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

About Mark Schwartz Mark Schwartz is an iconoclast and CIO and a playful crafter of ideas, an inveterate purveyor of lucubratory prose. He has been an IT leader in organizations small and large, public, private, and nonprofit. As an Enterprise Strategist for Amazon Web Services, he uses his extensive CIO wisdom to advise the world’s largest companies on the obvious: time to moveto the cloud, guys. As the CIO of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, he provoked the federal government into adopting Agile and DevOps practices. He is pretty sure that when he was the CIO of Intrax Cultural Exchange he was the first person ever to use business intelligence and supply chain analytics to place au pairs with the right host families. Mark speaks frequently on innovation, change leadership, bureaucratic implications of DevOps, and using Agile practices in low-trust environments. With a BS in computer science from Yale, a master’s in philosophy from Yale, and an MBA from Wharton, Mark is either an expert on the business value of IT or just confused and much poorer. Mark is the author of The Art of Business Value, A Seat at the Table, and War and Peace and IT and the winner of a Computerworld Premier 100 award, an Amazon Elite 100 award, a Federal Computer Week Fed 100 award, and a CIO Magazine CIO 100 award. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts. Today We Talked About Mark’s Technology Journey A Seat at the Table Ware and Peace and IT Digital Transformation DevOps Approach vs Scrum IT is part of the business Drive change from the top Spread the good culture Pairing arrangements DoJo Model Mitosis Model Pair Programming’ Pitfalls to avoid during Digital Transformation Changing Culture is an outcome of digital transformation, not a prerequisite. Evaluation of Success Having Confidence in the Results Using Data for Hypothesis and Results The Lean Startup Finish Something Clear Vision Small Execution What can we do in a few days Why Mark wrote each of his books Connect with Mark Twitter War and Peace and IT A Seat at the Table The Art of Business Value 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 Paresh Paresh Shah is a positive force around everyone he meets. He is a rare combination of a personal advisor to CEOs, Business Professor, Harvard MBA, Technology Entrepreneur, Innovation and Leadership trainer and popular mindfulness/yoga instructor. Mr. Shah is truly an international business expert that brings a unique and powerful perspective to business.  His abilities to connect with audiences and clients across the globe and bring unique perspectives to client problems have made him a sought-after speaker, master business strategist, Non-Obvious innovation trainer, workshop leader and coach to CEO’s, executives and celebrities around the world. Paresh is Chief Strategist and Value Architect at global innovation consultancy, The Non-Obvious Company.  His company helps clients think in Non-Obvious ways in order to solve their most pressing problems.  The Non-Obvious Company provides clients deep, actionable expertise in innovation, strategy, trends, engagement, leadership, mindfulness and transformative leadership.  With a passport spilling over with stamps, Paresh brings a diverse and global perspective from multiple industries and perspectives to everything he does.   Over the past 25 years, he and his team have developed a breakthrough paradigm for modern purposeful leadership, called Lifter Leadership, highly in demand by companies seeking to be more innovative internally, engaging with customers, motivating to workers and purposeful in responsibility. Paresh brings an actionable approach to his clients from his deep experience as an operating executive and successful entrepreneur.   Mr. Shah founded several operating companies including a multimedia company, secure commerce company and audio accessory company. Paresh has spoken at leading conferences such as AIA, TedX, SXSW (South by Southwest), Wisdom 2.0, the International Yoga Expo, GAMA Financial Leadership, Junior Achievement Global, CES and other international conferences and corporate events.  Mr. Shah’s thinking and insights have been featured in publications such as Forbes, CEO.com, Inc., Entrepreneur, Smart CEO, Killer Startups, CEO.com and Harvard Business School Press. Mr. Shah was featured as a Global Innovator for the United Nations International Peace Day and he has been a distinguished guest in global dialog around fostering World Compassion and Peace. Today We Talked About Paresh’s geeky background 7 Deadly Blind Spots of Technical Talent 7 Gear head Strengths Lifter Leadership Mindfulness Poor Communications Lack of Customer Centricity Micromanagement Making Business/Human Tradeoffs Conflict Management Uninspiring Leadership Limited Creativity Special Lifter Offer for A Geek Leader Listeners   Connect with Paresh Twitter Lifter Leadership Non-Obvious Company Glimpulse Gear Head to Group Head Academy 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 Kevin Kruse Our guest today is the founder and CEO of LEADx, the first company to create a virtual executive coach using IBM Watson artificial intelligence. He is also the host of the LEADx Leadership Podcast, and he’s a New York Times bestselling author of nine books. His brand new book is, Great Leaders Have No Rules: Contrarian Leadership Principles to Transform Your Team and Business. Our guest is Kevin Kruse. Welcome to the show, Kevin. Kevin Kruse is a New York Times bestselling author and a serial entrepreneur who started or cofounded several multimillion-dollar businesses. Kruse’s articles on leadership have appeared in Forbes and a number of other publications, and his podcast, The LEADx Leadership Show, has