A Geek Leader Podcast - inspiring technical and creative leaders around the world

About Gleb Known as the Disaster Avoidance Expert, Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is on a mission to protect technology leaders from dangerous judgment errors known as cognitive biases by developing the most effective decision-making strategies via his consulting, coaching, and training firm Disaster Avoidance Experts. A cognitive neuroscientist and behavioral economist, Dr. Tsipursky writes for Inc., Time, and CNBC. A best-selling author, his new book, available on Amazon and in bookstores everywhere, is Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters Today We Talked About Background Why write the book? When to  go with your gut Learned Behaviors Equifax disaster Cognitive Biases Normalsy Bias Optimism Bias Loss aversion Perspective Dangerous Judgements In the Moment, ask yourself What important information did I not consider about this decision? What dangerous judgement errors did I make? What would a trusted advisor suggest I do? How have I addressed all this decision can fail? What new information would cause me to revisit this decision? Failing to plan is planning to fail... not really The Planning Fallacy Failing to plan for problems, is planning to fail. Sunk Cost Fallacy Stop and Look at project and ignore the previous resources already spent Don't mistake the feeling of comfort as something that is true Learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable   Connect With Gleb Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Book Website I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcast and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again! Private Internet Access I've been a customer of Private Internet Access for 3 years now and I love this service.  I was at a security conference a few years ago and I connected to the hotel wifi.  Immediately my endpoint protection software began to alert me of hacking attempts.  I launched my VPN from Private Internet Access and all of the attempts were stopped. My data and internet connection was secure.  Another great use of the VPN service is connect from different geo locations, which is very helpful when testing DNS and CDN caching. To get a your VPN account starting at $3.33 per month, please visit https://ageekleader.com/vpn

About Sidar Sidar is an executive coach and renowned independent management consultant in IT strategy, and founder of IQoach. He helped dozens of professionals to multiply their value in the job market, and capture that value personally by becoming a freelancer, getting promoted, getting raises, etc. His clients are no less than fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Fujitsu, etc. His new coaching program is specifically geared for employees wishing to increase their income by becoming an independent consultant www.employeetoindependent.com. Today We Talked About Sidar's background Leadership Journey Do leaders have to have a background in the area they are leading? Coaching Capturing your value Earn more of what you create Side-hustle 1000x leaders Becoming an independent consultant Connect with Sidar LinkedIn Twitter Website Special Thanks to Splashtop for sponsoring today's show. Splashtop is a premier remote desktop, and remote support solution. I've been using Splashtop personal for more than 7 years now and Splashtop Enterprise at my company for 3 years.  Their products are fantastic and their support is second to none.  I love and highly recommend their products and I'm super stoked that they are giving A Geek Leader listeners 20% off their first year when you go to https://ageekleader.com/splashtop   I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcast and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Brian Brian Prince (President, Board of Directors) has been an international speaker and community leader for over fifteen years. He is one of the founders of CodeMash, and is the current President. Brian is as an Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase. He is the co-author of Azure in Action, published by Manning Press. Brian holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science and Physics from Capital University, Columbus, Ohio. He is also a zealous gamer. For example, he is a huge fan of Skyrim, Puerto Rico, and pretty much every other game (video or board) he plays. He loves to backpack, backwoods camp, and cycle. Today We Talked About His background Microsoft Azure Speaking Community Building What's Codemash Why he helped start it Why should Come What's Kidzmash What's the event like? Connect with Brian Codemash.org Brian's LinkedIn Brian's Twitter Codemash Twitter If you're in the Ohio area and would like to meet up with me, please come to Codemash and let me know on Twitter or LinkedIn and we can meet up.   