Transcription
Okay. Hello. Uh I am Joseph Mully. Um I am a consultant at Cavia Netherlands. Uh and I mostly specialize in platform engineering and site reliability engineering. And I am from, well, I have been in the Netherlands for about six years now. Uh just a year above the threshold, uh, you know, of the the the visa situation. Uh I am born and raised in Kenya and so far I'm enjoying my stay here. You know, I I I met the love of my life. She's actually sitting in the room right now.
>> She's lovely. I've met her.
>> Yeah, she's incredible.
>> Maybe she can show her face quick.
>> Oh, she's too far.
>> Oh, too bad. Too bad.
>> Uh yeah, meeting her did change my perspective on uh um, you know, do I go home back? Do I go back home or not? Do I stay here? It's not just about me anymore. It's about how we want to live and where we want to go. And uh I think that's uh just a little bit about myself.
>> Well, so nice to have you here, Joseph. So, I'm going to be asking you some questions now. Um questions I shared with you earlier. So, let's start with the first question. What inspired you to join the leadership landing program?
>> Um so, I I remember uh Sarah giving a talk at the SR day conference uh back in 2024, I believe. And in this presentation uh uh her words triggered interest, you know, something about the different types of mental health diagnosis and how you are able to create space for yourself uh when listening and reading uh slide decks, for example, and you know, that kind of uh I don't know whether to say that is actualization, but it kind of just felt like you really know yourself uh and you know how to navigate this world um and there must be something about how you got towards this. So, some of the slides also were interesting enough for me to like, okay, I'm not going to write notes. I'm going to just find her and ask her questions. And then, uh, she told me she has a program. It's like, oh, sign me up, you know, let's go.
>> Great. Yes, I still remember the conversation uh after the talk. You were in awe in that moment. It was uh so nice to see that energy.
>> I It's almost like I didn't listen to any other talk that day after that point. I was like I I think I got what I want. I can go home now. Was a was a nice one.
>> That's lovely. So um where were you in your personal or professional growth journey uh before starting the program?
>> So I have done um a lot of uh psychological therapy, if I if I can call it that way. I've done a lot of it. Um enough to have taken a break. So uh before I started, I had I I had been on a two-year break uh so far and uh at work, I also have been receiving guidance from and coaching from my people manager. We call them people managers uh uh at Sabia. We set goals together, we ground ourselves in how we're feeling uh and progressively achieve these goals. Uh so there is uh there's a lot of uh support uh around me. Uh but this was unique because this was more about how can I support self. Uh and that way, you know, you just get to integrate with the support system and like if you were moving at 10 km an hour, then you at like 200 now because you have that kind of control.
>> I remember um in the course specifically when we were talking about Maslow's helpers, you were so intrigued like that you have the Maslow helper, but you also can empower yourself and you specifically were
>> uh yeah, spiked about that. Yeah, it was like it was, you know, putting a a um a face to a name kind of situation for me. So, it was really uh I needed that.
>> Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, what did leadership or impact, the words uh mean to you uh then and what do they mean to you now?
>> So, I had a lot of uh definitions, but um I unfortunately had this mindset. I don't know if I it's mutual to other people, especially from an African descent. Uh the idea of a leadership is uh of course uh never the right one. Uh and you know, you grow up seeing these people who we call leaders. Uh but then once you become an adult, you're like, how did these people even help me? Do I even want to be a leader in the in the first place? So I never wanted to use the word leader. I never wanted to call myself a leader. And when opportunities came up, even if I was qualified, um I could never just even define for myself what qualification of being a leader looks like. You know, I can have a certification, that does not make me a leader at all. Uh and the uniqueness of this program was, you know, what is personal leadership? You know, it's it's not about work. It's not about whatever. It's just it's you, that's, you know, we start from there. So uh leadership wasn't as grounded, accountable, and personal previously. Uh before this program, it would be a role I would shy away from or have at least one foot in it and not like completely in it because I could never define that. But now I can uh and now I can I can take up that position. I can uh, you know, take ownership of it and I I can do my best because ultimately, you don't have 100% control. It's a complex system. Uh it's it's about how, at least for me, how I connect with the people, the relationships I build, and and we if we make progress or when we make progress, that's just something extra to celebrate.
>> Yeah. And uh um you're mentioning progress. So how has the word impact changed for you?
>> I can connect deeper with the uh the people in my teams uh and the people around me, and uh that is very important for me. So that does qualify as impact. Um how we are able to deliver work as a team. Now I'm thinking in terms of work, uh the impact is overall positive towards the business themselves and uh the engineers who who I serve and and who we serve. Uh typical example is, uh I I do SR trainings as well. So different organizations with reliability needs or gaps, uh they come to Xavier, and we have this program that we wrote as well. And uh of course, being one of the people who wrote this, uh you get to live this thing, you know, in your day-to-day, and the there's a very big difference between uh teaching people over a two-day course what is reliability engineering and actually seeing someone in your organization uh learn from you and go even way ahead of you with this thing. So now I become the student. So that that, yeah, a very, very uh very precious moment.
>> Yeah. I u just gave an interview um right before you, and I actually was reflecting on that, how um because I've given this program for years and years now, and how every time I give the program, I'm also learning uh from my students. So I feel like after having given it so much, I have grown also so much as a leader in in in the process. So you always learn. It's it's a back and forth thing, right?
>> Yeah. It's like a wheel. It just keeps turning. It just keeps the whole time.
>> Exly. Exactly. So, uh, which parts of the program stood out most to you? Um, a session, story, reflection, or a tool?
>> So, there was a lot about the program that deeply resonated. Uh, and, uh, I think the best um thing for me is that it all like led up to the core. Um and the core is what like really deeply resonated with me. Discovering those was like out complete surprise. I did not expect it. Uh, I have another answer that will like join the dots here. So, I won't get to it yet because I'll confuse myself. Uh, but the dragons, you know, the need to be needed, complexity, and victim mentality, those like I was like, whoa, you know. Yeah, that that feels real. Feels real. I can put a label to it now and uh somehow I can change my actions to go, you know, uh in a different path away from these dragons, and it actually feels better, and uh, you know, the world adapts to these different actions that I take, you know, suddenly, you know, there's uh promotions, there's recognition, like, oh wow, okay, you know, let's keep going that way, let's let's keep doing that. So um, yeah, there's a lot that I will answer towards what these dragons uh are saying today and and that they mean today. Uh, but they are in follow-up questions. So uh I think that's the um that would be the answer for for for this question. I the last thing here is I was patient enough to let it unfold. Um, you know, as you move from the values, as you know, as you head towards the core, you know, there's a lot of questions you can ask yourself and try to fill the gaps yourself, but being patient and like, you know, spending that energy within that one lesson that you are with with your teacher and with your peers, it it made a difference. It made a difference because it all just adds up towards the end, and then you just get all these questions, be like, okay, you know what, I I I learned a lot.
>> Yeah. And um having given the program uh like I said so many times um there's one consistent uh reaction that I get from students um every time uh every time they get a level deeper, they're always uh um reflecting on, oh my gosh, the last uh session, I I came to this realiz