6 days agoHow Leaders Can Help Their Teams Deal with AmbiguityAmbiguity is bad. Clarity is good. But the world doesn’t always offer us clarity. We are often faced with ambiguity. The question is, how do we deal with it? I’ll answer that. Related to all of this is the relationship between leaders and followers. I’ve often heard people criticized as…Ambiguity4 min readAmbiguity4 min read
Mar 8Leadership Lessons from Women in Technology Sixty Years AgoToday is International Women’s Day. Today, I’m grateful for the women I get to work with every day in my high-tech field. I appreciate the fortitude it takes to thrive in a field made up of mostly men. I recently attended a Minnesota Technology Association event for Women Leading in…Hidden Figures5 min readHidden Figures5 min read
Mar 3Put out the Vibe: Recruiting in 2023I’ve gone out of my way on this blog to explain that I’m not a salesperson, but that’s only partially true. My primary job isn’t revenue-producing. Yet to be successful as a tech leader, I sell ideas and strategies all the time. Even more than that, I spend an awful…Great Resignation5 min readGreat Resignation5 min read
Feb 17How to Make Priority CallsSo, what’s the priority? If you are in a leadership role, there’s a good chance you get asked that question regularly. That question doesn’t bother me. I enjoy making priority calls. I don’t agonize over it at all. How do I do that? Well, that requires some explanation. I was…Prioritization5 min readPrioritization5 min read
Feb 10Cloud Computing and the Glue-Sniffing Guarantee FairyThe film, Tommy Boy, starring Chris Farley and David Spade was released in 1995. I was in high school at the time. My friends and I watched it constantly. Nearly 30 years later, people quote it, sometimes not even knowing it. I overheard my 11-year-old the other day say, “Brothers…Tommy Boy5 min readTommy Boy5 min read
Jan 1A Time for Optimism: Lead Without Cynicism in 2023We live in a cynical world. A cynical world. And we work in a business of tough competitors. — Jerry Maguire The world of the corporate enterprise can be a cynical place. Week after week, I preach leadership. I do it for all of you, but I also do it…New Year3 min readNew Year3 min read
Dec 16, 2022Lessons from Elon Musk’s Leadership of TwitterIn the informal conversation circles of tech leadership, there’s a current topic that’s been just too juicy to resist. I can’t tell you how many times over the past few weeks and months I’ve been asked, “So, what do you think about Elon and Twitter?” This whole situation is unfolding…Elon Musk6 min readElon Musk6 min read
Dec 2, 2022The Role of Leadership in the Product ModelMany enterprise organizations are implementing a product model to enhance their overall agility, customer satisfaction, and team health. In the product model, we often talk about the empowerment of product teams. The members of a product team have the autonomy to design, build, test, and deploy their product. …Product Model2 min readProduct Model2 min read
Nov 18, 2022Ship to Production as Soon as You CanProduction. I love production. Production is where I want to be. That’s where the magic happens. That’s where value is generated. I am highly driven to get to production. I’m going to explain this concept in the context of digital technology but let me make a few non-technical analogies first. Vacation …Elon Musk4 min readElon Musk4 min read
Nov 4, 2022Leadership Lessons from 3D Printing and Motorizing an Iron Man HelmetMany of my coworkers saw me wearing an Iron Man helmet at work last week. Many of my followers on LinkedIn saw my Halloween post featuring the helmet. This article is the story behind it. Yes, there will be leadership lessons, as always. Three months ago, my 16-year-old son, Caleb…3D Printing5 min read3D Printing5 min read
