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Month: January 2017

Fighting a Cyber-Attack Over Sneakernet During a Data Center Migration

Fighting a Cyber-Attack Over Sneakernet During a Data Center Migration

What were you doing this week back in 2003? I don’t even have to think about it. I’ll never forget that I was doing exactly two things: Executing a major enterprise Data Center migration and fighting off the worst cyber-attack the world had ever seen: SQL Slammer. Why have one crisis, when you can have two simultaneously, right? The Data Center Migration My company needed a new Data Center. After all, I single-handedly blew up the old one eight months prior….

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Lead Like an Entrepreneur

Lead Like an Entrepreneur

Working in the corporate jungle can be a grind. The sea of cubicles, the clueless bosses, the meaningless busywork: it’s the stuff of Office Space, The Office, Dilbert, and countless other workplace satires. They’re funny because they’re true. If you haven’t figured it out by now, the entire purpose of this blog is to create an antidote for that. Today, I’m going to zero-in on the mindset of an entrepreneur. I’ve spent the majority of my career interacting and networking…

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The Leadership Challenge of Quiet Compliance

The Leadership Challenge of Quiet Compliance

Jimmy is an IT infrastructure engineer. Jimmy gets an odd request from a customer to do something against his better judgement. Jimmy pushes back. The customer pushes harder, and escalates. Jimmy’s manager gets involved. Jimmy gets told to do it this time, and perhaps next time we’ll take a stand. This one is too urgent, too high profile, or too political. It’s not worth the fight. Let it go. Jimmy gets another odd request from a different customer. Jimmy doesn’t…

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Leadership without Cynicism for the New Year

Leadership without Cynicism for the New Year

“We live in a cynical world. A cynical world. And we work in a business of tough competitors.” – Jerry Maguire. The world of the corporate enterprise can be a cynical place. Week after week, I preach leadership. I do it for all of you, but I also do it for me. By writing, I remind myself of the truth. Why do you and I need these constant reminders? Our world is cynical, and frankly, sometimes so are we. Cynicism…

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