In Western culture, we are used to a certain kind of leadership persona. We are used to loud, charismatic, bigger-than-life leaders. The idea of a quiet, humble, but strong leader is something we are still learning how to embrace. Something about that doesn’t seem quite like leadership to us, but that is starting to change, and that is good news for us. No longer do you need to be able to wow a crowd or be the life of the…
I’m a techie. I like talking to computers more than people. I’m also a strong introvert and spent a good portion of my childhood fighting social anxiety. Fortunately, through a lot of focus and practice, I can perform well in social situations, although it still exhausts me. I know I’m not alone. Enterprise technology is filled with people just like me. We are intelligent but have a hard time communicating our ideas with others, and that makes us frustrated. Being…
Many technology professionals learn their trade from the school of hard knocks. However, formal higher education is an important ingredient in any career growth plan. Education is Rule #4 in my Rules for Advancement blog series. I touched on the subject there, but will expound on it here. There are many approaches. I’m personally fond of the path I took, as it is a bit unique. I’ll share my educational journey in this article with the goal that you can…
Confession: Sports metaphors for leadership annoy me. Not only are they overused and cliché, they presuppose the virtues of organized team sports. Growing up, I wasn’t very athletic, so I had some pretty lousy experiences with organized team sports. Even though I worked at it and tried my best, I was terrible. My coaches played me for the minimum amount of time allowed by the league, and the star player on one of my teams actually told me that he…
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of taking on the persona of a hacker to break down all aspects of our technology, to ensure it is secure and reliable. This article is about makers, the opposite of hackers. Where hackers break, makers create. Maker culture is a real phenomenon, if you are completely unfamiliar with it, read-up on it here. The gist of it is this: There is a growing movement of people that prefer a do-it-yourself…
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