Check out our special Black Friday deals from our sponsors and affiliates I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcast and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Neil Neil Sahota (萨冠军) is an IBM Master Inventor, United Nations (UN) Artificial Intelligence (AI) subject matter expert, Faculty at UC Irvine, and author of Own the A.I. Revolution. With 20+ years of business experience, he works with organizations to create next generation products/solutions powered by emerging technology. His work experience spans multiple industries including legal services, healthcare, life sciences, retail, travel and transportation, energy and utilities, automotive, telecommunications, media/communication, and government. Moreover, Neil is one of the few people selected for IBM's Corporate Service Corps leadership program that pairs leaders with NGOs to perform community-driven economic development projects. For his assignment, Neil lived and worked in Ningbo, China where he partnered with Chinese corporate CEOs to create a leadership development program. In addition, Neil partners with entrepreneurs to define their products, establish their target markets, and structure their companies. He is a member of several investor groups like the Tech Coast Angels and assists startups with investor funding. Neil also serves as a judge in various startup competitions and mentor in several incubator/accelerator programs. He actively pursues social good and volunteers with nonprofits. He is currently helping the Zero Abuse Project prevent child sexual abuse as well as Planet Home to engage youth culture in sustainability initiatives. Today we talked about: AI Fear of New Things Advising the United Nations AI vs Machine Learning How far away from AI are we? What's next? AI for non-profits Pattern Recognition Social Good Eco-Sprint Connect with Neil LinkedIn Twitter Website Book Special Thanks to Splashtop for sponsoring today's show.   Splashtop is a premier remote desktop, and remote support solution. I've been using Splashtop personal for more than 7 years now and Splashtop Enterprise at my company for 3 years.  Their products are fantastic and their support is second to none.  I love and highly recommend their products and I'm super stoked that they are giving A Geek Leader listeners 20% off their first year when you go to https://ageekleader.com/splashtop   I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcast and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Nader Nader Mherabi, senior vice president and vice dean, chief information officer, is responsible for all information technology (IT) activities for NYU Langone Health and for information technology's development as a strategic organizational asset. He previously was vice president for IT product solutions and chief technology officer for NYU Langone, responsible for technology strategy, infrastructure engineering, networks, data centers, application architecture, systems deployment, and support across the institution. Mr. Mherabi currently leads NYU Langone Health's digital transformation initiative, driving the integration of the institution's workflows, revolutionizing the digital patient experience and clinical environment, and empowering the institution with big data and advanced analytics to improve care delivery and efficiency. Mr. Mherabi has designed and implemented many large-scale, diverse systems for NYU Langone and has extensive experience in hospital clinical systems integration, research information technology, and education systems. He has developed an operational architecture for in-house application development and integration, as well as an electronic data repository, warehouse and dashboards center, research-specific infrastructure for computation and collaboration, and scores of mid-size applications for research, education, and clinical care environments. During his more than 30 years in the information technology field, Mr. Mherabi has implemented large-scale systems for top Fortune 500 companies worldwide, such as Credit Suisse and CitiGroup, and held several prominent IT management positions including senior director at Mount Sinai–NYU Health, vice president at Credit Suisse First Boston, vice president at Citibank, and senior application developer at AT&T and Aurora Consulting. Today we Talked About Journey through tech Digital Transformation Virtual Doctors Digital Paperwork AI in Healthcare Machine Learning for Imaging Digital Healthcare Robotic surgery AR and VR with surgery Connect with Nader Website LinkedIn NYU Langone Twitter NYU Langone Tech Medium I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcast and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Angelic Angelic Gibson joined AvidXchange in October 2018 as the Chief Information Officer. Angelic has spent over 20 years in Information Technology serving the following industries: Higher Education, Wholesale Distribution and Logistics, Retail and Manufacturing in public, private equity and IPO models; including Technekes, LLC, American Tire Distributors (ATD), Estee Lauder, Inc, Sleepy’s, and the State University of NY. Angelic has held various leadership positions, including most recently, the SVP, Information Technology at Technekes, based in Charlotte, NC. Previously, she worked for American Tire leading various IT operations functions since 2008. Angelic has deep experience in enterprise technology systems and management practices supporting databases, networks, telecommunications, and infrastructure.  She was also central to the development and execution of information security standards, a technology program management office, and disaster recovery best practices.  