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

About John John D. Wood, Esq. is a graduate of NYU School of Law and TCU where he earned his bachelors degrees summa cum laude in English and Philosophy. He is a member of the New York and Texas State Bar Associations and has provided Continuing Professional Education programs on insurance, copyleft, and artificial intelligence and the law. He represents real and intellectual property owners in insurance matters through his law firm, and consults on technology policy through The Humachine LLC. Today We Talked About John's Background What is the Humachine AI and the risk of using it Machine learning and data sets Bad Data in and Bad decisions out Chess Playing AIs Humans working with Machines Policies for AI to protect us Deep fakes Weaponized Bots Connect with John D. Wood LinkedIn Twitter Website Amazon Author Page Book 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!

Today I'm back with a solo show about rewards and recognition. I started the draft of this episode more than a year ago but I haven't found the right time to air it... until now. REWARD & RECOGNITION Rewards often involve something of monetary value being given to an employee or team in response to achieving something pretty great.  A recognition, however, is something that doesn't need to be associated with an accomplishment, but it can be.  A recognition is usually praise or something with  psychological value and not necessarily monetary value. I'll give some examples on the show. Today I talked about: Rewards vs. recognition Separating rewards from pay Not rewarding or Recognizing Mediocrity Employee Anniversaries Thank You Notes Celebrating Wins 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!

Building Better Teams Today I'm doing a solo show talking about building  better teams.  In this episode  I talk about the following: Foundation Interior Refinements Exterior FIRE is the acronym I use when describing building in this talk.  Under each heading I discuss things I feel are important. Foundation Leadership.  Pulling vs. Pushing Cultural Norms (IT Code) We Act Like an Owner We Have Each Other's Back We Choose People over Process We Question our Assumptions We Think Big and Start Small We Don't Create Waves, We Ride Them We Are Intentional About Our Work We Fail Fast and Recover Faster We Are Not Experts, And Will Keep the Posture of a Student, Always Learning We Make the Complex Seem Simple We Make Life Easier for Those Around Us We Are Here to Serve, not Be Served Interior Motivation Carrots and Sticks If / Then Serving together as a Team Playing together as a Team Refinements Purpose Field Trips Biology of Leadership Exterior Give Credit to Individuals and Team Never Blame Individuals Create Annual Reports I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to iTunes and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Vennard Vennard Wright (PMP, ITIL v3 Practitioner) is currently the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Vice President (VP) of Operations for Iron Bow Technologies.  As CIO/VP of Operations, he provides leadership and oversight for the information technology (IT), order operations and manufacturing functions.  In this capacity, it is his responsibility to transform the management of business technology capabilities and client services to support Iron Bow’s operations by ensuring that service delivery is in full alignment with senior leadership’s strategic goals and objectives. Prior to joining Iron Bow, his professional IT experience was comprised of multiple senior leadership roles which included serving as CIO for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), CIO for Prince George’s County Government (MD), Director of Technology for Hillary Clinton during her successful United States Senate re-election campaign and subsequent 2008 Presidential Campaign, as well as serving as Director of Technology of Technology during Rushern L. Baker III’s successful run for County Executive of Prince George’s County, MD in 2010.  He was also Chief Technology Officer and Technical Organization Delivery Manager for Electronic Data Systems (EDS), which was subsequently acquired by Hewlett Packard (HP). Mr. Wright has also served as a volunteer and participated in numerous fundraisers and philanthropic efforts for various worthy causes. In addition to more than two decades of IT management experience, Vennard brings an equal amount of hands-on experience in working with young people through myriad avenues.  His experience includes mentoring students in multiple settings. As a USA Track & Field (USATF) Level-One certified coach and USATF certified official, he has coached many young athletes into NCAA scholarships. Because of his work in the technology industry, he has received numerous awards, authored multiple articles and spoken publicly on many topics, ranging from the importance of experiential learning in our educational systems to the changing role that emerging technology plays in future career prospects. Mr. Wright also serves on a number of boards that help to widen his perspective on the latest methods for effectively applying the latest technologies and best practices to solve common enterprise level problems.  