been downloaded over one million times. He is the founder and CEO of LEADx.org, whose mission is to spark one hundred million new leaders. Today We Talked About Kevin’s Leadership Journey in Tech How does Coach Amanda work? Closing the open door policy Turning off smartphones No more todo lists, use your calendar Time Management Transparency even when it comes to salary? Don’t treat everyone the same…its okay to Play Favorites with your team Leadership is not a choice Coach Amanda Connect with Kevin LEADx.org Great Leaders Have No Rules Book Twitter LEADx Podcast 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 Purdeep Purdeep helps entrepreneurs master themselves so they can master their life. His personal mission is to help men live more fulfilling lives, have passionate relationships and raise happy families. As an entrepreneur, husband and father, Purdeep knows exactly how tough it can be to balance a successful business with a happy family. Purdeep is a pioneer in the Inner Force Formula (IFF). A system developed using transformation psychology, latest neuroscience and the ancient art of mindfulness to align a man’s life energy, mind and emotions to create exponential confidence, performance, vitality, wealth, time, options, joy and fulfillment. Prior to creating his own firm, Purdeep was a successful executive at a multi-billion-dollar organization. Purdeep has spent two decades studying the top business around the world. He is an expert in Marketing, Sales, Operations, High-Performance Teams, and taking an average business to the top of its industry.   Listeners to the podcast get  a 10% discount on his upcoming 360 Abundance program. Here is the coupon code “malepodcast10”. The listeners must attend the webinar first to see if it’s the right fit for them. Here is the link http://be.themaleentrepreneur.com/360 We Talked About Self Mastery Skills Master yourself, master life Mindset Life Energy Forces and Balances Focus Confidence – roughly 20% of achieving the goal built on past experience Self-esteem Put your oxygen mask on 1st Small wins Modeling behaviors Self-talk Physical State Managing emotions Connect with Pudeep Website Book LinkedIn Twitter Podcast 360 Abundance 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 Captain John Coach Havlik CAPT John “Coach” Havlik, U. S. Navy (Retired), is the CEO of JRH Consulting, offering individual/team consulting on building and leading high-performance teams. He is also the Special Advisor for Giant Leap Consulting. He retired in 2014 after 31+ years of distinguished military service, 29 of those years in the Naval Special Warfare (SEAL) community. John graduated from West Virginia University with a B.S. in Business Administration (Accounting). He was a 4-year swimming letterman, and his career was highlighted by being the first swimmer in school history to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials (1980), qualifying for the NCAA Division 1A Swimming Championships (3 times), and serving as tri-captain of the first undefeated men’s swim team in school history his senior year. He was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. In 2018, John became the first former WVU male swimmer selected for the Mountaineer Legends Society, WVU’s version of a sports Ring of Honor. John enlisted in the Navy in 1982, and was subsequently assigned to the U. S Naval Academy as a swim coach/physical education instructor. He was later commissioned as a naval officer via Officer Candidate School in 1984. He successfully completed Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training in 1985. His subsequent military assignments included a full range of duties in the SEAL community, to include the elite Naval Special Warfare Development Group. He commanded several times, and completed numerous deployments in key leadership positions to named and contingency operations around the world during his career. While in the Navy, John completed graduate studies at the Naval War College in Newport, RI, receiving a M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies. Connect with John through social media: website: www.coachhavlik.com, Twitter (@coachhavlik), and LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/john-r-havlik). Coach’s book, coauthored with his WVU buddy Bill Treasurer, is The Leadership Killer: Reclaiming Humility in an Age of Arrogance, which focuses on humility as the fundamental leadership attribute. Jim Kouzes, one of the world’s most renowned authorities on leadership, calls the book “one of the most unique and valuable books you will read all year.” Learn more at www.leadershipkiller.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxBMg5uenMg Today We Talked About How Coach got into the seals The Dangers of Hubris Why is leadership so seductive? Why this book? Leadership Triad Find someone to keep you in check (Master Chief) Lessons of Humility Ego Issues “Make it Happen” 360 Reviews “The needs of the many out way the needs of the few.” Connect to Coach Twitter Website LinkedIn The Leadership Killer Book Leadership Kill 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 Adam Gordon Bell Adam Gordon Bell has spent 14+ years in the trenches as a software developer. His recent interests include functional programming and using type systems to build better software. Currently, Adam works on static analysis of docker containers for security vulnerabilities at Tenable. In his spare time, Adam hosts CoRecursive Podcast and has a personal blog. Adam is also a advocate of distributed software development teams and, though he lives in Canada, he works daily with teammates in the EU and the US. Say hello on twitter at adamgordonbell. CoRecursive features interviews on technical topics of interest to software developers. If