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…
This article is about networking. Actual in-person, human-to-human communication. You know, in meatspace. For the those of you that don’t know what meatspace is, I’ll define it for you: It’s real life. The term is derived from the Terry Bisson’s famous 1990 science fiction short story, They’re Made Out of Meat. As technology professionals, we live digital lives in cyberspace. Meatspace can be a special challenge. Let’s face it, we went into the technology profession because we like talking to…
I’m an introverted technology geek, so by nature I enjoy talking to computers a whole lot more than talking to actual humans. However, as I started to emerge as a technology leader, I realized that in the marketplace of ideas, it’s not the best ideas that win, but the best communicated ideas that win. Generally, I feel that I am a pretty effective communicator, but there was one form of it that strikes fear into my heart: public speaking. About five years…