He is applying those same principles to solve some of the most vexing IT challenges in the Washington DC Metropolitan region. Vennard Wright resides in Clinton, MD with his wife, Janelle, and four children. Today we talked about Vennard's background Political Technology Diverse Experience Empathetic Leadership Creative Motivation Challenging Team Members Self-Awareness 360 Reviews Motivation and Moral Committee Clear Strategy Cadence of Accountability Lead and Lag Measures Management Standups Progressive Discipline Performance Improvement Plan Managing Them Out Culture of Respect Diversity in Tech Coaching Fitness Be Flexible Focus on Soft Skills Connect with Vennard LinkedIn IronBow Website I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to iTunes and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Christopher Christopher O’Donnell is a technologist, musician and public speaker who has built dozens of web and mobile products. His product portfolio ranges from language learning products for the U.S. military to the most popular free CRM product in the world. Today, Christopher serves as Senior Vice President of Hubspot Product, which he led from startup ($50M in revenue) to successful publicly-traded company ($600M in revenue). Christopher has become a staple in the product management community, and was recently named one of the Best Product Leaders of 2019 (via Comparably). As an experienced leader, he is passionate about leading and supporting teams to build anything, from developing tech products to creating rock & roll records. He is a highly-rated public speaker and a frequent guest lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management and major global corporations, speaking on topics like leadership & team-building to audiences of over ten thousand. Outside of his day job, Christopher spends his time as songwriter and guitarist for his band The Providers, with whom he has recorded dozens of albums across a variety of musical genres. Today We Talked About Hubspot Culture Music Leadership Product Development Autonomy Culture of Ownership Think Like an Owner Using the values in speech Building Great Teams All about the people A Diverse Team is more likely to be a high performing team Everyone is a recruiter Always raise the bar Be Patient when Hiring Recruit People Above You Hire People Better that you Be Transparent Stretch Your team Get Feedback - being active about getting the feedback The Providers Connect with Christopher LinkedIn Twitter Band Website Band Instagram Band Twitter Band Facebook HubSpot Jobs I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to iTunes and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Dr. Saunders Martha Dunagin Saunders is the sixth President of the University of West Florida. In her 30-plus years in higher education, she has served as in academic and leadership roles at universities in Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin and Mississippi. Her area of academic expertise is in public relations and crisis communication for which she has won numerous awards, including two Public Relations Society of America’s coveted Silver Anvils. Saunders led the University of West Florida to its status as a top-performing public universities with the third-highest score in the Florida Board of Governors performance metrics. She established the UWF Innovation Institute, Center for Cybersecurity and the Office of Equity and Diversity. She oversaw the reorganization of the institution’s colleges, and under her guidance, UWF established two new named colleges–the Usha Kundu M.D. College of Health and the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering.  Saunders’ vision for UWF is for it to grow beyond its beginnings as a regional comprehensive university and be seen as a leader in innovation and cutting-edge academic programs. She plans to build on the University’s strengths and its undergraduate traditions while creating programs that will attract the faculty and research funding needed to make the leap to the next level. As an entrepreneurial leader, Saunders is passionate about creating innovative solutions to deal with the dynamic challenges facing higher education. As a change maker, she drives action behind these solutions to propel higher education into the future. Today We Talked About: How she got where she is today Women in leadership Technology degrees Adjunct Professors Center for Cyber Security Trust Agile University Sunset Clause Sea3D Lab Watch and Learn from both Good and Bad Leaders Learn your industry... not just your job Adapt, adapt, adapt   Connect with Dr. Saunders and University of West Florida Twitter LinkedIn 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!

