Leadership Wednesday | Hello Tech Pros

What software developers say and what they mean are sometimes two different things. Or to put it another way, what software developers say and what you hear are two different things. In this episode we discuss common statements from software developers and parse them for clues into their true intention.   Learn how to improve the communication between developers and non-developers, go to hellotechpros.com/manage. 

Radiance Harris is the founder and managing attorney of Radiance IP Law.  She provides outside general counsel services to startups with an emphasis on trademark law, copyright law, advertising law, and business contracts.  She takes care of the day-to-day legal matters for startups so that they can focus on doing what they love and have peace of mind about the rest. Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/radiance-harris-leadership/ What You Will Learn in This Episode The ABCs of business and why you need to put a team in place to address them. What it means to be a proactive leader. The vulnerabilities and risks of not talking to an attorney. How to determine the type of attorney you need for your tech or media business. The legal basics you need to put in place to protect your website, podcast or videos.   Resources Mentioned U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Copyright Office Federal Trade Commission Business Center   Sponsors HelloUglySite.com AnxietyNerd.com

This is episode 5 in the series: The Five Dysfunctions of a Software Development Team, modeled after the book by Patrick Lencioni. Access the full series at hellotechpros.com/team.   What You Will Learn in This Episode Why falling in love with technology can actually be a detriment to a technology professional. Why you need to spend more time learning about the industry and business objectives than you do about the newest technology. Free resources to learn about your business industry. Why you should be asking dumb questions at work if you want to get a promotion.   Resources Mentioned The Five Dysfunctions of a Software Team The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni (audio book) 9 Critical Attributes for Assessing Personal Performance Career Hyperdrive Course Start Your First Business Course   Sponsors HelloUglySite.com - Get a free website makeover consultation. AnxietyNerd.com - Resources on social anxiety for software developers. Sponsor this podcast on Patreon

This is episode 4 in the series: The Five Dysfunctions of a Software Development Team, modeled after the book by Patrick Lencioni. Access the full series at hellotechpros.com/team.   What You Will Learn in This Episode An overview of Patrick Lencioni's fourth dysfunction of a team: avoidance of accountability. The excuses developers use to avoid leadership. The 3 real issues that being a leadership introduces into our lives. Seven easy ways to start being a leader without being a manager.   Resources Mentioned The Five Dysfunctions of a Software Team The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni (audio book) 9 Critical Attributes for Assessing Personal Performance Career Hyperdrive Course Start Your First Business Course   Sponsors HelloUglySite.com - Get a free website makeover consultation. AnxietyNerd.com - Resources on social anxiety for software developers. Sponsor this podcast on Patreon

This is episode 2 in the series: The Five Dysfunctions of a Software Development team, modeled after the book by Patrick Lencioni. Access the full series at hellotechpros.com/team. Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/social-anxiety-leadership/ What You Will Learn in This Episode An overview of Patrick Lencioni's second dysfunction of a team: fear of conflict. Why software developers want to think, work and socialize like Commander Spock. How a technical lead or architect can derail a healthy debate by stating their position. Why we need to combine empathy and love with a fierce desire to get our message across. How to foster an environment of healthy conflict in your software development team.   Resources Mentioned The Five Dysfunctions of a Software Team The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni (audio book) 9 Critical Attributes for Assessing Personal Performance Career Hyperdrive Course Start Your First Business Course   Sponsors HelloUglySite.com - Get a free website

This is episode 1 in the series: The Five Dysfunctions of a Software Development team, modeled after the book by Patrick Lencioni. Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/cowboy-coding-leadership/ What You Will Learn in This Episode An overview of Patrick Lencioni's 5 Dysfunctions of a Team. The kinds of mess that Cowboy Coders create. The similarities between Cowboy Coders and Rockstars that make you want to love them. Why some developers don't want to work in a team. What you should do instead of being or supporting a Cowboy Coder.   Resources Mentioned The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni (audio book) 9 Critical Attributes for Assessing Personal Performance Career Hyperdrive Course Start Your First Business Course   Sponsors HelloUglySite.com - Get a free website makeover consultation. AnxietyNerd.com - Resources on social anxiety for software developers.

