Steve
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Even non-managers need people skills.
“You can keep the drama and the politics; just let me do my work.” That kind of focus on technical expertise often works well … for a while. Eventually, though, if you work in an organization or provide services to other human beings, you will find your success driven in part by how well you…
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What’s more important than getting better at your skill?
As you move up in leadership in a technology organization, yes, you will certainly need some technical skill. But you’ll quickly reach a point where improving your technical skill is no longer your best investment. If it’s not true already, it will soon be true that the most important skill for you to improve is…
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What kind of legacy are you leaving?
Before you try to answer the question about the legacy you’re leaving, first consider which legacy you want to answer for. You are, in fact, leaving more than one legacy. 1️⃣ There’s the legacy we often think about. What do you want people to say about you at your funeral. That’s definitely worth considering, but…
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You are more than an influencer of technology
Yet another wave of layoffs rolls over the software engineering world. If you’ve been affected, you can feel like your entire world has crumbled. This is especially true if your identity or your sense of value has been wrapped up in what you do at your job, or how you earn income. But as valuable…
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“Failure is an event, not a person.” —Zig Ziglar
I was responsible for a product whose failure halted the delivery of electronic lab results to over 12,000 physician offices across the United States for almost three days. I was responsible for a failed startup software company, forcing clients to find new vendors to serve them. I have made poor ethical choices that caused pain…
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“Cultural fit” is a two-edged sword
Depending on who you talk to, hiring for “cultural fit” can be one of the most crucial factors or one of the most egregious mistakes. In the same way, when you are mentoring someone or giving them feedback about their own cultural fit, the responsibility on your shoulder can be heavy with conflict. Not conflict…
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“Why don’t they recognize my value?”
We all want to feel valued and appreciated for our contributions at work. But what happens when you’re not? What can you do? Sometimes those above you may be too busy or too biased to recognize the value you bring. Sometimes your peers may be too focused on posturing to consider or even to hear…
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Quality Time or Quantity Time?
Of all the false dichotomies and logical fallacies that I’ve faced over my career, this is one that seems to keep coming up. Which is more important in building relationships? Is it the quantity of time that I spend with a person, or is it the quality of the time we have together? I just…
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When Personal Tragedy Hits a Leader
None of us is immune to personal tragedy. At some point on our journey, any one of us may face a serious health diagnosis, the death of a loved one, the severing of a close relationship, a natural disaster, an ethical injustice, or personal legal or financial issues that put everything you value at risk.…
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Current Reality or Desired Future
In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins introduced us to what he called the Stockdale paradox, named after Admiral Jim Stockdale, a Vietnam prisoner of war who survived more than twenty instances of torture over an eight year imprisonment. Put simply, the paradox that helped him survive was his ability to never lose faith…
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“I want to lead, but not like my boss.”
Some lessons are just no fun to learn. Having a bad boss is one of those lessons. Through no fault of your own, you’re overlooked, neglected, belittled, or maybe even set up for failure. Depending on your situation, escape may be the right option. If your physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual health is in danger,…
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Most decisions aren’t right vs. wrong
As a leader, you’ll often face choices where there is no clear right or wrong answer, no obvious best or worst option. We call these dilemmas. And not all dilemmas are the same. The best kind of dilemma is when you have multiple good options, and you want to choose the one that’s the most…