Hello, everybody. Welcome again to the art of giving and getting feedback. I know there was a little bit of a mix-up and a printed program, so that's not where you want to be. I'm really sorry, hopefully you can still stay. But I hope that everybody will enjoy the session. Just let me introduce myself a little bit. My name is Anna Mihailova and I'm a director of technology at Kalamuna. I tend to speak really, really fast, so if I do speak fast, please raise your hand, and I will try to slow down. You also hear my lovely accent, which is my charm, because I'm from Ukraine. And so I apologize if something is a little bit unclear, also muffled by the mask, but I think we will roll with that. Very excited to be here. All right, let's dive right into the agenda. So today we will cover a few things like why the team might be underperforming, or a person might be underperforming. The fantastic four, I'll keep it as a mystery. The feedback formula, accountability dial, and how to welcome feedback as a manager or a leader. If you're not a manager or a leader, it's still relevant because you may understand how to welcome feedback from your team. All right, that's great, but before we start, please raise your hand if you absolutely love getting feedback, and this is the best thing that ever happened to you. All right, a few people, raise your hand if you feel like feedback is very stressful and you don't know how to deal with the situation. Way more, right? And do we know why? Well, usually this is because, not because people don't know how to improve, don't want to improve, don't want to grow. This is because feedback became such a stressful experience. So hopefully today we will dive into why it is stressful and how to make it less stressful for you and for people around you. So first we'll figure out why a person may not be meeting expectations. So why the team might be underperforming? Well, there are only two reasons. You may say, well, how is that two reasons? There are way more reasons. Well, that's true, but globally they all boil down to two main reasons. Reason number one is they don't know what great work means for this particular team. What that really means is they haven't understanding for great work, but they don't know specific expectations for that particular team. Let me give you an example. Let's say they're coming from a different CMS than Drupal and they used to have the different set of coding standards or, you know, different sets of requirements to paint wall if they are painters or different sets of writing curriculum if they are writers. And then they join the team. They might be doing a fantastic job according to their previous job, but they don't know the standards of your particular team. If you don't communicate those standards, they just don't know what the great work means for you and for the team. So it will take some time for them to adjust and start doing great work. So as managers or leaders or peers, it's our job to help this new person on the team to learn what great work means for the team. And for that, we need shared knowledge. So we'll talk about that today. And the second reason is the requirements of this great work don't work for their needs or values. That happens too, right? They all hear the understanding of core values or notion of core values for the companies and for the teams. And sometimes those core values just don't work for that particular individual, and it's totally fine. And in this case, the best thing you can do is basically help them find the team where the core values will meet their needs. For instance, if the core value for the team might be working late and meeting the deadlines because we just, you know, hackers, then a person who has strong values in privacy time and family and work balance, they may not fit in this team. There are people who may enjoy having this like big sports of overtime work and then rest after that, like in the startups. But that might not be for everybody. And that's totally fine. But if you're in a situation when requirements don't meet your needs or values, then that team is probably not for you. And this is okay. The point is to identify it early and work with your manager to understand if that's truly the case and what can be changed. So how to set those clear expectations? Well, as a manager, you need to over-communicate. You cannot stress it enough. It's not enough to say once in once. You need to over-communicate it and repeat it multiple times and deliver it through multiple mediums. So not just through the oral communication, but written in emails, written in wikis, in JIRA, in other company statements, in Slack, over-communicate. The more you communicate the same message, the bigger are the chances that people actually see that. Because we are so busy in a digital world, we have a lot of notifications and we're getting into notifications fatigue. And in the notification fatigue, a lot of messages are getting lost. So when you over-communicate, the idea is not to send more notifications. The idea is to provide information in a different form and in a different way so that you actually can deliver it in a format that may fit the majority of the needs of your teammates. Give examples. That's another thing of how we can clarify the expectations. It's not good to just say, create a pull request. If you don't give an example of what a good pull request looks like, then people may not know what that means. Create a good commit message. Again, give as precise examples as possible so people understand what exactly is anticipated of them. Model good behavior. So model it by yourself, leave it by the example. But also highlight when somebody on the team does it well. So if you want something to prosper, if you see somebody doing a good job, highlight that particular example and praise. You are basically getting two things resolved in this situation. You are boosting the confidence of a person who is doing it well. But you're also giving an example to the entire team of what your expectations are. And it's a very clear and precise example. And remember that common sense is not so common. I tend to tell a story. So when I first came from Ukraine to Canada, my husband and I went grocery shopping. And we really wanted milk. Day-to-day things, everybody can imagine milk, right? So we went in and there were two options. There was a big bag of milk and there was a small cardboard box of milk.  So we don't have a pot big enough to pour all of the three liters from a bag. And when you open the bag, obviously, you cannot keep the milk in the bag. So we bought a cardboard box. And next week, we again went and bought a cardboard box. Every single week, the frustration was growing. It wasn't just growing, it was boiling inside. We were so frustrated that we were losing money on cardboard box milk, where we could have bought the huge bag of it and save. But we don't have a big pot. Finally, we splurged. We bought a pot. We brought it home, proud of ourselves with a big bag of milk. And we thought, yeah, now we beat the system. We opened the bag of milk and guess what? There are three small bags of milk inside this big one. So we didn't need a big pot. But it's a common sense for people who lived in Canada for generations. They saw their parents buying milk and seeing that there are three little bags inside a big one. We didn't. So the common sense wasn't so common for us. The same thing that actually somebody heard me giving similar talk and they improved it in my city. But I am sure you all were riding a bus at some point, right? And you wanted to request a stop. So to request a stop, you need to pull a yellow string or press a button. That's not how it works in Ukraine. In Ukraine, the bus stops on every single stop. So we got on a bus and the bus doesn't stop. And we need to get out. And we don't know how. And we're looking at other people and they pull in the string, but it looks really dangerous as a wire. What if somebody will call the police if we break the bus and pull the wire? So we're in anxiety, running around the bus trying to get out. Finally, like, I am brave enough. I'm pulling the wire and I learn that, yes, this is how you request a stop. Now, actually, in my city, they put a little sticker in there saying pull to request a stop. Thanks for accessibility over there. But it was really, really scary. But again, that was something that was common sense. The same we face at work. Whatever feels like common sense to you may not be common sense to your teammates, to your managers, or to your clients. So keep that in mind next time. And you're like, well, that's obvious. That may not be obvious. So clear expectations is a key. So what is the key part of the feedback cycle? Without what feedback cycle isn't possible? Who has an idea? What would be the key ingredient for the feedback? Anybody? Wild guess? Improvement is good, yeah? Any other ideas? Matrix, sure. Trust. Who said trust? Great. Yes, you're correct. Trust is the most important ingredient. Why? Well, you can avoid being blindsided by building a relationship founded in trust. That means that people will give you open feedback without hiding something or without being too cushy about it. And your direct reports can be completely honest with you because they know that you have their best interest and you care about them. So when you have trust, people know that your feedback comes from the place of care. And this is one of the most important things. And I give you an example. If you walk down the street and you see, and you wear a hoodie, just like me, right? And you see a person who is passing by and they're like, oh, your hoodie is so bad. It's like green. I hate green. Do you care? But how does it make you feel? You feel probably upset, frustrated, puzzled, but do you care to change the hoodie? Probably not. If you see your friend walking down the street and they have that, hey, Anna, I'm really happy to see you. How have you been? Oh, that hoodie, you know, green isn't your color. What's your reaction?  