This is Part 3 of the free 7-day audio and email course Start Your First Business.   What You Will Learn In This Episode How to make the decision to either bootstrap or find investors. Why you need to build as much value in your company as possible before bringing in an outsider. How to use your customer avatar to identify the most important tasks that need to get accomplished. An easy 5-step process to determine which tasks you do, which you outsource and which you should forget altogether. How to think like a CEO instead of a tech pro.   Resources Mentioned Start Your First Business Course

Corey Grusden has been programming computers for 25 years, and has built software for government, education, and numerous companies. A few years ago he decided to cofound a software development consultancy to build web and mobile apps. They have been profitable since day 1. Corey's entire team works remotely, and through a dedicated process, build applications and platforms as efficiently as possible.   Corey started programming at eight years old. He's been working on growing a software agency that builds web and iphone applications. He also recently moved to Philadelphia! Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/corey-grusden-leadership/ What You Will Learn In This Episode Why leaders need to stop thinking about competing with the other division leads and start collaborating across silos. What happens to the company culture when you don't listen to your employees. How a team lead should respond when presented a crazy idea that you don't believe will work. How to make calculated risks on innovation. The emo

Tom Cooper, father of 7, started out his career as a computer geek. Along his journey he worked in big and small companies building teams, running projects, and building software products. Today Tom is a speaker, trainer and coach. He says he gets really excited when he works with people who want to become better leaders by getting better at planning, communicating and connecting with others. Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/tom-cooper-leadership/ What You Will Learn in This Episode What causes projects to fail when the teams consist of really smart people. The things a leader should be focused on (hint: it isn't the tasks). The difference between the success that come from geeky knowledge and the success that come from people knowledge. The 4 levels of thinking as a Geek Leader: how to self-assess and climb the ranks. What Uber Geeks need to focus on in order to get recognized. Why geeks are rarely self-aware and how it can kill their career. The issues our business customers want to talk about (hint:

Career Hyperdrive Course: Day 3   The Career Hyperdrive Course is a free 7 day email and audio course for technical professionals to help launch your career into hyperspace. Each module in this course is designed to help you overcome a major barrier to your career growth. Here's what you're going to get out of the course. The motivation you need to overcome your biggest career obstacles and navigate asteroids. Productivity tips to help you crush it at work without killing your personal life (leaving more time at the cantina). Jedi mind tricks that will build your respect and influence across the organization without needing to move into a management track. A droid masterclass that’s going to guide you through the process of selecting the right technology for the right problem, every time. Social engineering hacks to break into the elite inner circles and get a seat at the Jedi Council. A strategy that will raise your value (and salary) within your organization and increase your reputation and negotiation pow

Kevin Jean-Charles is the Founder of Transparency Financial Technology Corp which owns and operates Finslide brand, a personal cashflow technology that services families and individuals. Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/kevin-jean-charles-leadership/ Key Takeaways What is the #1 priority to your brand? Are you enabling your employees to be successful in that area? Support your employees but don't be a "helicopter boss." No hovering. Don't count the hours, count the moments and conversations. Your life can change after one conversation. Make sure each conversation will have a positive impact on the people around you. Make each day a masterpiece. To engage an audience, whether it be with technology or conversation, you have to make it relevant to them. Helping youth understand personal finance and cash flow means you need to engage them using the user interfaces that help them the best. Think before you speak - you don't have to be an abusive boss.

Maggie Georgopoulos is the Leading Global authority on career development for women in male dominated industries. She is the author of the upcoming book, Up the Ladder in a Skirt, which is hailed as the book for women in challenging roles globally. A mechanical engineer who climbed to the top of the leadership ladder, Maggie was the executive chairman of a large agricultural company, responsible for the 75% increase in the retention of staff through career development pathways, by the age of 32. Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/maggie-georgopoulos-leadership/ Key Takeaways Bad managers turn into bullies when they feel their job is threatened that an employee is after his job. Managers do the day-to-day tasks. Leaders step out and think about how to help the team accomplish the goals. Be open and watch how your interactions affect those around you. Are you too busy to look to see how people react? Are people pretending this is ok or are they genuinely fine? How do you come across to people when you a

Eric Fisher is the .NET Content Author for Code School. He also has over 10 years of experience as a software developer. Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/eric-fisher-leadership/ Key Takeaways Are you recognizing the extra effort and overtime that your salaried employees are putting in, or are you just docking them for taking time off? From a Total Cost of Ownership perspective, it's important to track time on projects and support, but not to belittle good employees. Problem solvers and digital workers tend to put in extra work when they are "in the zone." It doesn't make sense to start something deep and involved when there is only 15 minutes left in the day. The team members who speak up and challenge the status quo tend to grow into the spokesperson or team lead for the group. Some companies make you feel like your individual voice doesn't matter. Soft deadlines can be moved, hard deadlines have dire consequenses. Be upfront and communicate the expectations clearly to everyone involved. If you need m

