. Do not put the cart in front of the horse.
Bonus Tip: Coming from Journalism, writing is a major part of Leo’s life. He uses writing down the problem and its prospective solution to break it down into chunks and suggests everyone give it a shot.
Please feel free to reach out to Leo if anyone needs any guidance. You can find Leo online on Twitter at @leocavia.
We talked about a lot of other cool stuff, join us on youtube, Spotify, and every other place you get your podcast from. (Search for Everyone Sucks)
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6sm92aEs2vO8ES3KfegM3E?si=oHd4uv6qROKk5MBxH6pcdg
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