Authority Issues: Recent Episodes
Rachel Perkins and Kendall Miller
Welcome to Authority Issues, a podcast about leadership, management, and competitive prescription writing. Hosted by Rachel Perkins (aka piebob), and Kendall Miller
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Edafe talk about: * An early and enduring love of working with data * Getting a job at JP Morgan Chase because of a tweet * The kind of data problems one solves at the World Bank * Turning a sexist assignment into communication of data issues * Maturing beyond being the complainer * The impact of giving a talk * Gaining context as you go up the mountain * Coming to the universal realization that, yes, people are the problem :) * Style guides for goths * Learning to communicate at the appropriate level, removing jargon * Expressing what's possible to help someone solve a problem * Approaches to decisionmaking * Knowing when to let people learn for themselves * Catering to the needs of a yearning cat * Special contractor time math You can find Edafe at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekoner/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about: * Kendall being back in the US, how many desks he has had to order, and the various benefits of Pickleball vs Paddleball * rachel's reign of terror over a particular kind of cooking pan, being sick, and heading to Vegas to dj at DEFCON * Why people might be pivoting away from their tech careers, looking for greater meaning * What actually is a midlife crisis? * Planning for your midlife crisis, understanding your path forward * What triggers a midlife crisis? What does one look like? * How unwillingness to talk about death as a society makes this a crisis for us * Living life well when you know you're going to die * The impact of having grown up in genX, the assumption that no one is going to take care of you when you're old * Perpetuating a cycle of dissatisfaction * The fallacy of "follow your dreams and everything will be fine" vs "enjoy the work you have because life is short" * Intentionally doing things inefficiently in order to enjoy the process more, thank you Kurt Vonnegut (see https://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/kurt-vonnegut-farting-around/ for the full quote/story) * How does one's belief in an afterlife impact these things? * Whether having some control over the time and manner of one's death is comforting * What living well means to Kendall, and his upcoming book :) * recommendation from rachel: The Witch King by Martha Wells * recommendation from Kendall: Eat something so spicy you leave your physical body temporarily Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Virgile talk about: * Starting out as a CS student, but wanting more human interaction * A path through HR tooling to HR generalist role with a detour to Perth, Australia * The elephant in the room: is HR "the bad guy"? * How to manage the tension inherent in doing HR work * Differences in the role when a company is small vs large * Getting some experience in an entrepreneurial culture * Discovering firsthand the need for reliable compensation data * Tying the lack of data to salary level disparity and unfairness * Walking the line between corporate best interest and employee best interests * Deep differences between employment policies in the US vs France * The stress of hiring thoughtfully and effectively * How crucial it is to understand onesself before one can develop the empathy to manage others well * The ego required to feel ok about being responsible for peoples' livelihoods vs the humility required to do it effectively * How hard it is to give away one's legos * Fulfillment at work leading to a happier home life * How many bikes is too many bikes? You can find Virgile on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vraingeard/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about: * Why rachel retired * A brief diversion into the fundraising lifecycle of a nonprofit * Why Kendall gets offered weed on the street in Portugal * Visas and the eldritch horrors of the permitting system * Settling one's family into Portuguese living * Appreciation of walkable living environments * How bootstrapped and venture-backed startups are different experiences * Merging acquisitions into larger corporate environments * rachel's theories about why Splunk was such a success story * Kendall's thoughts on new vs additive markets, effort, and growth * A Tale of Two Shitshows * An enumeration of variables in our defense * What attracts people to different stages of company growth * Freedom vs risk, another set of axes to consider * Minor regrets on scope * Our recommendations for distractions of late: * rachel recommends the Scholomance trilogy by Naomi Novik and the Star Wars show Endor * Kendall recommends learning Portuguese Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about: * Why rachel retired * A brief diversion into the fundraising lifecycle of a nonprofit * Why Kendall gets offered weed on the street in Portugal * Visas and the eldritch horrors of the permitting system * Settling one's family into Portuguese living * Appreciation of walkable living environments * How bootstrapped and venture-backed startups are different experiences * Merging acquisitions into larger corporate environments * rachel's theories about why Splunk was such a success story * Kendall's thoughts on new vs additive markets, effort, and growth * A Tale of Two Shitshows * An enumeration of variables in our defense * What attracts people to different stages of company growth * Freedom vs risk, another set of axes to consider * Minor regrets on scope * Our recommendations for distractions of late: * rachel recommends the Scholomance trilogy by Naomi Novik and the Star Wars show Endor * Kendall recommends learning Portuguese Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Maya talk about: * Competitive athletics as a driver of leadership skills and high performance teamwork * The power of the history of the University of Michigan * Preparing for when athleticism will be a memory * Serving in the military, leading software dev teams...in the military * Doing things young, when you have less to lose, less context * Learning the value of a holistic product view * Wanting to change the world * Motivation differences in the military vs the civilian working world * Getting an MBA and why it felt kind of relaxing * Different leadership requirements for the different stages of childhood development * Getting her mind blown launching products at a huge org like Symantec * Adaptability and how the process of problem solving is essentially unchanged * Using authority as a tool vs a bludgeon * Being where she wants to be You can find Maya on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayamandel/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about: * The art of mending things beautifully (the words rachel was trying to remember are Kintsugi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintsugi) and Sashiko (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashiko), in that order) * The art of mending things not so beautifully, aka hacking off the bottom of your favorite pants and adding bits of your favorite shirt so they fit better (Kendall subsequently found some photos, but none of them from after the shirt addition...) * Why Kendall sounds echo-ey (also, maybe this is why there's an annoying echo of rachel throughout this recording, apologies) * Why we're talking about systems thinking: https://twitter.com/johncutlefish/status/1518361842342453248 (no longer pinned) * Context, and why it rules from orbit * How seeing the big picture can be frustrating when one has limited power or scope * Optimization, in a shockingly nerdy gaming analogy * When it's hard to share context due to business volatility * Wait, what actually do we mean when we say systems thinking? * How systems thinking is actually largely about understanding people and their motivations * A former podcast guest we both think is a super impressive systems thinker but did not name ;) Thanks to John Cutler (@jcutlefish on Twitter) for a thought-provoking list! Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about: * Not looking a gift Wagyu steak in the...mouth? marbling? * The primal/spiritual nature of singing with other people and joining a Threshold Choir * Taking Kendall Seriously * Moving to Portugal updates from Kendall * Dentistry nightmares * How far up the corporate ladder is far enough? * Theorizing about the impact of being part of Gen-X on rachel's career path * Caring about money vs caring about power and ways some companies exploit the latter * Speculation and validation around why Kendall keeps at the grind * An interlude to let you know that this episode was brought to you (in part) by gin * Things that complicate the equation of when to stop * rachel reins in her judginess (a bit) * How being a woman in the tech industry affects things * Kendall plugs the Radial Development Group * rachel marvels at Kids These Days and their nomadic lifestyles * Echoes of Episode 81 * Deep Thoughts with Kendall and rachel * Kendall recommends a podcast: The Fall of Civilization, especially the episode about Assyria Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Sarah talk about: * Making the choice to go into software engineering * The daily life of a team lead * How one becomes a team lead, awesome support from Jasmine and others! * The power of empathy in leadership * Being able to ask questions across the org * Approaches to building trust * Being highly concensus-driven, associating "authority" with top-down directives * How leaders should always remember they have more to learn * Just How Very Tired Kendall Is * That it's important for leaders to be approachable/accessible to people at all levels of the org * How "Building up relationships in a company is like building up a friendship" * Learning how to paint, using 3D printed items to practice drawing * Disrupting the "deciding where to eat" market You can find Sarah on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-rieger-66617a145/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about: * The good vs the bad kind of underwater * Why one should make one's own underpants * Ear infections and their provenance, also Kendall made a pearl with his ear * rachel's new e-bike and how it's awesome * Kendall learns about the magical thing that is kolhrabi * rachel's plans and anxieties about travel during the pandemic * Why Kendall chooses the opposite of "stability" * How that impacts motivation to invest in the future in a given community * rachel learns about the turbo-plus version of notarization called "apostille" * Kendall's new working situation, goals for work environments * Why work when you don't have to? * Feelings of pointlessness regarding activism * The magical allure of Portugal Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Anurag talk about: * Getting left in charge as a career progression mechanism * An "unusual" level of interest in affecting long-term strategy and systems thinking from an economics background * Betting on more candidates by giving them an opportunity outside of their current background * The vagueness of product management and strategy * Instilling a culture of ownership/safety when everyone is working remotely * How sometimes more meetings is...good? At least when onboarding, as a way to develop culture by seeing other people interact. * Onboarding that results in checking in code within 5 days * LOUD NOISES * Admiration for one's leaders, learning by watching them * Authority as responsibility to one's team vs power * Intermission to enjoy Kendall's dog * Safety to make mistakes as a child, wanting that for your team * rachel has Opinions about calling your colleagues your "family" * Loyalty to people vs company * Enjoyment of natural places * Using leadership skills to improve life with friends and