The last post on networking seemed to be a hit, and this is another great one to go with it. The values of personal relationships are obvious, but sometimes when making those connections can be hard. Or we make them and then fail to cultivate them. One way to help you build lasting bonds, is [...]
Who doesn’t want to be more productive? I have the tendency to forget things if I don’t write them down, so it is super important to me that I have a system to manage all the balls in the air. This need has become more pronounced as I become responsible for more things, both at [...]
Taking Notes One thing that drives me crazy is when people ask me for a meeting, and then arrive at my office, ask me lots of questions (which I patiently answer), and then leave without taking a single note. Inevitably, I will get an email from them a few weeks later asking me about something [...]
Delegating: Are You Ignoring This Key To Success? In this week’s issue of the Technology Leadership Newsletter, a particular article from the Harvard Business Review caught my attention: “More Direct Reports Make Life Easier”. This article was interesting to me because I am little enamored with the concept of non-hierarchical leadership. I love the [...]
No one comes to work to do a bad job; and I would argue that most people want to be exceptional in their roles. For most of us we spend years in school, and then countless hours pursuing additional knowledge and honing our craft (and I know this holds true for anyone who choices a [...]
Have you ever worked on a project with other people, really felt like you gave it your all, and then were passed up or received less recognition then you thought you deserved? This happened to me early on in my career. I had been on a project with 5 people, and after the feature shipped [...]
I consider myself to be truly lucky. You might not expect me to feel that way, given my background. I grew up very poor; sometimes we couldn’t afford food. My mom was a single mom who worked as a waitress, so raising two children was a challenge on a very limited income. The area where [...]
So you mustered up the courage, asked for feedback – and you got it. Now what? When you’re in the moment, getting notes from your boss, mentor, or peer, you’re taking on a lot of information; not only that, but you’re working on understanding what it all means, and how it will all affect you. [...]
We engineers are taught to look for problems and flaws at every turn. We search for the root causes of every issue and, the better we get at isolating problems, the better we are at our jobs. After all isn’t it our job to minimize risk, discover bottlenecks, and “code review” each other’s work? [...]
Getting into the flow. It is Monday and your list of “to do” items is so long, and you are sure there are at least 10 things missing. You know that you should fix those bugs, complete the half-finished project, and respond to a handful of email messages; and you should handle these items as [...]