Green, green wasn't the best choice, you know? So in this case, why the reaction is different? The substance of this feedback is exactly the same. Well, the reaction is different because you trust your friend that they care about you. And a random person on the street, well, you don't care. And that's why the feedback is difficult. So we omit this thing when we get into work settings. When we get into work setting, we expect to give feedback to our peers and to our reports and receive feedback from them. But we omit the situation that when we just meet each other, we don't have trust. We don't have relationship. At this point, feedback is not possible because you don't know intentions of these people and they don't know your intention. And in this case, we're getting in this stressful situation where we all drag feedback, we all drag performance reviews, and we don't know how to deal with them. That's because instead of focusing on the feedback and adjusting behavior, managers and reports and peers and coworkers need to focus on trust. When we focus on trust, we build the foundation for the feedback cycle. So you build your trust with your direct reports and peers. If your reports regularly bring their challenges to your attention. So when you don't need to pull teeth to get to their challenges, but you actually hear it from them on a regular basis, then it means you build trust. You also build trust if you get in critical feedback about you. You not only receiving the feedback as a manager, but you're also getting feedback about your performance from them, and you're not taking it personally.  So how to build trust? Well, be human, relate, as I said, give examples from your work, from your life, but also relate to their challenges. When somebody brings the challenge to you, or you see their behavior, try to relate like, have you ever done something like that before? Respect and care about your person. Management is not telling what to do. It's not measuring metrics. It's caring. First and foremost, it's caring for people around you and caring for people you work with. So try to do your best to help them feel successful and fulfilled. And another thing that I try to bring home as much as possible is respect the person as a whole. What does it mean? Well, you know, sometimes when we do a fantastic job, our managers are really happy that you did a great job. It's awesome. We launched this site. This client is very happy and it's so easy to be excited about this particular thing. And when a person has a down day, we all do, suddenly the praise goes away and we are not, you know, as appreciated anymore in some situations. But at the end of the day, we are not one small win or big win. We are not a mistake. We are a person with complicated needs and feelings and challenges. So we need to be accepted as a whole and appreciated as a whole. And that means that we create an environment where we accommodate each other needs and strengthen each other's strengths, right? So when we start thinking of a person not based on what they deliver or not deliver on a team, but as a human being that brings diversity and perspective to your team, the vision changes and your appreciation for these people changes as well. Invest time in your direct reports and if you are not a manager, ask your manager for the time with you because time is the essential ingredient to build trust and connection because it removes proximity bias and you're able to actually build bridges, especially in remote environments. Admit your mistakes. Nobody's perfect. So if you made a mistake, make it clear that it's okay to admit the mistake. I had a situation at one of my employment where I was working with a junior developer and I asked them to style, to debug a style problem, right? And that style problem was written in an error message on the screen, a Drupal error message, I'm sure a lot of you have seen, and I asked them to debug and remove that. And they did. When I looked at the code, the reason how they did it, they put display none on the message. So the message was gone, but you know, the problem wasn't solved. And I asked why they felt the need to hide the message instead of reach out for help and help them debug it. And they didn't feel like they had an opportunity to admit that they didn't have a knowledge to debug and solve it. And how do we create a safe space? Well, by admitting your own mistakes. If a leader or a senior person on the team shows that this is okay to show that you don't know everything, that you may make a mistake, then it creates a safe place for everybody else to admit their mistakes. And be transparent about performance. Not about just performance of your direct report, but about your performance if true. If you drop the ball, say so. Explain that you did and say what you are doing to adjust it.  And as long as we work on it together, we can solve that. So why is it even important? Trust and relationship can't you not just have a feedback sandwich a formula? Well, it's important because our actions and emotions are powered by hormones in our brain. And trust is actually one of the factors, one of the most powerful factors that we will see right now, that powers one of those hormones that create very positive feelings, accountability, and connections on the team. So what are those hormones? I call them fantastic four because they're really fantastic. And they've been with us since humans were running around chasing animals and hunting. So one of them are endorphins. So why do they exist? Well, exist to help mask pain.  And that's because you don't feel physical strain or pain when you're in the flow, when you're trying to solve something. So endorphins help with that. In our past, when our ancestors, as I said, were chasing animals and hunting, that helped them to actually change the animal and not come back without food. So they mask pain so that you can get to your goal. Then they also released when you left, and they help you with your endurance. However, endorphins, as they call it, are selfish chemical. What that means is it's short lasting and it's very selfish. It's for you specifically, not for everybody else. And dopamine, this is the scariest one because a lot of developers in particular are kind of addicted to dopamine. Why? Well, that is a release of satisfaction when the task is done. So again, if you've been debugging for a very, very long time or solving something for a very long time and you've finally done, this is dopamine. The problem is dopamine is highly addictive and short lasting. So for instance, I'll give you an example. There is this popular tool called tacos and we use it too. And I'm not saying tacos are inherently wrong. I'm just giving you an example of dopamine. When a new developer joins our team and they learn about tacos, they're very happy. Oh my god, this is a taco. Then they get their first tacos and they over the moon. I usually get a lot of messages saying, oh my god, I got my first taco. This is incredible. And they feel really, really happy for a very, very short period of time. That's the dopamine got out. So they completed their onboarding task or the first task and they got a taco. Now they released something else and they got one taco. They're not as excited anymore. They want two tacos or three tacos. And soon enough, people start giving them more tacos and they obviously excited and they're not excited. And soon tacos are like, I got tacos. And that's because you cannot continuously increase any reward to fulfill the dopamine. But we as developers get very addicted to that because basically all day long, what we do are completing tasks. You know, we submitting Gira tickets, we merging pull requests, we fulfilling clients requirements and all of that supposed to release dopamine. But after some time, after you become intermediate developer, senior developer, you cannot get enough dopamine. And this is where people get an in burn out and disengaged. So teams that are highly focused on dopamine and under things, they have short lasting successes, but then it's really hard to maintain the same level of performance. So how do you actually overcome those? Well, you focus on two other hormones. Serotonin is the first one, which is a leadership chemical. So it gets released when people like and respect us. And it's supposed to be a genuine feeling of like of respect. So that happens when somebody is sharing in the team setting some positive feedback about us. We get serotonin. It makes us feel strong and confident because again, in the past, strong and confident leaders were able to chase the animals and get the mammoths to the tribe to eat. And it is released when we feel valued. And also when we put forth something that makes good for others. So it helps us contribute to the success of the team, not to our success personally necessarily. So it's a selfless chemical. And it's very long lasting. It also creates a way to responsibility when somebody did something good for us. So if your manager is investing their energy in you and your professional development in your growth as an individual, you have responsibility, you get in a feeling of responsibility to perform well because they invested in yourself and in your growth. So if you want other people on your team to naturally have responsibility and accountability, invest time in them, boost their serotonin so they feel strong and confident and then it will automatically boost the performance. And next to it goes actually to speak about leadership. Who has an idea what