About Sean Sean Walls is currently Vice President of the Cyber Security division for a multi-billion-dollar international standards, QA, digital testing and cybersecurity corporation. He has 19 years of experience in cybersecurity and information technology and is a frequent keynote speaker and advocate for cyber security. Today We Talked About: The importance of influence and relationship building as a CISO Qualities to develop if you want to be a CISO Aligning security with business priorities Risk Management fundamentals Finding and retaining good talent Give a Career Path Give Praise Have Humility Have Empathy The expanding attack surface and changing threat landscape How to present to the board of directors What is governance in Cyber Security Connect with Sean LinkedIn Twitter 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 Mike Burrows Agendashift founder Mike Burrows is known to the Agile and Lean-Agile communities as the author of Kanban from the Inside (2014) and Agendashift (2018), the creator of the Featureban and Changeban simulation games, a keynote speaker at conferences around the world, and as a consultant, coach, and trainer. His new book Right to Left: The digital leader's guide to Lean and Agile is published August 15th, 2019. Today We Talked About Our Last Episode The new book! How it relates to previous books Definition of Done Express in outcome oriented terms What it means for Agile ("My kind of Agile": people collaborating over the rapid evolution of working software that is already beginning to meet needs) What I think about the framework wars (or however you would like to describe "framework vs framework") Following on from that, scaling Leadership Servant Leadership Clarity around outcomes and goals Experience before Explanation Connect with Mike Twitter Book AgendaShift Website LinkedIn 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 Corey Corey Blake began his storytelling career as an actor, starring in one of the 50 greatest Superbowl commercials of all time (Mountain Dew, Bohemian Rhapsody) and in campaigns for American Express, Miller Beer, Mitsubishi, Wrigley's Gum, Hasbro, and other name brands. Today, Corey is the founder and CEO of Round Table Companies (RTC), the publisher of Conscious Capitalism Press, and a speaker, film director, artist, and storyteller. He has been featured on the cover of the Wall Street Journal and his work in storytelling has been quoted/featured in the New York Times, USA Today, and Inc., Forbes, and Wired Magazines. Corey pioneered the business comic book, packaging and publishing dozens of titles—including best sellers by Tony Hsieh, Marshall Goldsmith, and Robert Cialdini, and has spent over a decade helping CEOs, founders, and thought leaders to electrify their brand using the storytelling mediums of books, films, podcasts, and art installations. His work has yielded 15 Independent Publisher Awards, a Belding, a Bronze Lion, and a London International Advertising Award. His articles have been published in Writer Magazine, and on FastCompany, Forbes.com and The Huffington Post. He is the creator of the Vulnerability Wall—whose clients include Microsoft, ADP, Marketo, and Workday—and the Vulnerability is SexyTM card game. His documentary of the same name won 2017 ADDY and HERMES awards for branded content, and his TEDx talk,  has over 20,000 views.  Corey travels around the country delivering keynotes and facilitating storytelling workshops for organizations of all sizes. Today we talked about Vulnerability Leading with Love Leaning into Learning Ownership Vulnerability Elevate to Brilliance Energy of the Room Presence Self Relationship Safety Truth - Trust comes from transparency Humanity in the workplace Guided Experience - pup Connect with Corey Twitter Website LinkedIn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5niHkcxNhY 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  William William Ammerman is the author of The Invisible Brand (McGraw-Hill, June 2019), about marketing in the age of artificial intelligence.  He is currently the Executive Vice President of Digital Media for Engaged Media where he manages digital publishing for a dozen consumer magazines. Formerly, as Global Head of Advertising for Frankly Inc., he managed digital advertising for hundreds of television stations, including their websites, mobile apps, and connected television (OTT) platforms. Prior to that, he was Tribune Media’s Vice President of Programmatic and Data-Driven Revenue and held senior advertising positions with Hearst Television and Capitol Broadcasting.  He has a master’s degree from the UNC School of Media & Journalism and has completed post-graduate work in artificial intelligence at MIT. Learn more at www.wammerman.com. Today we Talked About AI Machine Learning Data Privacy The Impact of AI on all businesses Trends with AI Advertising Personalized Information Persuasion (A/B Testing) Machine Learning is tying these things together Talking to devices with natural language processing Mass Communication is now Mass Customization Social Media's impact on elections. PsychoTechnology Geolocation data CCPA - California Consumer Privacy Act GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation Regulation of Data Connect with William Book - The Invisible Brand Website Twitter LinkedIn YouTube 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!