Vijay Swamidass
A people leader with the
heart of a builder
Living with freedom and generosity.
Exploring
Travel
In 2020-2021, I visited All 50 states. It is an adventure I'll never forget. The United States are incredible in their diversity and beauty.Flying
I became a private pilot in 2017. The picture here was taken by my passenger on arrival to Monterrey, CA. The freedom to glide above cities, traffic and the clouds is indescribable to anyone who is not a pilot.
I Build Things
The satisfaction of building something useful is addicting. Software is my primary outlet, but I dabble in home decor, small electronics, and many other areas.
Software
1. I built GearShelf to help my brother keep track of his outdoor equipment.
2. Built Salesforce Dataloader CLIq to ease the configuration of the Salesforce Dataloader. Used by 10s of thousands of people around the world.
3. CaringMeals.com enabled people to coordinate meals for friends and family during difficult times. 50,000 people coordinated 10s of thousands of meals over 10 years.
4. Salesforce Status and Known Issues have helped thousands of Salesforce users get the latest information about availability, performance, and fixes.Writing
- Realbibleconversations.com is a newsletter and live discussion community where I try to bring peace to complex topics from a Christian viewpoint.
- I travelled to all 50 states from Sept 2020 to Sept 2021. You can read all about it at Allthestates.Home
I am not afraid to attempt small home construction projects and some of them are documented on YouTube.
Contact
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Leading People
Professionally, I became a people leader in 2013 when I began managing a team of 4 people. Since then, I have served in various leadership positions.
The most satisfying part of being a people leader is helping free others from their burdens and enable them to do their best work.
Positions
1. Salesforce Engineering Director, UX Director, and Product Manager. I have managed engineers, product managers, and UX designers. I've led teams of 20+ Individual Contributors and other Managers.
2. Shepherds Gate board Vice President. Shepherd's Gate provides care for homeless Women and Children in the Livermore, CA area. I helped with fundraising, financial oversight, CEO search, and Salesforce implementation.My Style
- Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose are the keys to a high performing team. Watch the Dan Pink video for the details.
- Say "no" a lot. No to extra requirements. No to more process. No to more meetings. Be focused on a few things and do them well.
- Rapid feedback is the key to success in any environment. In a software engineering environment, this is built on CI/CD. Faster feedback enables teams to find out what works and what doesn't.