is the definition of a leader or top performer? There are some misconceptions. Who wants to try? Who is the top performer on the team? Good option. Any other suggestions? Leader makes top performance. Another great suggestion. Anybody else? Most efficient? Yes. So those are all things that you said. This is a perception that media culture and performance growth culture makes us to believe. When I was in one of my jobs, originally more like a junior person, I was very surprised that I didn't have any formal role and I didn't have any formal title, but people were just naturally starting following me and listening to my opinions, asking for my advice and supporting my ideas and I was very surprised. So what made them feel that I was a leader even though I was in a junior role and not having any titles? Well later on I learned in the research that we consider subconsciously, not as you noticed voiced, but subconsciously human beings consider leaders in top performance the ones who work the hardest to help others succeed. So what I was doing in the junior role, I was helping people. They needed a snippet of code. I gave them a snippet of code. They wanted a body to debug with them. I would stand next to them and help debug. I would stay a little bit later to help somebody who was struggling and staying late. So by the time when I didn't have this research, I thought that I was just kind. Later I understood that I was just the strongest supportive person in the group and that made me a leader. So a person who is willing to sacrifice time and energy so others can gain, this person becomes an unofficial leader. Yes, they may be efficient. They obviously have great skills and other things, but ultimately the group will think of a leader, a person who protects and sacrifices themselves for the best of the group because at the end of the day, again from the past, we wanted a leader to chase that moment and get us food. So oxytocin, it's a less chemical that we will discuss today. It's chemical of strong bond and everybody says, well, it's a chemical of love. Yes, but it's also a chemical of friendship and deep trust. So again, if you boost amount of oxytocin on your team, then that builds trust and trust, as we noticed, the feedback flourishes. So how do we do it? Well, it is released when we do something nice for others, but it's also released when others do something nice for us. It also helps because it is contagious. What does it mean? Well, if you walk down the street and you see somebody fall and you see another person come and help them to get up and get their belongings back, you are more likely to also help somebody this day because in watching somebody doing this act of care, it released oxytocin in yourself and you are more likely to help somebody else. That's why those chains and popular YouTube and TikTok videos happen, like I pay for the person behind me and then you see the person behind you going into the drive-thru and they pay in again and then again and again and this is how those chains work because they are releasing oxytocin. Oxytocin is also long lasting, meaning that if you saw something in the morning, the act of generosity, then it's more likely to last you a day or even a couple of days depending on how big that act of generosity was. So if you want to boost oxytocin on your team, brainstorm with them how you can demonstrate acts of generosity. It's very easy in the office. It's hard in the remote environment, but you can brainstorm together and figure out how to show other people that their teammates and leaders helping others to succeed. All right, well, there is one evil player in this hormone chain and this evil player can destroy all of these effects of those four chemicals that may help with feedback.  Yeah, that's correct. That's a cortisol. It's a first level of fight of light response. Well, first of all, when we are flooded with cortisol, it decreases creativity. It also increases aggression. So if you feel people actually starting arguing or bickering on the team, chances are they are scared. It can also cause permanent damage to our health system and it also increases our feeling of stress and makes us feel unsupported. If your team feels a lot of cortisol, this is the first time to do a performance review because they are not going to go well and it also reduces immune system.  No, they're probably stressed and cortisol reduced the immune system defense and that's what happened. So try to minimize the effects of cortisol and distress the situation. All right, so now that we understand what's happening on a biological in our brain, let's talk about how can we make things better? So we make things better by building psychological safety. So psychological safety in a format of we just discussed is increased serotonin and exotazine and decreased cortisol. So how can we do that? Well, we built a feedback culture. The feedback culture is something that is part of your team culture that doesn't make feedback an occasional stressful situation. So you need to set expectations early that feedback will be part of your day-to-day routine. So you can start your interviews as early as meeting a candidate and explaining them that people who excel in this particular team, they ask for feedback often, they share their feedback frequently and directly and they look for opportunities to learn and grow. It helps to set a baseline and expectations. And again, if somebody is not open to that level of feedback, they may understand that their needs are not being met in this particular team and not joined. And that's totally fine. How to foster it on your team? Well, create a template in your one-on-one where it allows for feedback. In our one-on-ones, we have the whole section. The majority of the meeting is actually spent on feedback. And feedback goes both ways from the manager to an employee and from the employee to the manager and also from the employee to the employee to themselves. And that's happening every week. It helps us reflect on how the previous week went and also understand where we can help each other. It also creates zero surprises when performance review comes and it actually makes feedback not stressful or as least stressful as possible because it happens frequently. So it's not a big deal. I have a conversation about something. It's just part of the routine. And the routine reduces the amount of courses all. We have retrospectives and debriefs. So when you launch something and release something, have retrospects. Allow people to speak about what went well and where we can grow. And if you do it all the time on all the projects, it again stops being a big deal and allows people to speak more freely and openly. Establish feedback expectations with no surprises. So you can't just say in the morning on Monday, like now we're giving feedback to everybody. People will be really upset. It will be unexpected. Try to make it as no surprises and set the expectations how, when, why and how often they're going to receive feedback. Will they have an opportunity to review it in advance? Will they have an opportunity to respond to it? Will they have an opportunity to give you a feedback back? Communicate it early to your team. And have it really built in in your day to day routine. Train all of your employees if possible on how to give feedback. Even if you can have a very big course, at least have a little bit of a webinar, a team meeting, a small presence that help other people understand how to deliver useful feedback. And develop user reminders for the feedback so that people remember to give feedback, to praise each other and to help other people grow. So let's talk about feedback formula. And if you're thinking about feedback sandwich, no, please do not use feedback sandwich. It does not work. To make your feedback as direct as useful as possible, first we need to make it actionable. What does it mean? Make it very specific. What I mean by very specific? Well, it doesn't matter if it is negative or positive feedback. It just needs to be specific. Basically, if I say, oh, you did a great job, that's not useful. Because what does it mean great? What makes my job great? Or did I do specifically to make it great? And how do I replicate it so that next time I do a great job again? If I say instead, you know, this function was very elegant, it had more than code, it was following coding standards, and it had comments, so everything is clear and somebody else can read through your code, then it's more specific and the person can understand what is valued on this particular team. Do not pad. And that's what I said about the feedback sandwich. It doesn't work. It decreases clarity and we don't want to do that. Everybody knows what's coming and it's just not direct and it's not sincere. So when you pad or have a feedback sandwich, you're protecting yourself, but you're not making a favor to a person you deliver feedback to. And another thing is give it once and move on. What I mean by that is, you know, you can tell a person like, oh, well, there was a corporate event and you came in flip flop and wearing shorts and it wasn't our dress code. That's fine. A person got your critique and maybe they're dressing well now. So on the next retreat, don't say, hey, remember when this Bob came in the flip flop? That was funny. And the next retreat in two years like, hey, by the way, remember when somebody showed up in flip flops? That's not good. It's not helpful. And the person is just stopped trusting you because you're bashing the feedback over and over again. And try to include impact statements. So when you're being told somebody, nobody is enjoying when somebody is telling them what to do. So when you telling them like, we need this and that, have an impact statement. Why is it important? How it influences others and the team?  