Many of us geeks need glasses—I know I do—but that’s not an excuse to let yourself be myopic also in your attitude. If all you do is manage the tech people, you’re not an executive—you’re a glorified team lead with a bigger paycheck. Like it or not, you’re part of a grander business. Your organization, […]
One of the recurring patterns I see in my work with CTOs and VPEs is the creeping tension between them and their CEOs. It’s natural: CEOs are wired to be antsy about performance, and in tech organizations that tension often centers around the performance of the tech leadership team. When there’s no technical co-founder around […]
Mindful and deliberate actions for leading your team and encouraging the desired growth are crucial. Left to their own devices, organizations tend to lose focus, become entangled in unnecessary complexities, and slow down. Yet when I ask leaders about their current gardening or coaching priorities, many respond with blank stares. Let’s fix that. In this […]
Caution isn’t excellence; it’s drag. Retros won’t fix fear. Cut risk at the source, and your team stops tiptoeing and starts sprinting. I’m going to assume your team is holding regular retrospectives to learn from mistakes and successes. One major source of potential improvement that often goes unnoticed is recognizing fear and combating it. The […]
We’re all human, and to err is human. I can guarantee that you and your team will be making heaps of mistakes. However, I cannot say how much you’ll learn from them. Are you letting all those learning opportunities go to waste? A World of Difference Between the teams that utilize their errors and those […]
Knowledge and expertise are similar to capital. If you don’t make deposits regularly, you’ll miss out on most gains. Your team—and you—should be learning regularly, not just once a year during a “hackathon” or when things are on fire and demand learning rapidly. Let’s learn how the best teams learn. Learning Disorder Being able to […]
As tech leaders, we’re destined to always be in some sort of limbo when it comes to adopting new technologies and combating the hype cycle. You might as well learn how to manage this battle well. You cannot over-hype; that’s like consuming heaps of empty calories. Similarly, avoiding all novelty entirely will lead to innovation […]
Are you building a company or cosplaying success for others? Headcount, titles, splashy events, all used to signal that you’re doing good. Like a peacock strutting around, but for no real gain. Hustle till you burn out. Hire till you implode. All… useless. Who are you performing for? Losing What Matters In my work, I […]
A complaint I often hear from CEOs is that they feel as if their CTOs are confused and view themselves as some sort of engineers’ union leaders. That’s because tech leaders can get tunnel vision and overly emphasize a single way to compensate their people. With the best intentions, we find the easiest lever to […]
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether your boss sucks at providing feedback or whether you’ve found a great coach. It sure would help you make progress, but neither can do the work for you. How you take ownership of your growth will decide your career, and, really, how you spend your […]