Continuing the Conversation: Luciano Ramos on Leading Innovation at Optimum [Part 2]

Yeah, I spend a lot of time with my team on multiple different levels, and every person requires a different type of coaching and different type of mentoring. Not everybody's equal, and I am a true believer in feedback. I think that the best tool that we all have as leaders, honestly as human beings, is feedback. But feedback sounds easy. Feedback is a very big word. Giving true, real, candid feedback is not easy. You have to do it at the right time. You have to understand the person you're talking to. Some people would like it to be real time. Some other people will require a little bit of two or three days and say, 'Hey, let's go get a beer. Let's go get a coffee. Let me tell you something I saw. Let me tell you something that I believe you could do better or use the right words.' Because you want to influence that person to become better, right? And if you want to be better, you need some data points. And feedback is probably the best tool you have to give somebody some data points. It's incredible how many people go through careers and they never get it. They never get it. And I think that when you are able to receive it and process it properly, which is not easy, because the feedback sometimes is usually hard, you know, because most of the folks don't expect it, and they don't see it, and people get kind of disappointed that you don't see it yourself. But if you can leave that behind and you can focus on, okay, fine, people are seeing it differently from what I see it, it's okay, great. It's a data point. Thank you. Then you can grow, then you can develop yourself, then you can go to another. It's an art to give the feedback. It's an art to receive the feedback, and it's an art to be able to let go. And I think it's exactly right as leaders we have to get comfortable having those uncomfortable conversations. It's the best thing for the individual, for the organization, and it's not easy, but it takes a lot of work and practice.

I can tell you that I think I'm a better leader. I give better feedback. I have better feedback sessions when I'm at work than I'm at home. Home is a tough one. My kids are becoming teenagers. Having those conversations is becoming tougher and tougher, and getting that reception on the other side. I think what my kids have taught me in the last recent years, when you can start having more in-depth conversations, is you got to learn to be more patient. You got to give them their time. They will receive the message, and it will take a little bit of time to process. And you can apply some of those things around patience and giving people a little bit of leeway to adjust. You can bring that back to work. I think I brought that specifically, the giving people a little bit of time to act upon the feedback. In my previous years in life, I would have been a little bit more direct, more impatient. But I think it has made me a better leader just to be able to be a little bit more patient sometimes and understand that there might be other factors on that particular person to act upon the feedback. And if it requires two or three sessions, like with my kids, you got to tell your kids three, four, five times the same thing until they actually start to get it. And in real life, we're all humans, so sometimes that message needs to be said multiple times. Repetition is a great tool. So I try to use that at home and at work.

Yeah, it's been really recent. I'm an only child. I left my home country when I was young, so my relationship with my dad was kind of a long-distance relationship. I had my ups and downs, like we all do with parents. But I miss him a lot. We just went through the holiday season. It was the first Christmas and New Year's Eve, and it was my birthday three days ago. I was looking at my family photo. My mom was here. We were able to bring my mom, and it's tough to know that he's not there. Maybe because it's recent, but I still have flashes of moments and situations that we lived together. So it's sad, it's tough. My dad was a mix. He started his career studying psychology. He went to school and did psychology as a career, and halfway through the career he said, 'Okay, I don't want to do that anymore. I'm going to switch to marketing.' He completely changed his career. I remember he went and did an MBA, and I will never forget he spent two years every single weekend that I wouldn't see my dad, and then he came out and he became a marketer and he opened up his own consulting firm. That's one of the things that you grab in life, the hard work that my dad did and how he decided to do that. I don't think I could ever do that. I always remember those moments. He taught me so much about hard work. That left a mark on me. You got to do what you got to do. If you want to do something, you can get there. I couldn't imagine today changing careers or starting a new career when you're 40, 50. He did it. So everything is possible. And I miss him. I miss those conversations. He always asked me about my personal development, my career development. He was always very work-centered. So I take that with me everywhere I go. If I have to work 10 hours, 12 hours, if I feel fulfilled in what I'm doing, I'll do it.