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James Clear’s book Atomic Habits has been a tremendous help to me and several people I know. But sometimes, there are things you know you need to do, and you just can’t make a habit out of them. 🟣 Maybe you can’t find the right cue to trigger them🟣 Maybe they need to happen most…
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A software engineering manager recently asked me, “What’s the difference between being a good manager and being a manager who is promotable?” It’s a powerful, insightful question because it reflects the fact that the best performer is not always the best candidate for the next level of leadership. Delivering positive results is certainly necessary, but…
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Your company’s culture is not the mission statement published on your website or the values posters mounted on the office walls. Culture is the aggregated behavior of the individual human beings in the workplace. It may or may not reflect your stated values.It may or may not support your stated mission. But because the culture…
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Want to be more of a leader? Pay attention to how you make decisions. As your circle of influence grows, more of your impact will be based on the quality of the decisions you make. But “decision fatigue” is real. Every choice you make depletes some of your decision-making energy. To lead well, you’ll want…
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“It’s not my intent to be a father figure for you. I’m certainly a champion and mentor for you here, but don’t look to me as a father figure.” That was the crucial message the VP gave to one of the Software Engineering Directors. But why was that message so crucial? And for whom? Certainly…
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As we look ahead to the coming year, we often want to grow ourselves or our influence. Here are 24 ideas for 2024, with six ideas each for your work, your industry, your community, and your family. Work ✅ Write a weekly gratitude email.✅ Learn more about what is important to a different team.✅ Host…
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I don’t have the data to prove it, but I suspect that the most rewarding careers don’t follow a published or traditional “career path.” A Software Engineer’s published career path usually follows one of two tracks. The first is technical, leading to Staff Engineer and Architect roles, while the second is managerial, leading to Engineering…
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This leader already knew what to do. But she still asked for my advice. “I have a certain group of people who won’t speak when they’re in a larger meeting. How can I get them to participate?” I’ve often had clients work through their own hesitance to speak in meetings. In this case, I was…
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“I can’t get people interested in helping me with my idea. What can I do?” That was the question posed to me recently at a leadership discussion I hosted at a local in-person event. Individual contributors and first-line managers often ask similar questions as they try to gain cross-organizational support from for their ideas and…
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With the approaching holidays often comes tension between work life and home life. Your job has certain expectations of you. And so does your family. The more convinced you are that you must meet all of those expectations, the more stress you’ll feel. And the less likely it is that you’ll be able to meet…
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“I wanted to reach that goal so badly. But now I’m just tired of it all.” You’ve shown such discipline for so long. Now, you’re wearing out your willpower. The habits you once maintained so faithfully have become an unsustainable burden. You feel like quitting, but you don’t want to lose your dream. We’ve all…
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OK. I’ll admit I’m not much of a sports guy. Not a sports guy at all, really. But I just finished watching an episode of a series about an American high school football team, so the metaphor came to mind. When you view your career as a defensive lineman, you see the world outside yourself…
Musings
Insights on leadership, management, success, and personal growth every Tuesday and Thursday.