Patrick Kua is a Technical Principal Consultant for ThoughtWorks in London. He is a conference speaker and author of "The Retrospective Handbook" and "Talking with Tech Leads" and is passionate about bringing a balanced focus on people, organization and technology. Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/patrick-kua-leadership/ Key Takeaways Horrible bosses don't have to be managers, they can be more senior people on the team. Personal issues should be taken offline, after calming down. If you are a junior colleague trying to resolve an issue with a more senior colleague, find another senior individual to act as a mediator. Developer to tech lead is a huge jump and changes the expectations. When you are a dev your workload consists of code, working with fellow devs and solving tech problems. When you are a team lead your workload consists of people issues, planning and whole system architecture. When moving to a tech lead role, it can feel lonely. Your focus is on the broader view, not tech issues. You're

Chris Surdak is an award winning author, futurist, technologist and former rocket scientist.  Chris writes about technology disruption and help companies navigate the accelerating changes around us. Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/chris-surdak-leadership/  Key Takeaways Set a longterm goal with meticulous planning, be flexible to change in the future, monitor along the way, and be open to frequent fast failure. Don’t be afraid to be wrong or make a mistake. Look at the bigger picture and outcomes that employees generate before nitpicking the operational metrics. We need destructive, disruptive innovation, but it’s harder to implement than incremental change. If you want to start innovating, you have to stop improving. You can assume that your ability to improve your business is good. Identify the exceptions and outliers and focus on improving them. In what circumstances do you want your employees to make a judgment call and “break” the rules for the betterment of the organization? We have transitio

Dennis Green-Lieber is a product/business developer at Founders, a startup studio based in Copenhagen, Denmark and the co-founder of duuoo.io. Dennis is a veteran in the marketing technology space in the agency world and turned into a startup kid as Head of R&D at Falcon.io, where he grew the team from 2 to 50 over 2.5 yr with $23M investment. Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/dennis-green-lieber-leadership/

Rennie Cook is an executive coach, trainer and speaker. He specializes in working with executives who are frustrated with their own performance, or their team's, and offers leadership, management and team development solutions.   Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/rennie-cook-leadership/

Scott Jancy has worn several hats over the course of his career: historian, architect, Naval Officer, planner, and most recently, as a consultant working globally on small and large scale infrastructure development projects. He works closely with leadership teams to help them set vision and strategy, create new sources of value, and adapt to continuous change. Trained as an historian and an architect, Scott has a background that gives him an understanding of how systems evolve and the role that design can play in effecting cultural, economic, and social change. A systems thinker, he views every organization from the perspective of a system in balance. Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/scott-jancy-leadership/ Resources Mentioned Leadership By Design: Creating an Architecture of Trust by Richard Swett   Sponsors Minio Cloud Server - Written in Go for developers and devops. Burdene - The bot that remembers where you parked your car.

Zach Hughes is the Director of Technical Services at CHS, Inc. He has 17 years of experience in enterprise IT infrastructure in a variety of disciplines including cloud computing, application hosting, data centers, converged infrastructure, security, and IT leadership. He is passionate about innovating infrastructure technology solutions that create a competitive advantage for business. Prior to CHS, Zach held various IT leadership and Sr. Engineering positions at Wells Fargo and GMAC Financial Services. Zach earned his MA in Organizational Leadership from Bethel University. Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/zach-hughes-leadership/ Sponsors Minio Cloud Services Burdene - The bot that remembers where you parked your car.

Leadership and sales is similar. It's about influencing and getting buy-in. Your audience has to have confidence in you to embrace your idea. Mike Crandall is a Speaker, Consultant, Coach and Trainer focused on Proactive Business Growth. He is brought in by Business Owners and Executives to work on the Behaviors, Attitudes, Techniques, and Guts needed to be more Successful in Business Improvement, Sales Growth, and Employee Development. His firm specializes in helping identify the Blind Spots and Obstacles that are holding you back and then implementing Systems, Behaviors, and Guts to become more Successful. Clients ultimately develop new Habits that lead to Proactive Growth Professionally and Personally. Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/mike-crandall-leadership/ Sponsors Minio.io - Cloud storage written in Go with an awesome user community.