And if you find yourself that you're not able to figure out an impact statement, then stop and ask yourself, do I need to give this piece of feedback? Because if there is no impact for the team, then maybe this is just something that you don't like, but it doesn't actually have an impact. And maybe you just need to let it go. Make feedback balanced. What I mean by that is we all attuned to criticism and we are less attuned to the praise. So you need to work on noticing what people do well and strengthen their strengths. If we are focused, unlike popular belief, if you're focusing on our weaknesses, we're actually omitting the opportunity to strengthen our strengths. Let me explain. If somebody is a fantastic runner, and they're running really well, like Usain Bolt, he is a fantastic sprinter, and he's focusing on this 100 meter sprint distance. If his coach would come and say, now trained for the marathon, would he be able to do it? Sure. Will he be as good as the top marathon runner? Probably not, because his strength is speed, not endurance. So if we are focusing on other person's weaknesses and trying to only work on them, we are denying them an opportunity to grow even better and become super successful in the things, in the areas of their strengths.  Because we are so diverse, we are such a diverse community now, and with a lot of people working remotely, chances are there is somebody on your team already who doesn't have this weakness, and they have that as a strength. So balance it out and work together instead of making somebody focusing on their weaknesses and never having time to work on their strengths. I'm not saying don't correct bad behavior. I'm saying try to have a balance for you. And remember that when you give the critical feedback, you don't like the behavior, not the person. So you need to appreciate and like the person and respect the person that works with you, regardless of the behavior they exhibit. Because we are not defined by our behaviors. And a person deserves kindness and respect because they choose to spend their life with your team. Always keeping in mind before you're delivering any feedback. And that somebody chose to spend part of their life and sometimes significant part of their life with you. And that deserves respect. Have a balanced dialogue. So don't have it as a presentation. Have a dialogue. Ask questions. Ask for their perspective. Don't judge and don't argue. When you offer it for their perspective, listen. Listen to their answers and their position. So what are the qualities of good feedback? Well, good feedback is frequent. So again, it's not a one-year adventure where you're like, oh, hello, performance review. No, it happens frequently. It is precise and clear. It's actionable. So again, if, for example, somebody tells me, well, you know, you really need to work on your accent, that might be a great feedback. It's also very precise. It's not actionable. I cannot do anything about it other than, you know, turn the clock a little bit backwards and be born in a different country. But, you know, it's not actionable. So when you deliver feedback, figure out how a person can work on that. Make it objective and behavior focused. Again, don't focus on the person. Focus on behavior you want to change. Avoid bias and blur. Those are very difficult ones. But again, if you haven't talked to the person for a very, very long period of time, you don't interact on a day-to-day basis, check. Do you have proximity bias? Has somebody else influenced your opinion about them? And this is why you deliver the feedback? Can you reconnect with the person before you deliver the feedback? The same is your biological bias. Don't go and deliver feedback or have critical conversations when you are tired, stressed or hungry, especially if you're hungry. If you're hungry, you are not able to focus on the message you're focusing on your biological needs. So attend to your needs first before you deliver feedback. And don't blur. Basically, make it as clear as possible, as direct as possible with examples so they understand what you're trying to convey. And suggest productive behavior, but don't impose the productive behavior. Offer them a couple of ways and see what they think about it, and agree on good steps. Okay. So after that, what is the formula in action? Well, you can start with the situation, like I noticed and I observed. I noticed I observed always makes it more objective than personal. Then state the behavior, then state an impact, then reflect and allow them to give their perspective and set the expectation. For example, let's say I have an employee named Jane and I say, Jane, I noticed you missed our weekly stand-up three times in a row. And the team noticed that you are not there and they feel in like you are not interested in the participating and connecting with the team that makes them worried that you are disengaged and they can't build the trust with you. What happened on your end? Does the time not work for you? And then Jane explains to me what happened and they may say something like, oh, I didn't mention, but I have to take my kids to work. Oh, that's fine. Would it be possible for us to find the time that we could potentially reschedule the team stand-up so it works for your schedule and for everybody else in the team? Or you can set a clear boundary that we require you to be present in the meeting. What do you think can be done for that to happen? Agree on the next steps and follow up. Don't leave feedback hanging, even if it was a good feedback. So for instance, if I tell somebody you had a very good week yesterday or last week, you delivered a lot of issues. The clients were very happy in this particular instances and you planned a great next sprint. Next week I will also look in the sprint and see if it's still going well and we can reflect together if it's not. And usually we can celebrate the span of multiple sprints going really well because we keep coming back to the areas of success. The same with something that doesn't follow up and make sure that the next steps you agreed upon are still working. So if you offer it a productive steps and things are still not working, follow up and ask why they are not working. Now that you both iterate it and try them out, what is the feedback on the steps? All right. Let's say you tried everything and things are really not working. This is where we employ a accountability dial. That was developed by the management coach Jonathan Raymond. You can find his book online and I love it a lot because it gives this progressive escalation of the matter. So it usually starts with a mention. To give you back to this Jane example, usually if let's say an employee would miss a couple check-ins, not a big deal, but I would casually check in and ask if they were all right. So I would start like that. Hey Jane, I noticed you were not in a team meeting. Is there anything going on? Anything I can help you with? And they would usually say, well, I had to take my kids to school. They're like, oh great, are they all right? Yeah. Well, does the time still work for you next week? Yeah, that does work, absolutely. Okay, great. That would be the mention. So no stress. You pointed out there was some other expectations and they were not met. That's okay. Let's say next week, Jane also didn't show up to the team meeting. This is the time for a private chat. So you can either do it like in Slack or whatever messaging you use or have in person, but just don't make it superficial. Have a private chat, set more serious expectations. Hey, Jane, I noticed two weeks in a row, you are missing a team meeting. This is becoming very impactful on a team because they expect you to be there and they want updates from you. Is there something happening on your end? Anything I can adjust on our way to make it work for you? Let's say Jane said everything was fine. And next week, again, Jane didn't show up to the team meeting. This is the time when you create a conversation. So that would be an actual calendar invite. You will sit down and express the urgency of the matter. You express to her the full impact statement. You express your expectations that it is part of her job responsibilities to be at the meeting and ask for this next step. So that entire feedback formula usually in full fits in this conversation because it's more official. Let's say next week comes, Jane still didn't show up to the team meeting. This is a warning conversation. And that usually could be either with HR or as a manager because you are getting in this kind of danger zone. With the full disclaimer, the majority of people stop on step three and correct the behavior. So it's very out of an ordinary when people wouldn't be stopping at the conversation. So if the boundary is necessary, this is where you have a full warning conversation, your layout consequences, everything is documented and you help the person to get to next steps that would make them successful. And the last one is the limit. Let's say Jane still didn't show up to the meetings. This is a sign that probably things are not going to work out. Now again, it's not a termination conversation. It's just the limit that you will not have these conversations anymore. And if this continues to happen, then you have to part way, but you still give the opportunity to the person to adjust. So this is the last chance to adjust the behavior or at least show the attempts to adjust the behavior. But it's not all about you giving the feedback. It's also about you receiving the feedback. So how do you welcome feedback as a manager? Well, listen. The first thing you can do is just listen. My best managers in my entire career are the ones who were able to just sit down and listen when I was talking and asking other problem questions because they were able to understand that I had the courage to come to them and they appreciated me coming to them. Another thing that I didn't really understand before, but when I was a junior, I used to ask something like, why are our team does this? Why are our team does that? And before I got an answer from my manager, they would say, what made you think of it? And originally it was driving me nuts. I was really upset about that. But now I understand the reason why they were asking it is to dig deeper.  