Zach on Leadership

I had a great opportunity to be a guest on the Altitude Podcast with Bryan Woodworth. Bryan is the Director of Solution Strategy at Aviatrix. In this episode, we discuss the consumerism state in which AI seems to currently sit, its current capabilities, and an interesting look into the meaning of ‘creativity’ when it comes to AI with an example in music. I think you’ll enjoy this episode. Many of you read my writing, but I bet most of you…

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For 24 years now, I’ve worked full-time in the tech sector. My work draws me into the inner workings of digital technology. I love my work. I get absorbed in it. That’s good, but too much of a good thing isn’t good. Dirt and its derivatives Early in my career, roughly 20 years ago, I remember taking a customer service training class. Sometimes, IT folks are known for being rude, arrogant, impatient, and disengaged. This class covered the basics of…

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In the past month, I’ve been going through one of the most intense and difficult leadership challenges of my life. The context is a leadership role completely outside of my duties at CHS. I’ve had to make some unpopular but necessary decisions. Since it’s still very fresh, I’m going to be intentionally vague on the specifics out of respect for those involved. However, I can be very transparent with my experiences and the lessons that I’m learning. As always, I’m…

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Confession time: I’ve become known on this platform as one of those tech leaders that is hard on salespeople. Some of my most successful blog articles have poked fun at the peculiar and annoying things that salespeople do to try and earn our business. You can read them here, here, and here. I’ve been told that some sales managers use that blog series as a training manual when they assign new salespeople to my account. I’ve taken plenty of shots….

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About seven years ago, I started intentionally developing my online presence as a tech leadership figure. There are a whole lot of factors that motivated me to do that, but I’ll cover just a few. Back in 2014, I wrote my Master’s thesis on the opportunity to leverage social media as an organizational leadership tool. Also, as a tech-savvy introverted leader, I figured I could probably do better and make a bigger impact online than in real life. Back in…

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I’m not the quickest to comment on the latest tech trends. I read. I pay attention. I experiment. I take it all in. I read the hot takes just like everyone else. Artificial Intelligence is a hot topic, to say the least. I’ve intentionally waited a while to give my opinions some time to settle into shape. Enough time has passed, and now I’m ready to share my insights. Of course, as always, this is more about the technology leadership…

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What does it look like to live out your faith at work? It’s a challenging question. I’ve thought about it plenty. I’ve talked about it one-on-one countless times. This is the first time I’ve written about it on my leadership blog. Today is Good Friday, one of the most significant Christian holidays. I figured, if I can’t write about my Christian faith on a day like today, then I never will. So, here it goes. Faith is personal. Jesus Christ…

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Imagine you need to speak to a crowd without a microphone. It’s difficult. You must project your voice. You may have to yell to be heard in the back. You may have a hard time even getting everyone’s attention. You may have to wave your arms in the air or give an ear-splitting whistle. Then, if you are lucky, a humble A/V technician wanders up to the front and mercifully hands you a mic. You would stop yelling, wouldn’t you?…

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How would you do your job differently if you had nothing to lose? Would you take more chances? Would you be bolder? You’d definitely feel freer. The question is, what would you do with that freedom? For me, this isn’t a hypothetical question. I was in that situation. It was a while ago, and I haven’t written about it much until now. This experience shaped me, and I’d like to share it with you today. The setup I was leading…

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Ambiguity is bad. Clarity is good. But the world doesn’t always offer us clarity. We are often faced with ambiguity. The question is, how do we deal with it? I’ll answer that. Related to all of this is the relationship between leaders and followers. I’ve often heard people criticized as “not able to deal well with ambiguity.” Have you ever said that about someone? Has anyone ever said it about you? In my opinion, it’s hard to assess that without…

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