I was known as the “intense guy” - with Yuriy Timen (Grammarly, Airtable, Canva, Krisp)
Now he's on a journey to deliver A+ results while still living a meaningful life
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“I’ve received critical feedback many times, but that initial feeling never goes away — like the walls are closing in, like it’s unfair, like no one knows how much you do for your team.”
It was somewhat comforting to hear my latest podcast guest, Yuriy Timen, describe his experience receiving feedback this way.
Yuriy is a legend in the growth space.
He’s the former Global Head of Marketing and Growth at Grammarly and has advised an impressive roster of clients (Canva, Airtable, Otter.ai, Hims, Krisp, and tons of others).
I assumed he was one of those people who batted 1000% percent and probably never had a bad performance review.
So I was surprised to hear him share that his Grammarly colleagues referred to him as “the intense guy… and not in a good way.”
During one 360 feedback cycle, four of his direct reports described Yuriy as being an insufficiently empathetic manager who didn’t put enough emphasis on relationship building or caring for the team’s overall well being.
Ouch, right?! It hurts just thinking about it.
But it’s hard for results-driven growth folks to strike the right balance between pushing their team to deliver results and supporting team members’ individual growth and job satisfaction.
After he had a minute to recover, Yuriy was able to process the feedback. Eventually developing a lens of gratitude that his team had the courage to speak up. He realized that the mostly self-imposed pressure he put on himself, and — by extension — his team was both his superpower and his kryptonite.
“I was under a lot of stress and pressure at Grammarly because we had really audacious goals,” Yuriy shared. “But I eventually realized the importance of pairing the go-go-go with more lightheartedness and regular relationship building.”
In his day-to-day, this meant Yuriy learned how to stay on top of creating strong roadmaps and nurturing a strong execution culture, while at the same time accepting the occasional coffee invite and joining his team for an offsite lunch.
Catch our full convo to hear more about Yuriy’s journey, including:
How getting a taste of a more balanced life - with time for his kids and self care - inspired him to approach his work differently
How a temporary detox from the startup world took on a life of its own to become his solopreneur advisor career
How Yuriy’s USSR-born parents’ careful handling of their son’s privilege formed the foundation of his work ethic
The surfing analogy Yuriy uses to explain the best strategy for managing imposter syndrome
Watch or listen below 👇
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