So is there something else, a bigger process that is not working? Stay human. Again, relate and admit your mistakes. There is no try. I'm quoting Yoda here because if you promised something to your direct reports and you said, I will follow up or I will get this information for you, act on it and follow up with your direct report. The worst scenario could be, I will get this information for you and then you'll never come back to them. Even if you don't have an answer, come back to them and say, look, I talked to the leadership or I asked our HR or legal department and they are looking into that. And make it your to-do, follow up with those departments until you get the answer so that your direct report doesn't get hanging and they understand that the feedback they brought to you is valued, heard and acted upon. Give the space. So create an opportunity to welcome this feedback. It's intimidating to ask for feedback. If you ask feedback like that, I'll do have any feedback for me. The majority of time you would hear, no, not really, you're doing great. So to ease things out and to build this relationship with your direct reports or peers, you need to ask more specific questions. Do something like, hey, look, I'm really working on this improvement of giving more compliments. What do you think I can be doing to highlight more compliments to the team? And then in this situation it's less intimidating to give you feedback and create a shared space. The team needs to celebrate successes and struggles together, which will create a psychological safety and a space for everybody to understand that everybody is struggling or everybody has ups and downs. So that could be done in a quick stand-up when everybody shares what went well in the week, what didn't go well and how we can move forward together. Especially in remote environments, it's important to build those connections. And that's all I wanted to share with you today. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer. If not, you can connect with us on social media and ask there. Thank you very much. Any questions? Yeah. So the question is, as a junior person, how can we build the connection with our managers to ask for better feedback when they might be busy? That's a great question. Well, ask them to, you know, ask them for a coffee chat, explain that feedback is important to you, ask for feedback on particular pull requests, ask for feedback in a JIRA comments and something, and just learn what works for them. Different people prefer different means of communication. Some prefer region, some prefer quick chat. Learn what works for them. It's okay to ask what works for them. Don't guess. And if they say, oh, look, yes, if you want, I can draw a quick comment on a code review or I can put something in JIRA for you. And that works. Just continue working on it. Open up and build the relationship, build the trust so they understand that you really want to grow. And that will help you to find the ways that would work for you and for them to deliver that feedback. Yeah. So the comment from the audience was to have an office hours or coffee hours where everybody can ask for feedback in a designated time and have one-on-ones for people to connect if they don't want to bring something in public. Any other questions? Yeah. So the question is what to do with these contractors and staff augmentation people who are not necessarily part of your team, but you have to work with them and they're underperforming. So it depends on what side of a staff org you are.  So again, having the same one-on-ones, having such clear expectations so they don't feel as they are additions to your team or not necessarily involved. So if you can involve them in those 15-meter scrims where you create this shared reality of successes and struggles, do that. If you can invite them into those coffee hours or office hours, do that. If you can have a very quick one-on-ones, even if they are shorter and not as frequent as with your direct reports, have them so that they understand that they are valued here and they are not here to just kind of buy the duties. They're here to deliver value and they appreciate, they still need to feel appreciated even though they are not necessarily full-time employees of your company. If you are part of a staff org and you feel disconnected, reach out to people you work with, to the manager and say, look, I'm really working well when I feel connected as a part of the team. What can we do together to make me feel a little bit more integrated? Yeah, so the comment was also involved their vendor or their supervisor from another company into the performance conversations. Yeah, no, that's a good question. So the question was what if you are on the same level? How do you approach a person?   How do you talk to them? Well, and again, the answer would be first build the relationship. Don't just approach them directly if you don't have close relationships. If they don't, like if the only time you talk to them is with this particular situation, then it's probably not going to go overly well. So try to build the relationship and trust. And then if you feel comfortable and safe, I recommend always going directly to the person. But first hear their needs out. Start with the situation. So like, I noticed that you are not tying your shoes. I was just wondering what's the story behind it. And then let them speak and maybe they have a very reason, reason about why they are not tying the shoes and your concern is actually elevated right after that. If that's not, you can actually point out like, Oh, you know, you may trip over your shoelaces. I heard that if you tie them like that, you know, it will be better for you. Do we need any help with that? Or like, you know, is there anything I can do to help you with that and see how they react? But usually when you hear their story and they feel hurt, they will be more open to your suggestions. Any other questions? Yeah, Mike, I'm okay if you don't make a cube. Mike is asking why what will happen if your boss gives you an impossible task? Tell your boss that you cannot complete the task and you can both decide who else can help you with this task.


Johnny Duller, hi Mr. Duller, hi yourself, who's that? You know Jimmy. Jimmy? East North what? But now you haven't told me Jimmy who. Artist? East North Weldon, Massachusetts. Yes sir. Well, what are you calling about Jimmy? I... Can you? What kind? The exciting adventures of the man with the action-pact expense account. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator. George Turley, Johnny Duller. The station to which you're listening right now is an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network. That fact makes several important differences in the kind of radio service you receive whenever your dial is set here. Take the matter of news. Over this station you hear frequent reports gathered by the foremost broadcast news organization CBS News. Reports supplemented by the prospective commentary of such distinguished newsmen as Edward Armiro, Lowell Thomas and Eric Seberide. In addition of course, this station provides you with late local news. So that you may keep up with what's happening in your community. You hear top dramatic programs, comedy, variety and music to fit your every mood. In addition, this station provides you with further listening entertainment, courtesy of your favorite local broadcast personalities. Plus the cream of today's crop of top songs. Well balanced, highly-listenable broadcast fare can come to you only through teamwork. The kind of teamwork made possible by the combined resources of CBS Radio and this station.  The accounts submitted by special investigator Johnny Dollar to the Amalgamated Life Association Home Office Hartford, Connecticut. Following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the Jimmy Carter matter. It was only last fall that I'd gone to the sleepy little town of East North Weldon up in Massachusetts to run down a heavily bearded man who'd stolen some money a while back from a furniture plant. It was little Jimmy Carter who'd really solved the case for me by drawing some hair and a beard and a poster. A poster of the ball-headed, clean-shaven mayor had shown him up as he looked before as the criminal. Sure, I remember Jimmy Carter. The charge is Jimmy, operator. On item 110 cents, phone call to the auto club for some raw information. Item two another dime for a call to Pat McCracken at Universal Adjustment Bureau. It was pretty early in the morning, but fortunately he was in his office. Hey, Pat, listen. I'm driving up to Massachusetts as fast as I can. Well, good for you. Listen, will you? Andrew Parkinson. Get that? Well, he died a few... well, that is... He died and well, it was supposed to be an accident, but I... I don't know how he's dead. I want to know who his insurance company is.  That's right. Well, would you see if they have a representative or an office of an East North Weldon mass? That's right. It's just east of North Weldon. Oh, no. You know, up north of Fitchburg. That place I have heard of. Well, somebody in that company called it accidental. But listen, I have a reason to think it wasn't. What? So if I can contact whoever it is up there and listen, Pat, there may be a kid's life at stake. Johnny, Johnny, this is about as confusing as anything. Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. Just get me the name of the company that ensured the life of Andrew Parkinson. Well, whatever you say. Good. But it may take a couple of hours. Okay, just get it for me. I'll call you when I get up there. Item three, four dollars even for a tank full of gas. By the time I got to Fitchburg, it was a little afternoon, thanks to a slight argument with a highway police when we're on the way. I made another phone call. Item four, 55 cents. Pat McCracken. Did you find out that insurance company for me? Uh, Johnny? That's right. Ah, yes, yes. It's one of the smaller outfits. Johnny does a lot of rural business. Amalgamated life association. Okay, thanks. Policy on Andrew Parkinson is issued by their local representative, Mr. Waldo Bottomley. There in East North Weldon? That's right. Good. The company's report on Parkinson says that his death was accidental. It's already been reported? Mm-hmm. Well, when did he die, Pat? Day before yesterday. And it claims to have been filed? Yes. With a double indemnity clause. Wait a minute. Who's the beneficiary? Uh, Tom. Okay, thanks a lot. No, no, no, no, wait a minute, Johnny. Tell me what the... Well, there's nothing. I tell you, kids' life may be in danger. Well, what does a kid have to do? Sorry, Pat. I got to hit the road. When I finally pull up in front of the combination drug store in Mercantile at the one business corner in the village of East North Weldon. One of the local citizenry, looking slightly under the weather, sat on the riggedy porch of the store, hacking away at a stick of wood with an old pocket knife. Howdy. Hiya. You, uh, have a little drink about yourself? No, but listen, where's the little boy who usually sells newspapers around here? Eh? His name is Jimmy Carter. Yeah, that's right, sir. Jimmy Carter. Well, have you seen him? Do you know where he is? Seen him this morning. But he's not around here now. Nope. Do you know where he can find him? Nope. Do you know where he lives? Where his home is? Yeah. Well, where? Up the street. Oh, sure. What street? Spruce. North Spruce. And the number? 18. Okay, thanks. Listen, my name is Johnny Dollar. If you see him, please tell him I'm looking for him. Johnny Dollar, eh? Yeah. You, uh, got the price of a drink on you? Some of the time. Just be sure and tell him. Yeah. Right. My name is Johnny Dollar. Mr. Dollar, where is he? What have you done with him? What? He said he had to talk to him. Oh, well, he did. That is, he called me on the phone.  And he talked and turned all night in his sleep. Mrs. Trader. And this morning he jumped up from his breakfast. Only he wasn't eating any of it. And he said he had to see you. He had to talk to you. He said he'd be right back. All right, now listen. But that was early this morning. So when he didn't come back, I went to the school, but he wasn't there. So I went down to the corner where he picks up his papers every noon from the bus. But he hadn't been there. You're sure? The papers, the bundles of papers, they were all still there. Now listen, Mr. Trader. And he hasn't come back here. Something's happened to him, Mr. Dollar. Something's happened to Jimmy. Hey, Johnny Dollar, in a moment. Coming up to 10 gallons, Mr. Johns. The checkerall filter and air filter might pay you $1,000. How's that? Well, haven't you heard about Fram's big silver treasure hunt? Oh, yes. Heard something about it over my car radio this morning. What's it all about? Well, a regular filter check is so important that Fram Corporation is paying $60,000 to get car owners to check their filters now. $60,000 in cash? Yeah, this is Fram's silver anniversary. Last year, a 10,000 secretly numbered Fram filters were distributed all over the United States and installed in cars during regular servicing. You may have one in your car and not even know it. A Fram filter cartridge worth $1,000 silver dollars. And if you do, I get $1,000, too. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's check those filters now. Hurry, folks. You could win up to $1,000 in cash. Join the big Fram treasure hunt. Check your car filters now.  The cute little kid who'd helped me solve an embezzlement case up in the small New England town with the unlikely name of East North Weldon would call me on the phone to report a murder. But when I got there, Jimmy was gone, disappeared. Jimmy said he was going to talk to you, Mr. Dollar. But that was early this morning, and he hasn't come back. What did you do with him, Mr. Dollar? Where is he? Well, I... I haven't seen him, Mrs. Carter. But he said... Well, he telephoned to me down in Hartford to ask me to come up here and see him because he... Well, he asked me to come up and see him. He idolized you, Mr. Dollar, ever since you were up here last fall. And when he said he had to talk to you, I thought you were already in town again. But I wonder what he was so anxious to see you about. Oh, well... And he's been acting very strangely the last day or two. Ever since poor old Mr. Parkinson fell off the bridge and was killed the other night. How well did he know this man, Parkinson? Well, as he knew everybody in town, Mr... You don't think his disappearance this way could have anything to do with Mr. Parkinson being killed? Oh, well... How? How could it? I'm sure I don't know. And doesn't everybody say Mr. Parkinson's death was an accident? Yes. Yes, they do still... Oh, now stop worrying, Mrs. Carney. Jimmy will show up. If he doesn't, I'll find him for you. Oh, dear... Sure. Jimmy's okay. He'd better be. Jimmy had said he was calling me from a booth at the drugstore. As I drove back to it, I noticed the name of the proprietor on the sign of the fly-spect window. Waldo Bottomley. The man who Pat had said was local representative for the insurance company. There you are, Mrs. Adderberry. You're going to take one of these every two hours. By tomorrow, you'll be all right again. Yes, sir? Mr. Bottomley? Yes, sir. My name is Johnny Dollar. I'm an insurance investigator. I've heard of you, sir. All right, good. Now, look... But if you're here in connection with the death of Mr. Parkinson... Yeah. Well, in addition to representing amalgamated life association and the claim on Mr. Parkinson's insurance has already been sent down to Hartford... I know that. Well, I'm also the coroner here abouts. Then it was you who pronounced his death as accidental? Yep. After Dr. Herbert examined the body for me. All right. Now, listen to me. Mr. Parkinson was an old man, Mr. Dollar. Had trouble with his feet. Eye sight wasn't so good either. Mr. Bottomley? So when he tripped against that old railing on the bridge the other night and the railing gave way and he fell to the rocks... Did anybody you know of actually see him tripping for? Well... No, sir. Well, I think that Parkinson was murdered. And if I could find little Jimmy Carter... Jimmy? Have you seen him today? Do you know where he is? Well, now that you mention him, Mr. Dollar he should be back from school by now and selling his papers. I asked you, have you seen him at all today? Early this morning he was in. Yeah? I changed a lot of pennies for him into nickels and dimes and quartos. All right, and then? Then he left. Hey, haven't you got a... Isn't there a phone booth here in the store? Booth is out the door, Mr. Dollar, around the side of the building. Then you wouldn't have seen him if Jimmy went out there to make a phone call. Only one might have seen him is old Lucius Weatherby. Lucius Weatherby? The town drunk. Wait a minute. You talking about that old character sitting out front? Well, I've asked him not to sit there in his condition but now that he's... Well, you see, Lucius is the beneficiary... Yeah, wait a minute. Lucius Weatherby is the beneficiary of Parkinson's insurance. Yeah, as I was about to say. No wonder he wouldn't tell me anything about Jimmy. What's that, sir? So he killed Parkinson to collect the insurance. And what was that? Bottomly, I have a few questions I'd like to ask that Lucius Weatherby. Now, now, wait, sir. Yeah? If you expect old Lucius to remember anything. You bet I do. Plenty. Then you'd best take along this bottle of medicinal brandy. What? Yes, sir. That'll be $3.75. Well, break it over his head. But you don't understand. No. He can't remember a thing unless he's handled it. Mr. Dollar! All right, Weatherby.  Where's Jimmy Carter? What did you do with him? If you don't mind, let go of my collar, sir. Come on, start talking. Jimmy. That's right. Where is he? Well, sir, I... I seen him this morning. You told me that before. Now, what did you do with him? Well, nothing, sir. I swear. He came out of the store this morning, went into that phone booth. Yeah, he did do that. Yeah, and then what? What did you do? Well, now, sir, if I had a little drink, I could remember better. My good old son answered me. Well, he went off in that car. Car? What car? Well, he didn't want to, but... Who? Who made him go off in a car? Well, if I could just remember, it was a man. Come on, who? Somebody I know. Yeah? I'm sure I could remember if I had a little drink. Now, you listen to me. You lie on a horse. Tell me a little truth, Mr. Dollar. Oh, sure he is. Yes, sir. If you give him a bit of this medicinal brandy to refresh his memory, truly... Okay, let me have it. That'll be $3.75, if you please. Okay, okay, here. I'll get you the change. No bother. Because if this doesn't bring the truth out of him, so help me, I'll... Three of yours truly, Johnny Dollar, in a moment. Let your hospitality show you're sociable in the modern manner. Pepsi, you know, is the favorite of the smart and young at heart. Have you tried a Pepsi lately?  