family You can find Anurag on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asblr/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about: * Coping mechanisms: are some worse than others? Where is the line? * What happens when a planner can't make any plans? * rachel's effusive declarations about indie sewing patterns * Kendall's...disappointing COVID experience * Why does it seem wrong to feel happy when people around the world are suffering? * When it's helpful to compartmentalize * Clarifying what you're actually feeling guilty about * Happiness as self-care * How much authenticity is too much, at work? * The need for a mechanism for feeling hope * Hitting that bucket list * A song that changed the path of a life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXk5dXYw728 * A quick detour for hot tub recommendations and rap lyrics from Kendall * The value of self-understanding, introspection, honesty * Polarization for good and bad reasons * Doing the little things that make you happy (like making a podcast with a good friend <3 ) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Sean talk about: * The genesis of this podcast, and who we have to thank * How taking the traditional path of CS to engineering leadership is the rare case * Getting into guiding and mentoring at a small company named Huge (lol) * Being glad for having done the deathmarch type work when you were younger * Learning many important lessons via a failed startup * Why consulting is often not appealing * Finally getting into bonafide engineering management, with no training * A free podcast idea: Awkward Silences * The blessing and curse of being a problemsolver * The idea that listening is an action * Not being able to let go of puns * Timing complexity when trying to promote internally * How high trust environments must exist across a given company to work well, and how this makes hiring a much higher stakes proposition * Intent to 3D print and make things out of wood You can find Sean at seanoc.com Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about: * Dietary constraints for gout sufferers * Non-traditional Thanksgiving fare and excitement about cabbage rolls * Kendall's adventures in escalating vegetarianism * The definition of "assuming positive intent" * How the power dynamic matters * Why it's unreasonable to expect marginalized people to assume positive intent by default * Kendall realizes once again he's playing the game on "easy" mode * When assuming positive intent works well, why it's valuable and to whom * Why this episode has the "explicit" tag :) * A time when Kendall did not assume positive intent * The dangers of making "assume positive intent" a corporate policy * How this relates to injustice in the greater social world * Kendall's unflagging optimism about people * rachel's tactics for navigating a situation where you can't assume positive intent * Why intent is not as important as impact * How to serve a colleague or employee who reports discrimination * Our desire for more topics to discuss, tweet us at @djpiebob and @blatanterror with your requests! Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Marilyn talk about: * Wishing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our guest :) * Growing up in a household that had computers * Working in tech: doing math, but also making money! * Going back to school, getting an internship at Google * The value of just having credentials (why to get a Masters degree) * The Wrong Kind of Management Training * Going back to being an IC....briefly * Getting crappy leadership advice * When not to "lighten the mood" and how the rules are different for men vs women * Enjoying the peer support of being a leader among several instead of being The One Boss * Educating Kendall about K&R, a rare opportunity to gatekeep for rachel :) * Enjoying being involved in decisionmaking vs being The Authority * Enthusiasm for houseplants and reading during the pandemic You can find Marilyn on Twitter as @mmmarilyn :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Eli talk about: * The most apt failed startup name ever * A terrible first experience as a manager and being voluntold to try it again * Enjoying the force multiplier of leadership vs individual contribution * Oracle acquisition zingers (nice one, Kendall) * Being Guild-less at Spotify * Going from being told what to build to asking what should be built * Learning that it's important to also care about the business plan * Communicating and marketing business context to [naive|entitled] engineers * How that context helps drive a more collaborative process and empowers engineers * How big is too big? Kendall asking the important questions * The inevitability of acquiring a "superstructure of bullshit" * Outgrowing the "rah rah" aspect of working at a company * Feelings of beard inadequacy and enjoyment of bicycles * The romance of building a sailboat with your life partner You can find Eli on the Rands Leadership Slack and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/eli-daniel/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about: * Kendall's amazing inflatable hot tub * Having a little bit of guest visit enjoyment, as a treat * The quaint marvel that is rachel's small-town paper's Police Blotter (here's the video i reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mG2RGp-lcw&t=5s ) * Wildlife encounters * Not blaming people who choose safety over working a service industry job * The need for a social safety net * A heartwarming tale of anonymous free fancy dinner * How companies who think "remote first" was just a phase are losing employees to the ones who realize it is the way of the future * The investment in support and infrastructure needed to successfully implement a "remote first" workplace * Ego-driven leadership and the need to survey one's domain * A theory about innovation needing people being in a room together * Whether the ability to multi-task during your Zoom meetings /really/ mean you're more productive? * How not having drive-by interruptions all day definitely helps * The possibility of a cultural split among companies -- in-person culture vs remote-first culture * Whether our listeners want more of this kind of episode--let us know! Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about: * More than you wanted to know about grocery store ginger purchases * How some people use the term "a couple" to mean something other than exactly 2 and that they are Wrong * Examples of technologies that suck but people still use * Being caught up in the glories of the past (rachel would like to point out that she used a sharpie to black out Gene Simmons on her KISS shirt) * The downsides of Agile/continuous shipping of things vs Waterfall (warning, heresy inside) * Blaming growing inflexibility as one gets older * Unselfawareness in the face of serial shittiness * Two reasons: arrogance or laziness * How one gets stuck, how to know if you're stuck * Recommendations: * rachel: The Great British Sewing Bee (tv show, if you liked GBBO, you'll probably like this too) * rachel: The Alienist (kinda gruesome, moody period crime drama) * Kendall: fail videos from user mrmrmike on YouTube (great way to learn things NOT to do) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about: * Spending money on Things and our feelings about that * Are we the baddies? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JOpPNra4bw) * The nature of golden handcuffs * What is "enough"? * "Work" as a social outlet * Contentment vs. satisfaction * Kendall's wanderlust and associated twitchiness * Enabling satisfaction for your employees * Impact and the effectiveness of giving money vs. personal involvement and time * Whether it's simpler (NOT easier) to be "poor" * Underlying feelings of guilt/not deserving * The stress of not being able to make working "good" for one's employees * Recommendations for (unrelated) books: * Kendall recommends: James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time * rachel recommends: Gamechanger and Dealbreaker by L.X. Beckett (and Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Al Switzler, Ron McMillan) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Amy talk about: * The olden dayze of Geocities and people hating on Javascript * The scrum leadership to management pipeline * Kendall's Litany Of Agile Atereotypes * Getting promoted Too Fast * Hypotheses about the ability to succeed using progressive management philosophies * Wanting to leave the tech industry "better than we found it" * Joining early for a greater impact on the culture * Focus on strategy vs process as a signifier of seniority * Twitter as a leadership training ground * Leveraging authority should be uncomfortable * The "ooh, shiny" approach to hobby acquisition * Woodworking nerdery, a macrame + shelf project! You can find Amy on Twitter at @amychanta Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Dee talk about: * Coming from dropping out of school in at 16 years old * The struggles of being a manager in a bar in Singapore as a teenager * Developing "scripts" for the various interactions that kept recurring * Internships as cheap labor rackets * Immediate promotion from intern to being in charge of customer comms * Premonitions about layoffs * The camaraderie of joint suffering * Kendall admits that Marketing runs the universe * Gatekeeping as an indicator of a real discipline * The difficulties of managing people who are significantly older than you, especially in Singaporean culture * Predicting her own future, again * Iterating toward a less blunt approach to management * Preferences for feedback via chat vs in person * Experiencing joy when reports succeed * Self-reflection when reports are failing * Cooking experiments You can find Dee on twitter or instagram as @tomyumsushi :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Aye talk about: * Being an Old (Java 1.0 certified!) * Realizing he used to be "hard to work with" * Transitioning away from electrical engineering and into enterprise software * The idea that management is where people who can't build software anymore "go to die" * Starting to understand that there is more to life than writing Java code * Moving to Las Vegas and having his life changed by the Zappos culture * Parades! * Learning how to be a better manager from a good team * How knowing the wrong things to do is not the same as knowing the right things to do * Starting a company...to help managers do a better job (at 1:1s)! * Discovering that marketing and sales is hard and that most places don't invest in management tools :( * Finding a desirable culture and good work-life balance at Slack * Wishing he had a good leadership mentor earlier in his work life * The fact that the immature asshole developer is a pretty common archetype * Enjoyment of kettlebell exercises and a whole new world for Kendall You can find Aye on LinkedIn and on Twitter as @damnitjim ;) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Brett talk about: * Realizing you're the facilitator person in your friend group..and in college, and grad school... * The reality of mechanical engineering not living up to the idea of it * Getting that first software engineering job with no software engineering background * The power of networking * The consequences of having no real management experience * How being less outgoing/energetic than Kendall affects one's management style * Leadership based in assembling the Avengers and stepping aside * Modeling team interactions and desired behaviors * Hiring a leadership coach and how it was lifechanging * How authoritarian leadership slows things down * Surprise beekeeping hobby! * Biking as a mental health practice You can find Brett on LinkedIn, on Twitter as @bnekolny, and on the Rands Leadership Slack. Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Miki talk about: * The three eras of Miki so far: technology, self-identity, and relationships * Early failures to thrive -- early admission to college, and the professional world * Navel-contemplation and some key realizations * Getting a job with room to evolve and let off steam * The differences among marketing-driven, engineering-driven, and sales-driven companies * A change of pace: the finance industry :) * The Google-related diaspora of an early household * Flying ever-nearer to the flame of leadership, getting burned, and taking another orbit * Delaying the investment in building relationships until she could fully be herself at work * The requirement for executive support when driving change * Making an incremental transition and beginning to invest in relationships * Engineers and the skewed power dynamic involved in managing them * Scalability in the decisionmaking process * Decoupling personal life from professional life, intent and authenticity * 3D printing as aspirational pandemic hobby You can find Miki on Twitter as @dichro and on Instagram as @hbmiki Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Irina talk about: * Moving to LA from Moscow during elementary school * Enjoyment of donuts and data * Getting alignment before doing things (shocking, right? :)) * Shaving yaks in order to work at JPL * Learning how to learn, learning in the trenches * Accommodating the needs of team members * How leadership as a consultant is different * The perils of messy data * How it's never too soon to begin collecting the data you need * Deepening her social network * Dealing with ageism as a university instructor * Dealing with Kendall's assumptions about interest in data :) You can find Irina at https://www.ikukuyeva.com/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Kari talk about: * Getting management experience in the nonprofit world * From a young age, wanting to be...a math teacher? :) * Finally getting some management training * Working with a personal leadership coach * Strategic vs tactical planning * Learning and re-learning the value of self-care * The practice of self-promotion * Doing away with a bad hiring practice * Allowing for awkward silences * An unexpected enjoyment of gardening * Leading too much in one's personal life You can find Kari on Twitter at @karianneban Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Matt talk about: * The impact of coming from an entrepreneurial family * The siren call of "freedom" * Needing a team to make a dent in the universe * What's valuable about an MBA program, and how it's like an endless Group Project * Kendall's Epic Disclaimer and differing recollections of their mutual origin story ;) * What having kids teaches you about leadership * The N Dysfunctions of a Serial Startup Exec * How everybody's got a boss * Deep Thoughts courtesy of Star Trek * The concept of anti-hobbies You can find Matt on the internet on Twitter @mattrogish and on mattrogish.com Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Dominique talk about: * Getting into computers so she could communicate with her friends * How crappy Dreamweaver was * Benefiting from IBM programs * Stepping into project management * Leaving IBM for a much smaller company... * Making assumptions about working patterns...with mixed results :) * How hiring quickly is in tension against achieving diversity * Practicing giving feedback via "speedback sessions" * Needing to know the "why" before following the rules * Asking for her promotions * Getting ready to garden and an obsession with whole grains * Painting for 3 weeks * What's hard about children :) You can find Dominique on Twitter @dominiquesr and on Medium under her full name. Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Yaz talk about: * A love of languages, molecular biology, art * The less-than-romantic reality of becoming an architect * How creation is creation--programming is a creative act * A painful introduction to the responsibilities of management * Finally becoming an architect (of software ;) ) * Guilting himself into becoming a people leader * Moving to the US, going back to smaller companies/startups * Kendall's insecurity about title inflation :) * That the relationship you have with your team/manager is often more important than the work * Cultural variances in leadership styles and expectations * The downsides of being pre-emptively trusting * Balancing the responsibilities of leadership with the responsibilities of family * A secret management coaching weapon at home :) * Kendall's atrocious parenting ;), Yaz's difficulties teaching his kid how to play guitar * Being a beekeeper?! So cool! Additional fascinating hobbies * Yet another recommendation for the Crucial Conversations books Yaz recommends The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier, Crucial Conversations by Al Switzler, Joseph Grenny, and Ron McMillan, Multipliers by Liz Wiseman, and reading The Daily Stoic. You can find Yaz on the internet on LinkedIn and at https://yagiz.medium.com/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Lena talk about: * Starting out in finance, the arts, classic cars journalism, and more... * Uses (appropriate or not) for creativity in leadership * Realizing that a potential lifelong career in banking would be...boring * First startup experience as a web copywriter * First formal leadership experience as a bootstrapped startup CEO * Ebola outbreak response...no biggie, right?! * Becoming more intentional as a leader, learning about leadership frameworks * Growing out of the 'relationship' as a cofounder, wanting different things * Big, International, Complicated :) * Becoming a regular old Engineering Manager, and...immediately becoming a VP of Engineering * Twitter as a source of leadership learning, despite the trashfire * Managing in all directions, 360 degree leadership * Acknowledging that leadership successes depend on the quality of the team * Hiring tenets, "value add" vs "culture fit" * Finding the right role at CircleCI * Authority and how to swing it, understanding power distance * Maintaining a list of hobbies to take up as a hobby * A strong desire for "really good fries" * A recommendation for poetry books by Omar Sakr, more books recommended below * Working on dialing back the tendency to take charge in non-work life (such a familiar struggle :)) More books Lena recommends: - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50887097-why-fish-don-t-exist - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43131602-into-the-planet - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39731655-in-extremis You can find Lena on the internet at: - http://twitter.com/lrnrd - https://lenareinhard.com - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lenareinhard/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Yazhi talk about: * How Yazhi doesn't know what "old" means ;) * A life story framed as Lord of the Rings * Growing up with stereotypical Asian parental expectations, coloring within the lines * >>recordscratch>> growing up in FIJI?! (Kendall spends 5 minutes squee-ing) * rachel's turn to squee, someone who sees the value of useful error logging :heart-eyes: * A first taste of travel in the US * Personal development smorgasbord at IBM * Personal life upheaval driving big changes, no more coloring inside the lines * Moving to the US and starting an IT consulting company * When people usually rebel, how much of a rule-follower Kendall is * Discovering America with gusto, FREE SODA REFILLS :D * Trying out the stay-at-home mom thing and not being able to keep still * Pivoting to building businesses from home * Remembering you're working with actual people, not just resources * Managing resistance to new process implementation through curiosity and humility * How yet again, the problem is people * Getting over yourself to get the job done * The Rules and how to ignore them, for the sake of the children * Why you should own goats You can find Yazhi on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/yazhi/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
Better late than never, rachel and Kendall Have Opinions About 2020: * Introverts and extroverts, living together in perfect harmony (on this podcast, at least) * How to meet new podcast guests, the Kendall Miller Way * Pie and the art of house maintenance * Cheater's yeast, and the ubiquitous breadmaking theme of 2020 * Guilt and all its many facets * Coping mechanisms (some people buy bikes, some people go for uphill walks) * 2020 episode highlights, sponsored by rachel's terrible internet connection * The substance you're using to get by during the pandemic is (probably) OK * 50-something episodes, and over 25,000 downloads! * Find us on Twitter to tell us what you think! @djpiebob and @blatanterror * Discussion of the 2020 episode highlights above :) * Hiring for additive benefits vs sameness * GIving up control to get better results * (Kendall probably does not like beets, stay tuned) * Recommendation for Turn The Ship Around by David L. Marquet * rachel is excited about working on a to-be-named leadership book project * The power of hope as a third way to move forward into 2021 Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Jibran talk about: * Is art school a weird starting point for a designer? * Vowing to never work on web sites (lol) * Having an unusually good experience in the gaming industry * Getting the full "I moved to SF for a startup and it shut down as soon as I got there" experience * Accusations of being responsible for LinkedIn "Stories" ;) * When companies don't grow their own leaders * A good manager tells you when you need to leave to move forward * Bombshell: leaving the SFBA for a startup in the Midwest! * Bringing design practices into the insurance industry -- with humility * Growing up as a leader alongside the company * Partnering with a new-to-tech HR org to build a hiring pipeline * Enjoying interviewing candidates * What an awesome resource the Rands Leadership Slack is * Constant disagreement with everybody ;) * Kendall's argument-winning fantasies * An amazing lesson learned at the right time * Asking for clear direction, transparency works both ways * [We are not sponsored by The Morning Show on AppleTV+] * Understanding motivation as a way to communicate leadership decisions you don't agree with * Being into old cars and how that is a bit of an outlier for a progressive/socialist-leaning person :) You can find Jibran on Twitter as @jkutik :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Tessa talk about: * Studying computer science because she "ran out of math classes" at her high school * ACTUALLY using trigonometry in real life * How all-women educational environments are awesome * Unlearning the Seattle culture in favor of the New York culture * Translating academic experiences into tech industry programming interviews * Getting a foot in the door via content production * Freelancing to live, not living to freelance * The joys?! of maintaining legacy code and CMSes * Management training at NYTimes * Understanding the responsibilities of the middle manager * Going into management to create the environments she wants others to experience * Telling a bad job that you're not a "culture fit" for them * Being intrinsically motivated vs deferring to authority * Remembering that current authority structures are not designed for marginalized people * How leadership experience can be good and bad for non-work interactions Books Tessa recommended: https://www.amazon.com/Managers-Path-Leaders-Navigating-Growth/dp/1491973897 https://www.amazon.com/Rework-Jason-Fried/dp/0307463745 + https://www.amazon.com/Doesnt-Have-Be-Crazy-Work/dp/0062874780/ Tessa's favorite leadership book: https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Self-Deception-Getting-Out-Box/dp/1576759776 You can find Tessa on twitter and on Medium as @c0d3rgirl Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Rishi talk about: * Having a nerdy family to kick things off * First exposures to leadership