Rupen Shah
Director of IT
National Apartment Association
Arlington, Virginia

Tell great stories.

Tell the “utility value” of what you create, and don’t be shy. Celebrate your success with your team, stakeholders, and customers. Replicate that success elsewhere in other functions too. But remember that storytelling is not only for successes. It’s also a way to talk about failures—why they happened and what lessons were learned. Ultimately, the organization gets better with every documented and communicated story of success and failure.

Be persistent.

I exhaust all my options before I give in. It’s OK to give up, but don’t give in unless you are 100 percent sure that you have given 110 percent. The naysayers are easy to bump into, and they will suck the energy out of you. Surround yourself with an army of highly skilled and motivated people who buy into your vision, have the skills, and will relentlessly go the extra mile.

Look at the big picture.

Never do anything unless you understand the objective and impact that it can have on society. Having a clear vision has helped me to deliver products with a “wow” factor. Engage your team with techniques like design thinking and mind mapping. Fun fact: Big-picture thinking requires you to consider things at macro and micro levels, so stay close to your customer and listen.