The town drunk, who could only remember things with a drink under his belt. If he has me, that's a lot of hoey. Nonetheless, item five, $3.75 for the bottle of what the local druggist called medicinal brandy. Oh, Lucius Weatherby started lapping it up. Might be fine, sir. Might be fine. All right, now listen, you listen to me. I better let him have a little more, Mr. Dollar, if he's to remember properly. Yeah, a little more. Oh, and here's your change from the right side. Lucius, you say that when Jimmy walked out of the phone booth, he drove away with somebody. Against his will.  Who forced him? No, let me... Let me see, his name was... Oh, you know him, by the way. Think, Lucius, think, huh? Come on, now listen, you old son, I want to... Harvey. Ah, it was Harvey. Harvey Ho.  Harvey Willman. Harvey Willman. Oh, I see. Well, he's not one of our more respected people, Mr. Dollar. And come to think of it, I believe he was a distant relative of Mr. Parkinson. What does he do? What does he live? He does nothing, really. He was always trying to beg money from Mr. Parkinson. Never got it, though. I ask you, where can I find him? Where does he live? That's right. On the old farm out on Winter Avenue, you can tell it by all the new machinery out front. Okay, I'll see you later. Oh, your change, Mr. Dollar. On the way out to Harvey Willman's farm, I suddenly realized that for once in my life I'd forgotten to bring along a gun. Judging by all the equipment out front, Willman must have gone through the Alice Chalmers catalog and taken one of everything. But the farmhouse was nothing but a one-story clever check. Half hidden at the back of it was a beautiful sedan. Come on, open up, open up. All right, Willman, open up this door. I'll break it down. Okay, brother, you ask for it. Yeah, you okay? Where's Harper? Behind you, back at the door. I was afraid the kid got that phone call through to you. Too bad for you, he did. All right, look, Willman. Up against the wall. Face the wall. I'm not carrying a gun, Willman. That's what you're worried about. Something I'm going to find out for myself. Yeah? Yeah. Could be a mistake. Willman! Not this one! Hey, Jimmy, it's okay now. Everything's okay. Oh, look, you and I kind of stopped in this tracks, didn't we? Hey, you know something, Jimmy?  Because this time you trapped a killer for me. Oh, gee. D for a new sports jacket. Without holes in it. Yeah, Harvey Willman had managed to get off that one shot. Item $7.61 even, a brand new bike for Jimmy. Why? Because he saved the company from having to pay double indemnity. Expense account total, including my car, $117. Unless you'd like to tack on a little extra fee. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. The car will return in just a moment. If your 1957 income was more than $5,000, last year when you filed your federal income tax report, you had to use Form 1040, the long form. Those who were in $5,000 or less were permitted to use the short form, Form 1040A, if they chose. This year, the Internal Revenue Service is offering taxpayers a new Form 1040A, a simplified form of only 15 lines to fill out. The most important difference about this new form is that those whose 1958 incomes were $10,000 or less, and if you take only standard deductions, you're now permitted to file your return on the new short form, 1040A. If you earned over $10,000 during 1958, or intend to itemize your deductions or other income variations, the long form, 1040 must be used. The Revenue Service again reminds you to be sure to attach all W-2 withholding tax certificates pertaining to your earnings to the form you intend to file. Send your return to the District Director of Internal Revenue at the appropriate district office. Now here is our star to tell you about next week's story. Next week, San Francisco, a wonderful town. Yeah, for a murder. Join us, won't you? Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Originates in Hollywood and is written, produced, and directed by Jack Johnstone. Heard in our cast were Virginia Greg, Dick Beals, Larry Dobkin, Forest Lewis, Edgar Berrier, and Jack Krushin. Be sure to join us next week. Same time and station for another exciting story of yours truly, Johnny Dollar. His Dan Coverley speaking. A father goes to extremes to protect a demented son as suspense follows next on the CBS Radio Network. W-auto-w, Albany, New York. Everything is going at Henry S. Mantel's in Latham. Everything must be gone by Tuesday night. Going, going, everything must go. Yes, the values are going at Henry S. Mantel's of Latham. Mantel's is closing its Latham store forever. Everything is being sold at cost or less. Save up to 87% of these famous names. Simmons, Paywood Wakefield, Craylor, Lane, and many others. Here are just two of the fantastic values at Mantel's. A three-piece Craylor Curve sectional living room suite, regularly 279.95, now 148.77. Inner spring mattresses, all sizes regularly 29.95, now 17.95. Come out to Mantel's and make an offer. No reasonable offer refused. Remember, Mantel's of Latham closes its doors forever at 10 p.m. Tuesday, March 31. Convenient terms and free delivery within a 100-mile radius at Mantel's of Latham, south of the Latham shopping center, open until 10 p.m. 5.30.


From the tiny apartment he used to live in during the 1990s to Romanov palaces, the leader of the largest country on earth, and possibly the most hated as well, Vladimir Putin, has had quite a few properties to stay at. Perhaps the most controversial of these is his alleged $1 billion dollar palace in Galengyk. A while back, Putin's arch-nemesis and his team, the FBK, had released a video exposing what was known about his palace, also known as the most secret and well guarded place in Russia. Now in the wake of the war going on, we have even more details and photos of where the enemy sleeps. In these videos, we don't reveal any addresses and even though I've done a house tour of my own place, please do not show up at any private residences because it's not safe for anyone. Vladimir Putin is a politician, former intelligence officer and the president of Russia since 2012, formerly an office from 1999 until 2008 as well. And if he wasn't already, now he just might be the most despised leader across the globe. The ground war he has started with Russia's neighbor, the Ukraine, is a tragedy to say the least and seems like another way which he's abusing his power. However, another thing about Putin is that as long as he's been in the public eye, he's also a closed book, which he extends to his top secret living quarters as well. Which is why this rare look at his Russian palace should be interesting to say the least. Hey guys, it's Kara and today we're bringing you another house tour here in Famous Entertainment, this time about the ever-hated Vladimir Putin and his palace. Before I get into it, I'll give special thanks to Alex Navalny and his team for the footage. Be sure to like, subscribe and don't forget to follow me on Instagram to chat. Now let's get into this video. While Putin has many luxury properties to stay at, this one palace seems to be the most interesting as it's the most secretive and well-guarded facility in all of Russia. The residence at Cape Idokopas, as some may call it, has quite a few names like Putin's palace, Putin's country palace, etc. It's a large Italian villi-style complex located on the Black Sea coast, near the village of Praskokivka in Russia. Many have claimed this palace was built for the personal use of President Putin, even though this was dismissed by his spokesman in 2010. Construction began during Putin's first presidency and detailed claims about the property said they were improperly using state resources. Those who were aware of what was going on wanted to investigate the corruption and high-quality photos of the palace and grounds released by WikiLeaks, which also showed the fancy interiors. The Russian government had consistently dismissed Putin's connections to the property but over the years documents and information have been leaked. The uncoverings about the palace itself are from Alex Navalny and his team, the FBK, and it's the size of a village or a kingdom, maybe even bigger. It has secure fences, its own ports, security, a church, its own permit system, a no-fly zone, and even its own border checkpoints. This video claims that it cost a whopping $1.35 billion to construct. There's also a huge greenhouse on the grounds, which has trees and plants constantly monitored by about 40 gardeners on site. We can then see a large church on the property, a giant 80-meter bridge, and a couple of helipads. He even has a hockey rink and underground hockey complex. And we're just getting started. An important contractor who was involved in the construction of Putin's palace shared many details because the over-the-top nature and spending on the place, well, it enraged him. Well, now even more photos have been revealed. Let's take a look. We can see a courtyard, fountain, balconies, and an eagle at the front entrance. Moving inside, the details of Putin's quarters are a luxury and over-the-top Louis XIV style with gold and marble galore. We have what's called the reading room. And now we can see that here there's a large white stone fireplace vaulted in painted ceilings while everything is gilded. Then there's Putin's master bedroom, which isn't a simple room but more like an infrastructure.  