issues while trying to code a game with friends * Our inability to not interrupt people just when they're trying to make a point * Discovering an appreciation for working at smaller companies, starting at larger companies * Needing to see the result of his efforts * Discovering a desire to play multiple roles via competitive ultimate frisbee * Solving the parking problem * Challenges in building a hardware solution * The value of hiring the right person for the environment vs the technical skill * "Are we the right fit for /them/" * Tailoring the technical interview to the context of the interviewee * Leadership variances as a consultant, the authority of the outsider * Guessing (correctly) that most entrepreneurial folk have a complex relationship with authority :) * Developing the skill of motivating people who do not report to you * The value of understanding your audience and their history before trying to influence them * Book recommendation: Never Split The Difference * Progressive Metal band recommendation: Protest The Hero You can find Rishi on Twitter as @whoisthisogre :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Val talk about: * Coming up to technical leadership via graphic design and creative writing * Becoming the person who fixes the printer * "If you can get through Finnegan's Wake, you can get through the technical manual" * Discipline, leadership, making herself heard in the Air Force Civil Air Patrol program and military family connections * Adjusting her military-learned leadership style for training interns * What "IT Communications" means * Learning the important difference between being effective and being right * Resiliency vs perfection * Prioritizing reinforcing the skills you can improve, some weaknesses won't be improved by grinding * Deciding to push through skill deficit for the love of sports * How academia means managing relationships for the long term with a soupçon of Game Of Thrones * Using one's physical assets to project confidence and be heard * Recognizing when you don't have to be the one who is in charge, freeing yourself * The joys of Strongman training and exploring the limits of human strength You can find Val on the internet at http://pantagruel.net :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this Very Special Episode, rachel, Kendall, and Luke talk about: * Coming from different evangelical backgrounds * The shaping of our respective authority issues as related to religious upbringing * Luke's birth /literally/ in a baptismal font :) * What we mean when we say "religion" * Tech salary as a way to fund a church planting career * Leaving the church behind but bringing the leadership lessons along * Good and bad authority structures represented by the church * Detoxing from evangelicisim, finding a new purpose * Choosing between being right or being good Switching to rachel's background: * Moving to the US at 11, with no real religious upbringing before that * Trying hard to buy into the fundamentalist Baptist faith * Leaving for college and never returning * Atheism vs agnosticism * Whether your beliefs are a choice * The value of faith in one's own community and whether humanity deserves the asteroid treatment And on to Kendall's Christian upbringing: * Dad fasting and actually praying on his knees for guidance * The weird incentives and blame structures of fundamentalism * Noticing the tendency to open the Bible more often to curse than to bless * Working for a religious organization in China for 10 years * Realizing that much of evangelical Christianity as it is practiced in the US is very much culturally a White American thing * Not needing to understand how praying works * Does it matter if you're wrong about faith? Nah. What matters is being willing to be wrong. * Servant leadership and how it works for both sacred and commercial applications if done well Back to Luke: * Was the "walk to remember" a kind of psychic break, or prayer? * Realizing all you really need is validation * Only needing a loose grip on the framework to get the benefit * Not wanting to tell people what to do, and all the insecurities that represents * Not being able to follow instructions if the goal isn't clear * How an aversion to certainty can get in the way of leading * What is justice, if not love at scale? You can accost Luke with ideas for scaling love on Twitter at @saintlukas :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Aaron talk about: * Learning about managing interpersonal issues from his dad, an "interim CEO of ministers" * Putting that learning into practice building and fixing teams at startups * Helping teams identify their own weaknesses as a form of counseling * How this podcast is not sponsored by Knives Out (ps: Kendall has seen the movie since we recorded this podcast and didn't find it as good as Aaron did.) * Following the energy on the management > IC > management cycle * Finally choosing the simplicity of leadership ;) * Long-term career planning * The entire category of software that exists because leaders don't trust their people * Authority trauma from Kendall's past * The realization that leadership sometimes requires making decisions about things without getting concensus from your team first * The relationship between unease at doing the above and lack of comfort with authority in general * Determining how much detail to provide when giving direction * When your positive ability to build concensus turns into a need and a negative * The enjoyment when your authority issues align with your role * How leadership is a lot more about collaboration and cooperation than it is telling people what to do * Rubik's cube, hiking, being underprepared for overnight conditions You can find Aaron on Twitter at @aaronlerch Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Anthony talk about: * Feeling late to the Black Lives Matter movement and going to Ferguson * Learning to lead national campaigns for peace * Realizing communication is about storytelling * Being seen, being heard, what it means to win * The need to inspire vision as a leader * Optimism vs hope * Finding affirmation in current events while still taking the long view * Managing frustrations and engaging in self-care * The idea of being "well-adjusted to injustice" * Meeting Cornel West (!) and mentorship from Dr. Vincent Harding (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Harding) * The need to question authority, who benefits from it * Redefining profit to include greater context * Hope in future generations voting with their career choices * Leading "with" vs "over" * The joy of asking a ton of questions :) * What white people can do to join the movement and show support: * Get off the fence * Don't jump in unschooled, but don't wait until you think you know everything either * Don't assume your help will fix everything * Get used to being uncomfortable, exercise those muscles, grow * Don't let this moment pass you by * That Anthony's movie (https://www.anthonygrimes.com/mr-somebody-watts-la) was chosen for the Tribeca Film Festival! * Missing going out and dancing, traveling You can find Anthony at his website (https://www.anthonygrimes.com), and on most social media as @antbuilder Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about: * Whether Kendall is either hot or a mess or both * How hard it is to set expectations...for anything * Working on developing new patterns because it's not going to go "back to normal" anytime soon * Coping with the death of a parent, most likely of the coronavirus * The unreality of the danger unless it has touched you personally * Weighing one's mental health vs physical health * Putting all plans for travel on hold through the end of the year * How contact tracing works * Dark thoughts about the need for a revolution * Leveraging planning for the future as an emotional coping tactic * More about making new habits...that aren't unhealthy over the long term * Letting yourself feel it * This episode's self-soothing recommendations: * rachel: Socializing via simulwatching movies on chat. Bailing on books you're not enjoying. Animal Crossing. * Kendall: Letterkenny on Hulu. Meeting friends for socially-distanced takeout. Popeye's Chicken. * Obligatory sourdough discussion * Kicking one's own ass in gear when there isn't a reason to go on a drive (yet) * Zoom calls and takeout aren't a substitute for being in the room, for networking, for the hallway track, for the ambiance * Feeling unsafe talking about how bad things might actually be * How good leaders take care of themselves so they don't take things out on their team * Being kind is good for everyone involved Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Alicia talk about: * Germophobia, and being right all along * Realizing managing humans is more interesting than engineering * What HR isn't for * Building experience in the consulting world * Being reminded that there will be a "next" job * Choosing stability over passion * Kendall's lack of patience * The desire for influence vs cultural and procedural debt * Leading a community group at work * Creating space for the team to process the pandemic, a human stand-up * The effort required to explain how you're doing * How instead of a drop in productivity, many folks are seeking control by getting things done, connection by working together more closely * Social and physical meditation * Negative connotations of authority * The relief of having someone tell you what to do * Spending more time cooking, the challenge of constraints on ingredients * Digital minimalism You can find Alicia on Twitter as @macapplechick Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about: * CW: we're probably going to swear more than usual * The tendency of technical people to try to solve every problem with technology * rachel's perilous journey home * Kendall's cabin fever * The uncertainty of the future, lack of faith in (US) leadership * Whether it's productive to vent about the above * Cutting yourself some slack * Directionality of venting/support structures * Forecasting vs planning * Having compassion for your leadership * Planning for multiple potential futures * Parallels to the 2000-era dot-com bust * Random prison pet training detour * Providing support for emotionally-strapped folk * How much authoritarianism is appropriate when lives are at stake? * The role of trust in authority * Self-soothing techniques from your hosts: * rachel: cocktails, Dungeons & Dragons, Murdoch Mysteries * Kendall: Staying in With Emily & Kumail podcast, watching and reading things that happen on beaches, lots of exercise * Zoom meetings are great until they're not Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Cynthia talk about: * Being 8 years old and writing in VISUAL BASIC! :heart-eyes: * Taking community college classes with mom at age 12 * Geeking out on things that are older than Kendall :) * Selling her first company at age 19 * Cleaning up unicorn poop * What happens after the problem is solved * Helping companies find their path * Feeling responsible for the happiness of your employees * The awkwardness of networking * Troubleshooting at the product level * Constantly being in trouble as a kid :) * What should qualify people to be management * Discovering higher mathematics and panicking Kendall * Reading and racecars You can find Cynthia on LinkedIn, Facebook, and cynthiadelaria.com! Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and talk about: * Moneyball and the new world of big data and baseball * How to merge gut feel based on experience with quantitative analysis * Parlaying an early love of baseball into a paid gig * The draw of building a team from scratch * Kendall being incredibly nerdsniped :) * Starting out as a tech lead * Putting the R in R&D * How baseball players respond to data-driven insights * Baseball engineering org structure * The particular difficulty of remote leadership * Adjusting priorities and developing process to compensate for team needs * Ensuring engineers interact respectfully with non-technical subject matter experts * Seeing his past self in his employees * Watching games to validate data models * Turning his job into a hobby and his hobby into a job You can find Dan on Twitter at @dturkenk and on LinkedIn :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Helen talk about: * Growing up with the League * The League as an outgrowth of the Suffrage movement * What counts as non-partisan policy * The struggle of managing and motivating volunteers * How fundraising is harder when people are already 'donating' their time * What an executive director does vs a president in the LWVO * The tendency to move to fill a vacuum * Breaking the cycle of doing this important work via the unpaid labor of women * Developing the organizational habit of offering help and then stepping back to wait for community guidance on what that help looks like * What to look for in an executive director for the LWV * Maintaining consistency and project work across many volunteer terms * The role of local government observers in the League * What it means to be "somewhat ornery" :) * Creating the leadership you want to see via tenacity and patience * The struggle of appreciating some people's volunteerism :) You can find Helen on LinkedIn and on Twitter as @helenhutch :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Brianna talk about: * Feeling the need to 'step in' and handle stuff that isn't getting done (right) ;) * Making the decision to go to "hair school" and how that helped her communication skills * rachel's inability to resist the easy joke * Personal mythology and its pluses and minuses * Realizing that focus is required to complete a masters degree (!) * Falling back on high-pressure experience in the salon * The power of the custom cover letter * Fast rise to management and the struggle to develop a culture * The need for early, honest feedback * Missing....Scala? :) and the power to decide what tools your team uses * Recommendation for Leeanne Smullen, leadership coach * Influential nuns in Brianna and Kendall's lives * How honest communication in one's personal life is different from honest communication at work You can find Brianna on LinkedIn as Brianna Connelly, and on Instagram as @ghostfaceknitter :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Corey talk about: * Humble beginnings as an "angry UNIX sysadmin" (aka the only kind of UNIX sysadmin) * Vowing to be the opposite of every crappy manager * Corey's Least Favorite Managers * Metaphors (for failure) * Why "We need to talk" sucks * An example of good leadership in crisis * Appropriate levels of intensity in the workplace * What a Cloud Economist does * How "Last Week in AWS" began (and becoming a #quinnfluencer :)) * Punching up vs punching down, and knowing the difference * The depressing rareness of people who can take feedback well * Understanding one's own failure modes, and what twitter is good for * Choosing not to work at AWS: https://www.lastweekinaws.com/blog/why-i-turned-down-an-aws-job-offer/ * Intentionally obfuscating one's personal life * The value of having the priority interrupt of a toddler's demands * Reconciling one's personal loneliness with a public persona You can find Corey at https://www.lastweekinaws.com/ and on Twitter as @quinnypig Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Beata talk about: * Coming to the US without knowing any English * Learning to hustle from her parents * Networking at the mall * Learning how to manage on the job * THE BIG PIVOT * Interviewing for a job with no clear requirements * Surviving a full-time job and full-time class load simultaneously * Realizing you're the driver of your own bus * Discovering that leadership is more than execution alone * What makes a senior leader vs a junior one * Developing habits, systems-related thinking, and a recommendation for "Atomic Habits" by James Clear * Her allergy to the RACI matrix * An upcoming series on system-level thinking for leadership :) * Leadership as a partnership, the humbling nature of authority * Management of puppies and getting them into training school * The confidence of having leadership experience and its impact on her personal life You can find Beata Puncevic on LinkedIn :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Jeremy talk about: * How engineering is a bit different at a newspaper * A lowly beginning doing tech support at Best Buy * Saving the day on a project that won a Pulitzer! * Being glad he's not coding anymore * What "Newsroom Engineering" means * Why campaign finance data is critical to the news industry * Planning a charm offensive * Tactics for pre-empting burnout when deadlines are immutable * Book recommendations: * Camille Fournier: The Manager's Path * Will Larson: An Elegant Puzzle * Donella H. Meadows: Thinking In Systems * The actual net effect of indulging a "brilliant asshole" * Pushing for more remote workers * How to push back against authority when needed * Cooking at scale and for one's coworkers You can find Jeremy on Twitter at @jeremybowers Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this special year-end episode, rachel and Kendall talk about: * How much we amuse each other * The vagaries of podcast recording technology * Trains. Kind of a lot. I'm sorry :) * Work-life balance over the holidays * Management styles and customizations, a recurring theme * Tactics for feeling more comfortable with authority * What "changing the world for the better" can mean * How many times we've actually met in person (spoiler, it's twice) * What we value about doing this show * Goals for the coming year As we mentioned, we would love for you to send us your guest recommendations/intros, tag us on twitter: @djpiebob and @blatanterror Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Aimee talk about: * Dropping out of high school/not having a university degree * The major importance of learning to type early on * Loving the first taste of authority, building her own team * Learning that people don't want to talk to sales if they can shop online * Why the pop-up window is (technically) her fault :shaking-fist: * Experiencing classic sexism from Japanese executives * The fallout of the first dot com crash and taking a major step back careerwise * Trusting your friends to tell you if you're being an asshole * Learning how to frame recommendations for improvement without alienating people by telling them their baby is ugly * Checking intentions for and expectations from going into management * Recommendation for the book Performance Breakthrough by Cathy Rose Salit * What 'visibility' means, and why you don't need someone to tell you to get it * Authority's effect, and cultural differences in responses to it * Watching this talk every quarter for inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqmdLcyES_Q * How leaders should be the calmest person in the room and how meditation (including via cooking) has helped * Trying on "leader onesies" to help decide how to respond in various situations You can reach Aimee on LinkedIn as "acardwell" and find her blog post about here: https://americanexpress.io/visibility/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Linda talk about: * Not having a career plan at 17, starting with community college * The value of getting an MBA, broadening of perspective * Looking for more 'worthy' occupations as one's career winds up * Stints at Oscar Meyer and Jolly Rancher, bad jokes about each :) * Moving toward technology via technical indexing and writing gigs * Stepping up to own a Lotus Notes install when the IT director quit * Working at Home Depot during the first dot-com bust * Thinking she was not technical enough to be a CIO * A day in the life of the CIO at a large corporation * How many people want to feel their work drives something worthwhile * The tendency of leaders to overlook reward vs discipline * Decompression via travel and time off You can find Linda on LinkedIn as lindalannen :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Unmesh talk about: * The role of luck and timing in one's career path * Avoiding the dot com bust by staying in grad school * Changing yourself vs expecting your team to change * How managing/directing/coaching employees coming from academia is different * Why turnover can be desirable (SUPER interesting!) * The downside of having an extremely good manager (also SUPER interesting!) * Concensus-building as a safety mechanism (thanks, Kendall ;) ) * Being the youngest sibling and how that influenced his path * Not liking to be told what to do * Autonomous cars, coming sooner than at least I thought * How leadership has made Unmesh more decisive in his personal life * Meeting people via swing dancing You can find Unmesh on LinkedIn as unmeshkurup :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Ellen Mary talk about: * Group dynamics and being a younger sibling * Leadership in a classroom of 4th graders * Self care when there are no filters on what your students say and do * Moving into teaching reform work * The role of process and where it isn't enough * Being uncomfortable and why you had better get used to it * Identifying the "language of value" for your audience * Wearing many, MANY hats as a Senior Director * How managing and disciplining and firing teachers differs from other industries * Why an effective hiring process is crucial because of the above * How leadership in the classroom is different from just giving a lecture * Setting up a team to support addressing conflicts * How real leaders shouldn't need to 'wield' authority You can find Ellen Mary on LinkedIn as emhickmann :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and April talk about: * A path into tech via baseball card database management and gpa optimization scripts * Detouring around a chem-eng career and hard-hat avoidance * TECH SUPPORT SHENANIGANS and getting away from campus to make websites * Graduating into the cataclysm of the first dot-com bust and heading to Intel * Early failures in operational scaling leading to product management * Taking a side-trip to get an MBA and ending up at Google * The leadership value of having worn many hats (or hard-hats ;)) * Advice for those wanting to get into product management * A first official management role at Twitter * The "academic" culture of Google vs the "business" culture of Twitter * How hiring experience translates to investment decisionmaking * Consideration of company culture in the context of investment * Taking risks in the interest of a better future * Missing the major growth experience at Slack * The mindblowing feeling of having your team be multipliers for achieving your goals * The responsibility you have to the people who are choosing to work for you * Hiking goals You can find April on Twitter at @aunder :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Tina talk about: * Starting your own company to get a role in leadership :) * The fact that men are much more often picked/groomed for leadership within an org (see https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/gender-equality/women-in-the-workplace-2018) * What it's like to learn how to lead on the job * Getting cross-functional experience at startups * Another recommendation for "Radical Candor" * Where leadership comes from at Apple vs Google and how that affects outcomes * Unconscious bias in different promotion review processes * Why it might be a good thing that we can't quantify absolutely everything people enjoy * Bringing pragmatism into technical decisionmaking that can sometimes feel like religious arguments * The role of vulnerability in disagreements * Why women are often better at building concensus and planning for outcomes in business * Developing an appreciation for Italian wines after growing up on Napa/Sonoma wines * A recommendation for Blair Fox winery's Syrah You can find Tina on Twitter as @kmonkeyjam and she might find you on LinkedIn :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Mojtaba talk about: * How to work the system: adjunct professorship, then at Samsung * Making friends and escaping the dungeon via forgery * Effectiveness vs butt-in-seat time, tactics for success * Noticing the missing component: people! * Kendall's understanding of what having a PhD means * A whole new world (of management theory and practice to study) * The need to adapt your leadership style * Managing healthy tensions * What servant leadership actually means * Whether people are actually kinder in Canada * Real Canadian Goals(tm) * The relief of living in the moment with small children You can find Mojtaba on LinkedIn :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Michael talk about: * Naming things (and people) is hard * Getting into the Deep End early on * The dearth of formal training for managers * Lengthy tenures and what they imply * Key strengths of a leader, and knowing how you rate in each * What it's like to rely only on Slack to communicate at work * His "you're a wizard, Harry!" moment * Hating to tell people what to do, hating to have people tell you what to do * The real definition of managing up * Giving away your toys, the sign of growth in leadership * Writing methodologies, and a CHILDREN'S BOOK?! * How "gravelbiking" is apparently rad * Memory exercises You can find Michael Lopp on the internet at http://randsinrepose.com and from thence all the news about twitter, upcoming books, and the like. Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Lisa talk about: * Not being librarian-y enough * A night job turning news into jpgs * Bleeding-edge social media experiments * Forays into leadership (and friendships!) via brunching with Women Who Code * The importance of good office snacks * A good experience with a Lara Hogan workshop * Practicing difficult interactions * Tips for managing through change * Improving one's game face * How authority requires responsiveness * The magic of recontextualizing failure You can find Lisa on the internet @lisadsmith on twitter and on LinkedIn as /smithwebsmith :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Elisa talk about: * A fairytale-like pastry shop origin story ;) * Coming out and getting early experience of public speaking and leadership in a peer education program * Getting a job by insisting on it repeatedly (a tried and true approach!) * Being convinced to move into the for-profit world * Unveiling the inner project manager who was there all along * The recurring theme of accountability, and how not everyone feels it the way you do * What it means to have a strong bias for action and how to temper it * The benefits of 'showing the math' * Bringing one's authentic self to work * Further incidental evidence of the pay gap, :lolsob: * Tips for managing up, the most underrated superpower * Going deep, the hobby Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Nadyne talk about: * An early career transition from software engineering to user research via human factors training * Equipping sharks with lasers * How weird it was to work on a military base as a civillian and not be the lunch lady * Arriving in the SF Bay Area just as the first dot com bubble burst * How it's easier to communicate concerns when there is a framework for it * Doing the job AND talking about the job * A high school paramedic?! * Looking into the eyes of it (American healthcare) * The difference between being trained how to use management tools vs how to actually manage * How to handle it when someone is intimidated by you: be more personal (and vulnerable) * Giving your team opportunities to build leadership skills by allowing them to support you when you need it * Going to all kinds of live shows and why that's awesome * Kendall's penchant for ruining things You can find Nadyne on Twitter and Instagram as @nadyne :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Anthony talk about: * Feeling the need to run a business * Blowing your life up every few years * The need to evolve communication processes as a company scales * Hiring pipeline planning for the longer-term * Recommended communication practices at various points of scale * The importance of perceiving someone's weaknesses as well as their strengths * The inspiration of making things, building machines--which can be organizations * Questions to ask yourself when deciding whether to take a job * The endless struggle of balancing learning vs doing, achieving stress homeostasis * Being able to make decisions across a large scope of influence with limited knowledge * Broader definitions of leadership * Allowing yourself to be vulnerable as a leader opens up greater possibilities of trust * The role of understanding your motivations * Drones! You can find Anthony on the internet at LinkedIn under "Anthony Jules" :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Nik talk about: * How much it sucks to be a recruiter * Finding out the hard way just how much your boss does that you don't know about * The Dark Times, aka the Trial By Fire * Resisting the call to management * Growing through 1:1 coaching * The realization that a leader doesn't have to know everything * Pivoting the industry toward culture change * What Release Management means * Not putting off the hard conversations * It's not paranoia if people really are out to get you * Managing managers often means teaching them how to manage * Showing your human side as a leader, but not making it about you * Having a healthy disrespect for authority You can find Niks on Twitter at @kninki, and on LinkedIn as Nicola Knight. Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Christine talk about: * You can get paid to do this? Turning an avatar design hobby into a graphic design career * Disrupting Wall Street marketing * Not choosing engineering * Being The One Who Says It * Learning to think about the goal before Saying It and passing that knowledge on * The difference between showing your passion in your arguments vs showing up for your team * How the ability to communicate with words is underrated in the design world * Being uncomfortable when there are unstated concerns * Difficulties with having faith * How leveling up means...more questions * Frustrations with directional flow of information * The awkwardness of managing people who used to be your peers * Christine's recommendation for Design Department's Design Leadership Fundamentals workshop * Christine's recommendation for the book Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin You can find Christine on LinkedIn under her name Christine Ramirez. Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Johnny talk about: * The location of rachel's socks * Career growth via dissatisfaction * Johnny's path through tech-art school, bus driving, web advertising, high-end apparel customer experiences...and the common thread of communication * The complexity of the hardware-sofware interchange * MEEP MEEP! And other tales of brute-forcing things * Why an interpretive dance is the last thing Johnny would ever want to do * Why providing IT services for a non-technical org is harder than it looks * Managing one's ratio of dedication to good work-life balance, and seeing it more clearly from the manager vs individual contributor perspective * Kendall's evil overlord tendencies * The stress of over-accountability vs authority * Dispassionate leadership and when it's right to focus on the outcomes only * Johnny's enjoyment of recreational falling down and cookie baking * How obvious it is that Kendall has never cooked anything * The butter and sugar of leadership: giving a shit about people You can find Johnny on Twitter at @johnny_sheeley Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about: * Yet another life ruined by PHP * Being a coder by 5th grade and seeing a terrible future for himself by 10th grade * Getting management experience young and moving to China * Addressing cross-cultural communication difficulties when delivering and receiving feedback * The weird and mixed feels around selling the company and no longer being CEO * Strategies for transferring the trust your team has for you to new leadership * How leaders can have both major skills and shocking shortcomings * Realizing that as a leader, your job is not the deliverable, your job is the people * When Kendall thinks it's necessary to tell one's boss they need to leave * Walking in and assuming you know how to fix something without asking questions * The power of being widely-networked and what it brings to leadership * What it means to be an out-of-practice extrovert * Doing this podcast so he can talk to people who intimidate him * How having authority is like keeping control over your large vehicle * What working for religious organizations/family businesses can be like * Making time to smoke pipes and write things down You can find Kendall on the internets at this fine podcast :) and on twitter as @blatanterror Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Dana talk about: * Becoming a coder via editing books about programming * Missing being able to be more focused on your own work * Kendall's near-miss at preempting Google's success * The value of 360 feedback in a review process * Squad goals (I had to say it) * JIRA hate * The need to walk a line between uncritical approval of decisions from higher-ups and allowing for disgruntlement in a safe space to maintain credibility * Dana's book recommendation: "Thanks For The Feedback" about receiving feedback * The unnecessary anxiety of project time estimation and productivity metrics * Getting your leadership experience outside the workplace first * Normalizing failure * Firing your kids :) * When academia doesn't match reality * How great the sound insulation is at Kendall's house * The difficulties of co-leadership You can find Dana on all the internets as @danabrit Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Kate talk about: * Bailing on tech at the get-go... * ...And getting back again in to be the change you want to see * Strategies for teambuilding for remote teams * Understanding the weight of your voice as a leader * How formal training isn't always necessary * Whether it's possible to maintain a company's culture through rapid growth * Interview logistics for big hiring pushes * Code review for your review paperwork * Yet another time when rachel is wrong about our guest being introverted vs extroverted * What ethical authority looks like * Learning to work within the management/corporate ecosystem without letting it eat you * Approaches to dealing with frustration with your teammates * Being put on the spot with new music recommendations * Bringing a ukulele to work! You can find Kate on twitter at @qkate :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Christina talk about: * Being born fully-formed from the head of the executive suite (or not) * Enjoying enabling makers and doers * Iterating through trials by fire * Understanding the build-vs-buy dynamic and why open source tools matter * Our first official dirty secret! * The particular foibles of product management * Explicitly re-processing past events to learn more from them * Tactics for managing impostor syndrome * Leaning on written communication when your colleagues are distributed * The classic tensions between product management and engineering * The role of product management in selling the vision to engineering * Not being able to dabble * Funding the cycle of art projects and the joy of the plan You can find Christina via her initials most places, including cfrln on twitter Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Silvia talk about: * How nobody ever reads documentation beforehand * The sad state of education * What terrible handwriting might offer us in terms of improving our communication habits * rachel's inability to remember the term "career ladder" * The