Have you noticed that on-line learning courses have exploded in the past five years?  From colleges teaching courses on EdX or Coursera, to individuals learning on Udemy or Pluralsite.  Our ability to learn just about anything at our pace, using whatever format we want, is greater than ever.

People close to me have asked, “Marcus, why don’t you offer a video course on being a Tech Leader?  You’d help so many people, and make money while you sleep!”

I have one simple answer:  I’m not confident it would help anyone but me.

When I ask friends who have video courses if they actually help people, I get told “You can’t worry about that.  Most people won’t even watch it, let alone complete it.”
I believe that my work should provide real help.  Not the promise of help, but actual help.

That’s why my services are live, in-person, helping opportunities.  Often they are even intimate discussions about you and your work.

Yes, it’s more effort. Yes, it’s tiring.  Yes, sometimes I don’t have the right answer.
But at the end of the day, it’s real help delivered by someone who cares about your success.

How this applies to tech leadership

You need to help your team, and that means you have to do the real work of leadership.  Work such as:

• Regular 1:1 meetings
• Giving correction and feedback, even when it’s not comfortable
• Handling conflict situations
• Creating a safe environment for your team
• Going to battle with your boss or customer

No off-the-shelf software process will lead your team for you.  Not agile.  Not scrum.  Not kanban.  Not the new-super-cool-shiny-process that’s all the rage.

Just you, doing the brave work of creating real relationships with your team.

Buck the trend; talk to your team.