When I was coming up through the ranks and making a name for myself, it was quite common to hear more senior folks ragging on millennials for being lazy, entitled, short-sighted, having a poor work ethic—the list goes on. I looked around at my peer group, who were working 50-70+ hours a week, held multiple […]
Gen Z is Not the Problem Read More »
The book “Atomic Habits” came highly recommended from multiple sources—and I finally took the chance to read through it. One of the anecdotes in the book that stood out to me explained a real scenario in which a photography professor broke his class up into two groups. Group one would be graded on how many
Getting Your Reps In Read More »
I’ve seen a common pattern in engineers and engineering leaders, when up against team or people challenges which require new skillsets that they haven’t quite nurtured yet. Naturally, with an underdeveloped interpersonal toolkit, even well-intentioned engineering leaders are prone to lean further into their hard-skill technical background to fill these soft-skill gaps, often making matters
Every strength has multiple facets that can be expressed through either healthy, or unhealthy behaviors. Both the healthy and unhealthy expressions are two sides of the same coin–you cannot focus on surgically and completely removing your faults without suppressing your strengths, minimizing key elements of what make you who you are. While settling into a
Dialing in Strengths Read More »
The other day I saw a LinkedIn post on “Executive Presence.” Some of the tips alluded to intimidating others with strange prolonged eye contact, not being the first to look away, avoiding apologizing at all costs, claiming matter-of-fact statements without room for others to disagree—it seemed to me like a collection of mistakes that junior
Executive Presence? Read More »
A while back, during a 1:1 with a direct report, he suggested that it was time to cut one of his team members loose for under-performance. The under-performing individual in question had been with the company for multiple years, had acceptable performance reviews, even above-market pay raises and a recent promotion. So what was going
Accountability Conversations Read More »
One of the key game-changers for me as a leader was implementing a practice of waiting 3-4 seconds before responding in a conversation, no matter how badly I wanted to jump in. That short time window made space for entire conversations and learning opportunities that never would have manifested otherwise. That window left space open
The Gift of Listening Read More »
In late summer of 2017, Power Grid Engineering welcomed the latest round of new hires (including me) with a Core Values presentation, given live by one of the co-founders & President of the company. This presentation stuck with me throughout my time at this firm, and in the years following as an engineering leader. What
Core Values – The Power of Storytelling Read More »
I had a chance to see “Becoming Led Zeppelin” yesterday–great movie about an iconic band! I remember picking up a guitar as a teenager and scouring the internet for tabs to learn Led Zeppelin songs. “When the Levee Breaks” is still one of my all-time favs. There was a quote that stood out to me
On Teams, and the “Air” Between Us Read More »