importance of identifying and codifying hierarchies as your flat org begins to grow * Discovering the Individual Contributor leadership track * What leadership means for the Principal Engineer and how this varies at scale * The value of providing historical context for your colleagues * Dudes on Twitter, an eternal plague etc * Becoming comfortable about delegation as a method of self-preservation * Making the choice to remain an Individual Contributor * ...and realizing you're a leader anyway * Wielding authority for good, not judgement of errors * Transferring incident response skills to one's home life * Why leadership does not equal management You can find Silvia on twitter as @dbsmasher You can find Silvia's recent blog post here: https://blog.dbsmasher.com/2019/01/28/on-being-a-principal-engineer.html Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Kristina talk about: * A rare actual degree in the field of Information Systems/IT! * The value of informational interviews * How product management works at a huge aerospace company * Going from a giant corporation to a much smaller company * Culture-first as an approach to running a business * How great it is when the people who build the product have good context from customers * Being the glue when there are a lot of managers in the mix * When Agile doesn't really scale anymore * What changes when you go from managing ICs to managing managers * The dynamics of tenured vs newer leadership with external experience * Signs of seniority and experience in engineering leaders * Shiny, shiny context! * Reasons people in leadership tend to like solitary activities * Kendall's uplifting sense of irony You can find Kristina on the internet on LinkedIn and on Twitter as @kemmeroo Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Sarah talk about: * Choosing all the available options * The value of being able to anticipate the ways in which something will go wrong * Using silence as leverage * A callback to having to make the choice of scaling your management style vs customizing it * Sarah's background in astrophysics and how the funding dance is terrible * Falling in love with being helpful * A tall step up to VP * Mild anxiety around maybe having reinvented the wheel in coming to one's own conclusions * How Sarah and rachel are origin story twinsies! * Kendall having to interrupt us from staring into each others' eyes * Structure in compensation and leveling as a way to offer needed leverage to under-represented groups * Having values that make it more comfortable to have authority * Turning the tables on rachel vis-a-vis the introversion vs extroversion question * The importance of modeling healthy work-life balance * Coaching and teaching as an embodiment of 'helping' on an ongoing basis You can find Sarah on twitter as @szelechoski and on the Hangops Slack. Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Emily talk about: * Reaffirming that people have a circuitous path to management * The pros and cons of becoming a technologist for romantic reasons * Just how far the biological life analogy can be taken to describe the early internet industry * The point at which you learn that not all problems your team has need fixing * Leveraging the focus of your colleagues when you need help prioritizing All The Things * The highs and lows of iterating on hiring process * Pitfalls for new managers * Just how much of an MCU nerd rachel is * How isolating leadership can be at the top of the org * Kendall's requirement to include downtime/self-care time in his calendar, typically involving mountains * How much fun disaster preparedness planning can be * Why it's ok to have a personal Trello, but perhaps a personal JIRA is a bit too much You can find Emily on twitter at @eanakashima Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode Kendall, rachel, and Dusty talk about: * The "inconsequential" details of Dusty's life * The value of moving back and forth between being an individual contributor and a leader over one's career * What "devops transformation" means and why it's hard * Maturing as a leader and how this trends away from dictatorial tendencies * How different management styles scale or don't * Is it necessary to 'have a take' in terms of domain expertise in every leadership role? * Coming to leadership from a place of being a control freak * Balancing accepting your style vs broadening its appeal * The effect of the leadership power differential on potential feedback about your management style * The definition of the power differential * What "expensive to manage" means * How much of leadership is modeling good relationships with your peers * Observations on sports coaching tactics during timeouts * Leadership as it applies to parenting Find Dusty on Twitter at @dustyp Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this special year-end episode, Kendall and rachel talk about: * Holiday plans and Christmas miracles * Kendall's deep thoughts on facial hair fashion * Why we make this podcast * Oooh, shiny! * Choose your own path to Impostor Syndrome supercut! * A team-building tip for the new year * Kendall's experience of forced Kon-Mari-by-proxy * Our goals for 2019, and meta topics around goal-setting Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode Kendall, rachel, and Sarah talk about: * How technical communication often draws people toward product management * Using cognitive science to improve product research * People watching as a data mining exercise * Using inspiration rather than direction, rather than having to tell people what to do * Kendall's ongoing naysaying :) * The various benefits of having engineering-, marketing-, or product-driven organizations * The subversive nature of being a control freak * Cocktail party chatter and how to leverage it if you're an introvert * Where authority really comes from * Cultivating obliviousness to avoid having to assert authority * The imbalance in social and cultural expectations when a woman is in a leadership role Find Sarah on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-kampman-0195451/ Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode Kendall, rachel, and Ian talk about: * Hipster bicycles * Ian's backstory in the military * Deciding you like startups, and then ending up at Amazon * Developing motivation toward the goal vs using discipline to lead your team * Learning from bad managers * Management at scale, high-volume hiring * Pushing for shared experience for remote vs on-premises team members * Realizing that everyone is not like you (gasp!) * Having autonomy as a child means it's harder to handle micromanagement as an adult * Walking the fine line of projecting confidence vs being vulnerable to your team * Kendall learns about the concept of humility (again :)) You can find Ian at @ircolle most places on the internet. Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode Kendall, rachel, and Michael talk about: * Starting from a place of youth and arrogance :) * Advertising agency life from the time when people smoked in the office (Mad Men, anyone?) * Coming to terms with the fact that you're selling your soul * The founding of Icelab as an indirect consequence of philosophical differences * Being a leader when you don't want to be a "boss" * Kendall's understanding of logic when it comes to opinions * Ownership of what happened when someone leaves your org * Michael's political work with the Australian Green Party * The feeling of freedom when someone knowledgeable tells /you/ what to do for a change * Assuming everyone is like you: it's a trap! * Various philosophical approaches to dishwashing You can find Michael at @michaelhoney most places on the internets. Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode Kendall, Rachel and Jessica Popp discuss: * How Jessica gravitated toward roles that emphasized communication * Trials by fire through startup dynamics * The curse of the innate editor * Jessica's definition of a great leader * Being told to "step off" and what happened next * Pivoting to leading a less-experienced team * Kendall gets some mentorship about his career path * The responsibility as a successful woman in tech to the women coming up * A dichotomy of intro/extroversion driven by context * Our respective scorn at people who ask dumb questions at parties * Authority as scope of responsibility * The urge to always feel productive Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode Kendall, Rachel, and Laurel Ruma discuss: * Learning how to talk to strangers by working on a farm * Accepting that there is stuff that is out of your control and moving on from it instead of getting hung up on it * The real value of forcing yourself out of your comfort zone and encountering people who are different from you * Things that Kendall finds creepy * Getting involved in Twitter wars is a terrible idea * Being "the voice of reason" among her peer group * Coaching employees about what's appropriate to discuss on social media * Getting Bill O'Reilly's hate mail (!) * The power of sideways leadership in communicating major changes from management * How leadership applies to working with your customers as well as your employees * Having to dial back her extroversion to not freak out your introverted customers :) * Acknowledging imperfection in oneself * Laurel's interests: BABES – Boston Area Beer Enthusiasts Society, Scandinavian Noir literature, and She Geeks Out * Kendall's poor taste in beer :) * Laurel's plan for when she wins the lottery :) Find Laurel on social media as "laurel@oreilly" Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Mitchell discuss: * Mitchell's first real job working at an Apple retail store, where the employee customer service training made a big impact * How the empathy training from that experience has translated well to most of his subsequent experience in the working world * Digging into why customers are angry, and finding a place to be genuinely empathetic * How this translates to the employee-employer relationship * How we can't not talk about Mitchell's job at a smoothie place * Learning to interact with clients as a software consultant and as a leader via building things in the open source community * Mitchell's origins as a self-taught programmer while his parents limited his time on the computer * Working around that by PRINTING OUT SOURCE CODE TO STUDY IT, WTF?! * Having to level up at management fast after founding HashiCorp via reading a lot of books, hiring experienced, "professional" managers * How hard it is to scale management process beyond 300 or so people, can't personally address every issue * That people are much more complex than computers--computers are much easier to understand * The value of emphasizing shared culture when your company is fully distributed * Wondering why Mitchell is cagey about his answer to whether he'd prefer to fight a crowd of duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck...perhaps this is related to his level of introversion? :) * How leading and understanding extroverted people is harder than you might think, especially when it comes to personnel reviews * The nature of video calls and introversion and how working from home allows you to recharge in between calls * Learning to be responsible with people when you are in an authority position--for example, do not message people on Friday saying you want to talk with them on Monday without any details (when you just need to talk to them about nothing) * How this totally works the other way for Kendall--freaking out about an employee wanting to talk * That someone having authority over you can be comforting if you trust them * The benefits of viewing titles as job descriptions and not "who you're the boss of" * Using (and getting caught using) management techniques with your partner You can find Mitchell by name on GitHub and Twitter, and you can email him and he'll do his best to respond :) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