There are also golden eagles everywhere which Putin made sure of, in fact, over every door. His bed is a luxurious and large canopy bed which they did predict in the last video quite well. His private bathroom is quite the affair as well with a large jacuzzi-tubbed flank by marble columns surrounded by luxurious armchairs too. If Putin doesn't want to soak in the tub, he can make his way to his indoor pool. This outrageous space has female statues built into the soaring ceilings, more stucco details, and plenty of columns too. Then there's his very own theater which is all decked out in wood. It has a two-story auditorium featuring its own balconies and boxes. I mean if that isn't enough, Putin even has his own strip club or hook-a-lump. This room has no windows and one might expect and there's a pole, sofas, pillows on the stage which is a little bit disorganized. On the other wing of the palace there's another lavish bedroom with its own living room and a secret restroom. The room also has an amazing view of the sea as well as extremely expensive furniture like a bed which cost about $17,000. Either way, this impressive room which is fairly hidden must belong to someone very important to Putin. The endless amenities in the palace also show some restaurant complex. Reportedly on the second level of the restaurant complex, there is a 50-meter karaoke hook-a-lounge where there is also a stage. Nearby you'll find spaces like a dressing room so it seems that this is where invited performers can prepare to impress Putin. Also in this area of the palace there's a large billiards and cigar room, an 8-person bar and then even more interesting, a huge Italian restaurant area. However, we do know Putin loves Italy as the entire residence was designed by an Italian architect and is furnished with only the best and most expensive Italian pieces. And if he's not in the mood for Italian, elsewhere there's even a Chinese restaurant. More specifically, the president's own teppanyaki restaurant. While floor plans go on for days and that's not even half of what's available at Putin's castle. Other features include a beauty salon, a large spa with plunge tubs, a home gym, a music lounge and much more. Putin even has a personal casino complete with card tables and a roulette wheel and in the attached games room a dance machine area as well as slot machines to film the surroundings. While Putin's palace is not only that massive building and the impressive underground hockey complex, there's almost 20,000 acres, huge vineyards and a neighboring chateau as well. The grounds build dozens of outbuildings with room for staff as well as structures for meat and fish workshops, a bakery, a man-made pond and more. Additionally, the property comes with a separate winery in another village called Crenica. After seeing this new update thanks to the FBK, we can confirm a lot of the facts and interiors about Vladimir Putin's palace. And my, it's just as gaudy as we expect. This extreme structure has every amenity you can think of and then some, from a teppanyaki restaurant to a strip club and a personal casino. Just when you think it's done, there's an indoor swimming pool and golden eagles adorning every corner of every room. I wonder how many golden eagles are in Putin's palace altogether. Do any of you know? If so, sound off in the comments. While that wraps it up for this video, thanks for watching, don't forget to follow me on Instagram and I will see you all in the next video. Bye!


This is stock number eight at Summit Automotive in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. You're new and used half-ton truck headquarters Remember we are the guys with the trucks on 41 today. We are checking out this super clean 2016 Ram 1500 crew cab short box This truck has the 5.7 liter V8 Hemi motor from this HD video You will be able to tell that this truck is extremely clean all the way around Inside and out no dense things or scuffs on that front bumper has the front sonar factory fog lights headlights are nice and clear brilliant black pearl is The color and I'd like to remind everybody that we shoot all of our videos in 1080p That so if you have HD capabilities on your computer tablet or smartphone device Turn them on now because it is like you're right here looking at the truck with me Factory alloy rims with the chrome covers 20 inch Goodyear Wrangler SRA tires these are 275 60R 20s and they have just a little bit under half the tread left actually right around half on the front here No dense or dings on that front fender the hood is in excellent condition I didn't see any dense or dings on that and the front grille is in really nice shape as well Passengers side fender is in really nice condition too and that passenger side rim No scuffs or scrapes on that as you go down this side of the truck You can see just how clean that body is how reflective and mirror like that paint is We take these HD videos So if you are far away or even if you're close by and just cannot make the trip down You can still see the truck here the truck and of confidence in the vehicle that you're looking at before you even get here cab is in excellent shape and Very clean down this side Has the back rims that are really nice No scuffs or scrapes four-wheel disc brakes of course and the back tires have just about as much tread as the front tires You have the plastic wheel well guards, which keeps your frame and under body Looking as nice as this lower rockers are in excellent shape as well And as we come around to the back of the truck you can see it has the full towing package to the dual rear exhaust Backup sensors the tailgate is in really nice condition. I didn't see any dense or dings on that Full towing package, which includes the receiver hitch four pin and seven pin wiring. It has a tiger With a Y Tonneau cover that is in excellent shape. I didn't see any ribs or tears on that and the bed Is in really nice condition a little bit of light-duty usage, but nothing too bad Tailgate shuts nice and solidly and as you go down this side of the truck just as clean as that passenger side for full disclosure this back rim is In nice shape as well. I didn't see any dents down this side of the truck See just how mirror like that paint is very nice Ride inside the big horn package gives you the gray Cloth interior. There are no rips. There are no tears on these seats Very nice and clean Power driver seat factory lumbar. We have factory floor mats inside Power windows power locks and power fold-in mirrors This one has the auto headlamps aftermarket electric brake controller and As we hop inside the truck here, you can see that this one has 33,000 159 miles you get the 7-inch TFT display with the digital speedometer and You also have compass outside temp range to empty the time you can Customize those any way you want This one has the leather wrapped steering wheel Really nice condition Bluetooth audio controls and that side cruise controls and Gear selector on that side. This one has the 8.4 touchscreen radio Now this radio does not have navigation However, you can add nav to this radio for 595 check out the backup camera right there without even putting in reverse AM FM and Sirius XM radio capabilities You get the turn dial 8-speed automatic transmission the push button four-wheel drive with the four-wheel drive auto feature stability control tow-haul mode front and rear sensors you can turn those off and on and finally you get a 115 volt 150 watt plug-in Up here you have your power side and rear window your home link system and your 911 and assist buttons in the mirror Those are features of the vehicle. You never have to pay a subscription for them Passenger seat is very clean as well. No rips or tears on that and the headliner is in nice clean condition as well We will take a quick look at the back seats and then check out under the hood Very clean inside Back seats are just as clean as the front seats. No rips or tears back here Those have the latch child safety system power sliding rear window These seats do fold up for extra storage and You do get a load floor, which is nice if you have kids They can put their feet on it or if you got pets you can put both sides down They can lay down or if you got muddy boots or tools put them on there. You're not going to wreck your nice seats in Floor storage you got one on both sides with removable trays For easy cleaning so you can put ice and drinks and whatnot in there and then dump them out and clean them up pretty I'd like to thank you for checking out the video today Hopefully from this HD video you will be able to tell just how nice this truck is so that you can make a smart purchase decision Under the hood we have the 5.7 liter V8 Hemi motor Engine base very clean runs very smooth This truck has been fully safe and inspected by our service shop has a fresh oil and filter change All the fluids have been checked and topped off And this Ram is 100% ready to go To see more pictures of this truck or one of our other 400 new and used cars trucks SUVs minivans wranglers half tons you name it. We got to go to our website www.summitauto.com full pictures and descriptions of every single vehicle on our lot Videos of every single used vehicle that we have all at summit auto.com if you want to check out just our used inventory You can go to truckson41.com. That's truckson41.com. We are located right off highway 41 and In fond of lack here, and if you want to make this truck yours give us a call right now<PHONE_NUMBER> ask for one of our sales associates to make this Ram 1500 years today Once again that number is<PHONE_NUMBER>. Thanks again for checking out the video And if you would like to check out more videos You can always go to youtube.com slash summit auto remember to like subscribe and share on this vehicle in all The videos that you see there in fact in a second you will see a link to subscribe to our youtube channel on your left They linked more half-ton truck videos like this one on your right if you have not been to our website on the bottom link to this Vehicle on our website click those checks out and we really look forward to helping with this super clean 2016 Ram 1500 crew cab short box Big horn. Thanks again