Give transparency in small doses
When you’re honest about your struggles, it will connect you with some people. But it will surprise and confuse others. To them, your honesty might be seen as a lack of confidence, lack of skills, or lack of motivation — an admission of failure, or of giving up, or giving in. This is because transparency…
Read More”How can you get lucky more often?”
PRE-S: Software Leader Seminar returns in Jaunary 2020. Start the new year by boosting your EQ, leadership, and communication skills. (Plus, you can write it off your 2019 taxes!) A friend of mine who’s Sr. VPEng at a mid-side SaaS company in a competitive market told me a story, and I’ll share it with their…
Read MoreRules of Change with Esther Derby
Episode 27 In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest Esther Derby discuss change. They discuss her book, Seven Rules for Positive Productive Change, and how change is viewed and implemented by individuals and organizations. Show Notes Change is a core aspect of leaders’ and managers’ jobs Change is viewed differently from…
Read MoreMinesweeper and bad hires
Hiring programmers is hard, expensive, and takes forever. You spend countless hours on job descriptions, hiring rubrics, and checking references. You put candidates through the gauntlet: coding tests, whiteboard problems, panel interviews, culture interviews, and so on. If they make it through, then you roll the dice and make them an offer. Despite all your…
Read MoreA New Leadership Model with Jason Wong
Episode 26 In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest Jason Wong discuss how one size does not fit all in leadership. They dive into how the traditional leadership model isn’t working well and how it could be changed to become more effective. The two also enlighten listeners on a new followership model,…
Read More13 questions to get more feedback from your team
“No one can see their own back.” Some of you wanted to know how to get more feedback from your team, so you don’t feel like you’re driving blind. So, I whipped up thirteen questions which will give you more insights into how your team perceives you: “What would you do in my situation?” “How…
Read MoreIt’s not a sign of weakness, but of strength.
Last week Dan asked, “What advice do you have for addressing the insecurity I feel that my team can’t see the value I’m adding?” You sent in some answers, which I want to share. I also want to share my thoughts. But first, I’ll identify the two meanings of the question: How do I reduce…
Read More”What advice do you have for addressing the insecurity of…”
In response to yesterday’s email, Dan asked, “What advice do you have for addressing the insecurity I feel that my team can’t see the value I’m adding?” Dan, I understand exactly how you feel. I often worried that my team would think I wasn’t adding value. That since I wasn’t coding, I was just a…
Read MoreThe One Constant with Don Gray
Episode 25 Change is hard, unpredictable, and downright complex. Getting people or systems to change is not easy and certainly not done in a vacuum. In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest Don Gray enlighten listeners regarding the world of software development, the reasons for implementing software changes and why it’s not…
Read MoreOn cubicle and apple farms
I’m putting in a small apple orchard near my house. Not large, just 24 trees. But I’m new to farming, and so it’s got me thinking a lot about conditions for growth and change. In my orchard, I’m noticing many different conditions which I think will impact growth. These include: How much water is available?…
Read MoreThe Importance of Trust and Communication with Tim Ottinger
Episode 24 On today’s episode of Programming Leadership, we dive into what is needed to establish safety in your own organization. Trust is just one of the key pieces that make up the structure of safety in a work environment, along with actual physical measures, active communication, and regular feedback. The people who make up…
Read MoreInvesting in the Long Game with Reuven Lerner
Episode 23 Training, done properly, is a specialized type of learning that companies can use as an investment in their personnel. Unfortunately, it also may become just a box that gets ticked off each year as a mandatory practice. Marcus and Reuven discuss how to get the most from your training dollar, what to expect…
Read MoreNo naughty or nice with nuts
PRE-S: Early bird pricing for the 4th cohort of Software Leader Seminar ends tomorrow. Apply today to lock in the early-bird price. One of my favorite snacks is a bowl of mixed nuts. It reminds me of software teams. The bowl is a container, holding them all together. All the nuts are in the bowl…
Read MoreImprovisational sketch leadership
The phrase “live workshop” contains two concepts. Most of us focus on the “workshop” part – reading the topics and activities to ensure it teaches what we want to learn. This engages our analytical brain which asks “what will I get out of this?” But it’s easy to overlook the importance of the “live” part,…
Read MoreA First Team Mindset
Episode 22 When you as the manager treat your peers, other managers in the organizations as your first team, it changes your stance. It changes the way you work. It creates intentionally a set of allies you can problem-solve, people problem-solve with, people you can collaborate with. This is a little bit different idea than…
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