Path to leadership: Going from a $3.75/ hour tutoring position to her current job at Honeycomb.io rachel talks about designing her own job from the ground up Building community teams versus community programs rachel discusses how to become such a value to a company they fight to make you stay How she moved on to become an editorial board member at 5calls.org Learn how to become more approachable and how to not be afraid of showing weakness How being open with your team will produce better results in communication rachel talks about her side gig of being a DJ while still using the rest of her free time to participate in MUD gaming You can find rachel on twitter at @djpiebob Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode Kendall, Rachel, and Tora Rocha discuss: • Tora’s path from elephant training (for real) to leadership. Shoveling shit. • New means to get respect in the field in the 1980s as a leader and a young woman • The creation of her volunteer project at the rose gardens • More on elephant training as a metaphor for leadership • How introverts vs extroverts process things differently and how to utilize the skills of both to the best of their ability • Fishbowl work and what you can learn from it • You cannot lead by fear, it’s better to lead by example, especially if you are passionate about what you are leading • Empathy is what is most missing in leadership – if you’re struggling watch Simon Sinek’s videos about leadership. https://www.youtube.com/user/SimonSinek • It’s hard to do your job if there is no passion or expectations coming down from your leadership. If you don’t know what they are, ask • Care about your people, utilize them to the best of their abilities • Lessons from Naomi Kline’s The Shock Doctrine • Staying connected to the reality of the day to day, and not just focusing on you, as a leader – the importance of avoiding the seduction of power • The Pollinator Posse and changing the way people look at landscapes Find Tora at: www.pollinatorposse.org Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode Kendall, rachel, and Kathy Keating discuss: * Kathy’s path to leadership/management as a result of her willingness to be willing to do something that nobody else knew how to do and try and solve the problems nobody else was willing to try and tackle * That Kathy’s company, Apostrophe, is going to solve healthcare, whoah! * Just how meta Kendall can get :) * The happenstance of making connections--rachel always looks at peoples' shoes too! * How learning to stand your ground, especially as a woman in tech leadership, to say what you believe and recognize your own value was Kathy's hardest lesson to learn * The biggest challenges of tackling the health care industry: working with archaic infrastructure and processes, the amount of data that must be secure, working within the existing ecosystem of the industry as it has evolved over the years, having to be willing to accommodate technologists who don't know what an API is * FTP servers, they still exist! * The importance of making sure the folks you recruit, both employees and investors, believe in your company’s mission and values when the problem is as hard and widespread as affordable healthcare * Kendall's jaded worldview about why people work for Google :) * The importance of keeping the audacious goals and values at the top of everyone’s mind * Kathy’s view of having authority is that leadership is a support role, that it's proven out by the folks who come to work for her at multiple companies * How working for a CEO who just told her to do what he told her and didn't want to hear her thoughts led her toward a more collaborative approach, and founding her own company * The fact that no one was more shocked than she was to learn she's 100% introverted per Meyers-Briggs, and how she figured out that if she works on something meaningful, she has meaningful conversations, which bypasses the introversion issues * How senior leadership means moving beyond just protecting and serving your own team to seeing a bigger picture within an organization * That Kathy sometimes trains her teams to adapt to change by changing lots of things all the time, and it's important to make it not scary--experimentation vs fear of failure * The rules of cat ownership Find Kathy on Twitter @kathkeating Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode Kendall, rachel, and Matt Newkirk discuss: What's it like being the Babel Fish of Etsy? Matt's humble beginnings as a programmer in Mordor (working on a text-based Lord of the Rings game :)) How are projects managed in a multi-user dungeon (MUD)? Understanding your job as a manager is not just creating a checklist of "No's" Matt's circuitous route through various roles that ultimately brought him to management Finding cross-team synergies and ways to leverage common data and goals Making it a mission to be visible at cross-functional meetings and casual get-togethers Being loud as a way to connect various teams and information across the company Debriefing your partner as post-work therapy What it's like to manage a team when you don't share their technical skills How, shockingly, no one likes being ordered to use processes they didn't get to help develop The value of networking and connecting with others within your company, making sure you're not building the same wheel as another department A senior manager is thinking about how to improve the output and happiness of their team as well as how their team's productivity impacts the company overall. Paths through failure as an accelerator to leadership skill How leadership and delegation experience helped with being a good partner when his wife was giving birth ;) "Just Talk To People"(tm) Find Matt at www.matthewnewkirk.com Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode Kendall, rachel, and Anca Mosoiu discuss: Anca founded TechLiminal, a technology salon, on a fairly sketchy block in downtown Oakland, CA 10 years ago. Anca's been working in tech since the late 1900's (!), the dark ages of tech. Techliminal was designed as "a place where regular people can walk in off the street and learn to use tools." Her work inspired some folks to volunteer to help with TechLiminal, and it became a kind of event hub. Anca didn't have management experience before she started up TechLiminal, she learned most of what she knows about managing volunteers from other local organizers. Volunteers are great, but they need to be motivated by intrinsic means. It's important to make sure they feel important and needed, that their work is valued. Leadership skills are much more important when your people are volunteers--it's almost 100% your inspiration that motivates them. The team composition matters much more, watch for disruptive volunteers. "Volunteering by Obligation" (people who are volunteering to fulfilling an obligation) can make things more challenging. Your own ego has to take a back seat when leading a team. Volunteers often require a lot more checking in and confirmation of the desired output. What? Anca has an anti-authoritarian streak? SAY IT ISN'T SO! What level of transparency is appropriate with your employees? Determining the balance of keeping them on track vs being open with them is very difficult. You have to be more extroverted than you might be comfortable with to make sure you ask the questions you need to ask of your team. Anca recommends the "Ask A Manager" column. https://www.askamanager.org/ A senior leader has better judgement about what matters when delivering a project, how much to take on, what to focus on. Junior leaders often try to take on too much at once. Being a leader in her professional life has helped her become more humble, less bossy. Being a good leader means you can speed up the process of picking the place for lunch! Find Anca at https://techliminal.com/ Twitter: @anca Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode Kendall, rachel, and Anne Hjortshoj discuss: Let's get this out of the way: how does one spell and pronounce Anne's last name? :) What's it like getting acquired by a Very Large Company? How does communication change? Do you change how you communicate with your team when you get acquired? How do you provide the necessary context of the larger company? Just how Old are the hosts of this show? :) Strategy can be expensive, slow, costly, and not directly connected to getting a product out the door, so it is often perceived by leadership as an expensive luxury. How do you work around this perception and get useful things done? When a company is largely built from acquisitions, there are many cultures in place across the organization. How do you collaborate effectively? Don’t demand too much of other people until you understand what their goals are. Sometimes falling on your face is useful when you can show you're a good human in your acknowledgement of it. Is it possible to transition from introvert to extrovert, or the reverse? The Joy of Canceling Meetings :) Becoming a leader/manager means letting go of direct control, it can make you feel pretty messed up. How to mentor or manage people who are expert in a field or practice you're not really familiar with? When you're in a large org, you have more options to work with leadership above you. Executives are not just angry gods (most of the time). It's not productive to think of them simply as evil overlords. What sets 'senior' leaders apart from 'junior' ones? When you don't have time for social niceties... The skill of "when do I not get involved" is learned, not innate. Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode Kendall, rachel, and Eric Jorgensen discuss: Is it weird that Kendall goes to https://thewirecutter.com/ before buying any product, sometimes even ones that are not reviewed there? Impostor syndrome affects everyone: Eric is a successful self-taught engineer, rachel comes from an astrophysics and English literature background, Kendall has 2 masters degrees in religion...but sometimes (always?) we feel inadequate to the challenge and expect to be found out at any moment. When does it makes sense to delegate vs. doing it yourself? Delegate more than you feel comfortable with. As a manager, you don't get the instant gratification of turning in a project like you do as a team member, how do you prevent yourself from feeling you have accomplished nothing? Leadership feels different when you're working at an agency and responsible for billable hours. Eric thinks there's strong correlation between companies with a lack of management and high turnover rate--what do you think? Being a leader has helped Eric become more patient? Are you sure? :) Eric can be found as ericmjorgensen on all the cool (and not so cool) social media platforms. Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode Kendall, rachel, and Ann Carrier discuss: Her epic path to leadership How working in the banking industry was not a great fit because she didn't wear Louboutins (kinda like Toms but different ;)) Avoiding "Golluming" and doing everything youself because that doesn't help your team learn new skills Encouraging the people finding solutions to also experience or understand the problems clearly, see both sides of the coin The value in getting to know your co-workers, even if you're not on the same team The fact that INTENTION ISN'T MAGIC You can find Ann in these places: http://www.pixeldiva.co.uk/ Twitter: @pixeldiva Instagram: @pixeldiva Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Caleb Huitt discuss: what the heck is precision agriculture? (YES, WE'RE NERDS. WE KNOW.) The challenges of implementing ideas when actual humans are involved (computers are SO much easier!) Learning about yourself so you can work with others more effectively (introspection. like observability for your behavior) Applying leadership skills in your everyday life (your PTA meetings will never be the same!) Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3