She has built and supported business intelligence/data management platforms and has extensive cloud computing strategic insight. Angelic holds a B.S. degree in Management Information Systems from American InterContinental University. Today we talked about How she got started in Tech Communication Ask questions Growth People, Process and Technology DevOps Approach Digital will disrupt Digital Change is hard Digital Transformation Change Management A "Joy-factor" for the team Strength finders Communication is Listening Are you an active listener Do you have Empathy Thoughtful Solutions Most communication is body language... we can't see that in written form. Don't make leadership about yourself Perspectives... Take the time to get to know people Seek to understand Acceptance isn't agreeing Be vulnerable and authentic   Connect with Angelic LinkedIn AvidExchange I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcast and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Liz For 30 years as a management consultant, executive coach, and facilitator, Liz Kislik has helped clients such as American Express, Orvis, The Girl Scouts, Comcast, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and Highlights for Children solve their thorniest problems while strengthening their top and bottom lines. Her specialty is developing high performing leaders and workforces. She is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Entrepreneur, and a TEDx speaker on "Why There's So Much Conflict at Work and What You Can Do to Fix It". She has also written for the European Financial Review and the Forward. Liz's articles have been included in Harvard Business Press books Guide to Motivating People and Dealing with Difficult People, the Wall Street Journal's Morning Download, and the Washington Post's Work Advice column, and she has been interviewed for The Muse, European CEO magazine, Thrive Global, and The Financial Times Ignites. Today We Talked About Employee OnBoarding Noticing Negative Patterns Giving Negative Feedback Ask the employees how they think its going It has come to my attention______ and here is what I want to see_____ Explain cultural norms and give guidance Explain the "Why" Ditch the "feedback sandwich" because its fake Its not attitude / its behavioral If no agreement, then discuss consequences Empathy Perspective Taking Why would a smart person do a stupid thing? You could be wrong...Be sure to validate it Employment and Family aren't the same thing even if they overlap. Conflict Resolution 5 Steps for fixing Conflict: Rule out that a single individual is the source of conflict Incompetent employee Bully Ask the right people the right questions Can you tell me what goes right? What makes you nuts? What makes your job better? Why do you stay if there are so many problems here? Make sure everyone is aligned Goals Needs Responsibilities You have to agree to it, but you don't have to love it Find Allies at all levels in the organization You can't do it alone (not even the CEO) - https://techleaders.group/  Teach new Habits Lizard Listening Why would a smart person do a stupid thing? Ask what's not being said... Elephant Cards What were they like at 9 years old? Connect with Liz Twitter LinkedIn Website TEDx Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l-AOBz69KU I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcast and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

Being a leader demands bravery. In this episode I talk about overcoming FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real) and leading with confidence. I list and explain these 4 steps for dealing with fear: Play it out. What’s the worse that can happen? What’s the likelihood of that thing happening? How can you reduce the likelihood of that happening? If the worse happens, how can you recover?   We need to understand that everyone deals with fear.  The most successful people just “do it anyway.” In order to be a leader, you must be brave.  For some people it comes naturally, but for others of us, we have to work at it.  If you want to work at it with other like minded folks, please sign up at https://techleaders.group.  I’ve focused on leadership for many years now, and my wife even says I focus on it too much sometimes. I see countless people that have so much potential for leadership, but havenever stepped out and gave it shot due to fear. Now Fear isn’t always bad.  There are good fears too.  For example, I’m afraid of snakes.  God gave me that fear so that I don’t get bit by one of those suckers and die.  That’s a healthy fear, at least I tell myself it is.  Okay, another example.  I want my kids to have certain fears.  I want my son to be afraid of crossing the street without holding an adult’s hand.  Having that fear may save his life.  But I don’t want him to be afraid to have fun because of what others might think.  Remember there are healthy and unhealthy fears. It’s amazing that my 5-year-old son will sing at the top of his lungs when a song comes on that she knows.  He has no fear of what others will think.  That’s something we learn.  I’m afraid to sing in public, although I was known for rapping at karaoke in college. I bet I wasn’t afraid when I was 5.  I learned to be afraid of what others might think.  We can call that fear, or maybe shame.  I’m ashamed of how I sound when I sing. Many leaders have a fear, or shame of their leadership.  They don’t know if they are good or not, because they haven't ever tried.  Maybe this isn’t the best example, but the point I’m getting at is that your fear isn’t a healthy one.  Its not in place to save your life.  