At work, I’m known for my love of advanced technology. I enjoy being on the cutting edge. I’m an early adopter of everything new. I volunteer to be among the first to try out the new tech, even when the bugs need to be worked out.

I like to play with smart boards, mixed reality, tablet computers, mobile apps, and collaboration tech. I also push hard on our pursuit of cloud technology.

Because of this reputation, people often make the logical leap that this behavior is pervasive in my lifestyle. It is not. In this article, I’m going to share a few unintuitive aspects of my personal life to demonstrate a balance that most don’t expect.

Little House on the Prairie

Because of my love of technology, many assume that I live in the house of the future, with screens everywhere and pervasive smart home tech, all controlled by the sound of my voice. That’s not me at all. Not only is my house not the “home of the future” but it’s closer to “Little House on the Prairie.”

My home is about 60 years old. My thermostat is dumb. I watch very little TV. I’m a little creeped out to have Alexa, Google, Cortana, or Siri, listen for my commands. I don’t mind typing into computers, but I prefer not to talk to them.

Besides fire alarms and water leak detectors, I don’t have any smart home tech.

Cars

What self-respecting technology leader doesn’t drive a Tesla? This one. Don’t get me wrong, I think Teslas are very cool, and I admire Elon Musk as a technologist. However, as I’ve covered in a recent article, I love the feel of a manual transmission. The newest car at my house is a 2005. It doesn’t even have Bluetooth. I like to think of my cars as hackproof.

Recreation

Many technologists spend all day in-front of a computer at work, only to spend all night and weekends immersed in a virtual world in an online game. I’ve never been very good at video games, but more than that, for me, recreation means unplugging. I love hiking, climbing, camping, fishing, hunting, skiing, wakeboarding, and paddleboarding.

I’ve written about my escapes and travels before on this blog. This is very much who I am.

Family

On my own, I may be a bit more drawn into a full technology immersion lifestyle, however I am one of six in my family. My lovely wife has very little interest in technology. My four kids have varying degrees of interest. My family does a nice job of grounding me and providing balance in my life.

People are complex

In our social interactions we are very quick to put people in a box. We get a first impression and then assign that person a stereotype. It’s like an 80’s high school movie. There are jocks, geeks, preps, and skaters, even at the workplace.

I often emphasize my geekiness at work so my team members feel like they can bring their whole selves to work. I am a geek, but there’s also more about me that you may not have guessed. When I’m with my customers and business partners, I often talk about hunting or fishing to make a social connection. I’m not sure I can effectively be all things to all people, but I certainly leverage different aspects of my personality depending on the company.

How about you?

I wrote this article, because I don’t believe I am unique. There are other tech leaders out there that feed chickens or horses at night instead of playing Fortnite. If this article resonates with you, let me know. For everyone else, always keep an open mind when getting to know people. Our brains naturally want to stereotype people, and it takes energy to keep our perspectives open.

As for me, I appreciate the balance and variety in my life. It helps me relate to different kinds of people. The better I can relate, the better I can lead.

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