Zach on Leadership

In the late 90’s and early 2000’s I worked as a desktop support technician. I’d take dispatches from the help desk on my pager and fix computer issues. Ghost was a ubiquitous tool in those days for re-imaging a computer back to the standard gold image. Ghost wasn’t just a product. It became a verb. I distinctly recall that there were two types of desktop support technicians: The Troublehooter: This person would work extensively to figure out the root cause…

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I am a technology leader. I break the job down into three parts: Ones and Zeros: This is the technical aspect of the job. Dollars and Cents: This is the managerial aspect of the job. Flesh and Blood: This is the people part. Of those three, the Flesh and Blood is by far the hardest. The humans are always more difficult than the machines and spreadsheets. As I was making my way through my career, I really wanted to learn…

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This week marks 20 years since I started my career in technology. I thought I’d take this moment to tell the story on how I got my start. Like so many of us, I didn’t initially intend to go into the IT field, but somewhat fell into it. My origin story Growing up, I didn’t see myself as technically inclined. My older brother was the computer wizard. He programmed our Atari ST computer and went onto computer engineering school. To…

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We’ve all been there. You are in a social situation. You meet someone new. This person thinks highly of themself. This person wants you to think highly of them too, so they casually mention their association with someone of high social status. This is the classic name-drop. It’s used so that I can be impressed with the name-dropper, because the name-dropper is associated with someone that I am already impressed with. It’s superficial, egotistical, and downright annoying. It’s one thing…

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Last week, CHS held our Annual Meeting at the Minneapolis Convention Center. I always enjoy the opportunity to meet with our farmer owners and discuss the issues facing our industry. There’s something else that is very special about this event for me. It reminds me of the intrinsic values of the agricultural cooperative system. CHS is the largest cooperative, and with that position comes the responsibility to lead. If you aren’t familiar with the cooperative business model, here are the basic concepts:…

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When I was growing up, General Mills marketed Kix cereal as “Kid-Tested. Mother-Approved.” This catchy product marketing approach took into consideration the needs of two different but equally important stakeholders for their product. If it’s been a while, you can watch the commercial here: Kid-Tested Cereal Kids are the end-user of cereal. They want something tasty, with a pleasant texture, in a colorful box. I picture General Mills scientists feeding Kix to kids in a lab and measuring their responses….

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I spent seven years in middle management spanning two different companies. That gave me a good flavor of what the job entails and what it takes to do it successfully. Before I get into that, I’d like to spend some time explaining what middle management is not: Middle management isn’t anything like front-line management Front-line managers oversee individual contributors. When you are a front-line manager, you are directly accountable for the execution and delivery of services within your functional area….

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I don’t like plumbing and I’m not very good at it. I live in a 50-year-old house, so things break fairly often. Given that, you’d think I’d hire a plumber, but I usually struggle through, and do it myself. This past Monday night was one of those times. I had just returned home from a long weekend of deer hunting. While I was gone, the handle broke off our bathroom faucet. This sort of thing always seems to happen when I’m…

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One of my favorite movies is Jerry Maguire. Jerry is a sports agent to the arrogant athlete, Rod Tidwell, who’s favorite phrase is “show me the money.” Rod focuses exclusively on what he deserves and isn’t getting which only makes matters worse. Only when Rod changes his perspective and starts giving instead of taking, does he receive what he is looking for. I wrote an entire analysis of Jerry’s vulnerable, loyal, and inspirational leadership style. Check it out here. I…

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Many wish they could turn back the clock to their younger years. Some spend vast resources making themselves look younger. I’ve always wanted to be older. Always. For me, youth was something I needed to defy. I’ve always wished I was a little bit older than I currently was. Youth was something that held me back from the experiences and respect I wanted. When I was in junior high school, I wanted to be in high school. When I was…

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