It is something you learned to protect yourself from a perceived risk, which isn't even real.  People don't care if you're good or bad at leadership... at least not at first.  You aren't expected to know everything.  In order to be good at something you must be brave, or as Todd Henry put it in one of his talks, Brilliance Demands Bravery. I want to break down 5 tips on being Brave. 1)Breathe – A few years ago, at TEDxCharlotte I heard Jonathan Winn tell his story on the power of one breath. – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oqYovTjD6Q He talks about how deep breathes can calm your nervous, relax your mind and body.  When I’m nervous, I breathe. 2) Reason with yourself why you’re afraid – Figure out what your fears are all about.  Many time it is not the act that we’re afraid of, but rather the reaction of others.  Before I started teaching college, I was afraid to speak in front of people.  On my 1st day of class, I suffered from The Imposter Syndrome and I didn’t want to go, but I muscled through it.  I knew that when I got In front of that class they would find me out as a fraud.  They would ask me a technical question that I didn’t know the answer too, then start booing and throwing papers at me.  Well, they did ask some questions that I didn’t know the answer to.  But they accepted that I didn’t know, and a quick Google Search got us the answer and got the class back on track. People actually liked and learned from what I had to say. I was helping people.  My fears had not justification.  Now, to break this down. I wasn’t afraid of teaching or speaking.  I was afraid of some reaction that I thought the people I was teaching might have.  I was afraid of something that I thought might happen, but was 99.9% likely to NOT happen.

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." -- Jim Rohn In this solo show I talk about the people you spend the most time with. I'll dig into the importance of networking with leaders at your level and above at other organizations.  I'll talk about how to meet those leaders then tell you about a special project I'm working on, https://techleaders.group. Tech Leaders is a small group of like-minded technology pros that I will organize and provide ongoing leadership discussions with and meet with on a weekly basis with the goal of becoming the best leader we can be. Some benefits of joining a small group like Tech Leaders is: Gathering and brainstorming of ideas from a diverse group of peers Constantly learning from the experience, mistakes and success of others Peer accountability and networking Fellowship and Group support By being apart of tech leaders, you will arrive at solutions and ideas that you would not get by yourself You will be more likely to achieve your goals (at least the ones you share) due to peer accountability and assistance You will have a small group/team of people who are willing to help you and want to see you succeed If you are interested in learning more about Tech Leaders, please visit https://techleaders.group, and fill out the form to learn more. Also this week I'm rolling out our Sponsors and Affiliates page.  Go there to check out some products that I use and stand behind.  Also be sure to use the link and/or affiliate code to get special savings. I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Liz Dr. Liz Bywater is a one-of-a-kind leadership expert who works at the intersection of business and psychology. She integrates deep expertise in human behavior and organizational dynamics with her pragmatic mindset and engaging personal style to help her clients thrive in an increasingly complex world. C-suite leaders and boards consistently enlist Liz’s help to: drive profitable growth build remarkable customer relationships supercharge innovation increase strategic agility eliminate fire-fighting and develop highly productive collaborations amid the nonstop demands of today’s 24/7 world. Results include rapid and dramatic improvements in revenues, profitability, productivity, work culture, leadership, and more. Dr. Bywater works with top executives and management teams across an array of companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AmerisourceBergen, Biotronik, EMDSerono, Nike, Boeing, Thomson Reuters and more. She provides her clients with expert advice and actionable tools for success, based on more than 25 years of experience. She sits on the Editorial Advisory Board for Life Science Leader and frequently provides leadership insights for Fast Company, FierceCEO, the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other top media outlets. Dr. Bywater has also been a featured guest on CBS’s Philadelphia Agenda and Marilyn Russell’s Remarkable Women. A longstanding member of the American Psychological Society and the Society for the Advancement of Consulting, Dr. Bywater has been recognized as one of the best consultants in the world. In 2018, she was inducted into the Million Dollar Consultant® Hall of Fame. Today We Talked About: create agreement with those around you taking a strategic pause prioritizing lists of activities delegation me / not me list reflection pivot points Now/Later/Never Setting your sights eliminate distractions filter your decisions ASAP - Accelerating Success Action Plan Narrow your priorities Connect with Liz twitter linkedin book website I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!