you are a professional software developer or someone who likes to code or has an interest in programming languages, you will love our podcast. Today We Talked About How Adam started in tech Deep Learning Passion for learning Empathy Perspective taking Connect with Adam Twitter Website CoRecursive Podcast 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 Roger American conductor Roger Nierenberg is the creator of The Music Paradigm which has brought him to the podium of The London Philharmonic, The Residentie Orkest, The New Zealand Symphony, The National Symphony, the symphony orchestras of Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Baltimore. He has collaborated with musicians from more than one hundred orchestras around the world. Mr. Nierenberg enjoyed long tenures as Music Director of both The Jacksonville Symphony (Florida) and the Stamford Symphony (Connecticut). His career began with an auspicious debut at Lincoln Center with the Pro Arte Chorale and subsequent performances at the Mostly Mozart Festival. Numerous guest conducting engagements followed with many of the great American orchestras, including the symphony orchestras of Austin, Baltimore, Charleston, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, New Jersey, San Diego, St. Louis, and Utah as well as New York’s American Symphony Orchestra, Washington D.C.’s National Symphony Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Abroad, he has recorded with the London Philharmonic, and has conducted concerts at the Prague Spring Festival with the Czech Radio Orchestra and at the Beijing Festival with the Shanghai Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra. Other performances include engagements with the London Mozart Players, Mexico’s National Symphony Orchestra, the Nova Scotia Symphony and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. Nierenberg has conducted operatic performances with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the Chautauqua Opera, the American Opera Center at Lincoln Center and opera in concert with the Dallas Opera (with Frederica von Stade) and the Santa Barbara Symphony (with Ms. Von Stade and Thomas Hampson). He has appeared at numerous summer festivals including the Tanglewood Institute, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Colorado Festival, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the Madeira Bach Festival. The Music Paradigm is a powerful learning experience that uses symphonic music to illuminate compelling insights about people at work. Participants are seated directly amongst the orchestra musicians where they gain fresh understandings about the opportunities and challenges faced by their own organization. Over the past twenty years, Nierenberg has presented to hundreds of different organizations, from civic groups to Fortune 500 companies, in two dozen different countries. Today We Talked About Leadership Learning Events Listening to the Music Reading a Map and Giving Directions Early Mistakes that lead Roger to be a great leader The Music Paradigm Don’t underestimate the task of management and leadership Leadership shouldn’t finger point Roger Nierenberg The Music Paradigm Maestro Book Twitter LinkedIn 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 Joel Joel Beasley is the author of ModernCTO and host of the #1 Technology Leadership Podcast in the world with 70k active listeners. The podcast Modern CTO hosts a wide range of Chief Technology Officers from Startup to Enterprise. Recent guests include the CTOs of Microsoft, VMware, T-Mobile and NASA. Joel has a clear vision and passion for modern technology leadership and is the Founder of LeaderBits.io – Leadership and Professional Development for technologists. Joel began writing code at age 13 selling his first technology by age 18 with a 7 figure exit. In his first three transactions, he developed key relationships with Investors and Chief Technology Officers collaborating and building products in Real Estate, Law, Finance, and Fitness. Joel is the President of BeasleyFoundation.org a charity that designs STEM related children’s books Back to the Moon and Princess Physicist. These books are then donated to orphanages, homeless pregnant woman, and in-need children. Beasley Foundation was formed in February 2017 after Joel, Mitch and Valerie lost their Mother to Leukemia after being diagnosed 6 weeks earlier. Joel and his siblings wanted to do something unique with her life insurance money and the Beasley Foundation was formed. Joel is a native to Sarasota, FL along with his wife Michelle, daughter Aria and new baby son, Lachlan. Today We Talked About Modern CTO Podcast App Building Ask your leader how you can be more valuable Consistency Put accountability in place Make your goal big enough to keep you excited Reputation Grit Discipline Benefits for networking Growing a business Getting Venture Capitol Connect with Joel Modern CTO Podcast Modern CTO Book Twitter LinkedIn Leaderbits.io 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. Sharon Jones Dr. Sharon Jones, Ed.D is the founder and CEO of thedot.consulting and The Dottie Rose Foundation, where she leads and implements technology focused education and innovation. Dr. Jones has found her passion in education and has served as a Career and Technical Education teacher in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools and Wake County Schools as well as a Sr. Technical Trainer with Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC). Additionally, she is a well-known industry teacher, trainer, and mentor working for organizations with like-minded missions and has taught courses in computer programming, web design, eCommerce, Computer Science Principles and SAS programming. Dr. Jones has presented and been published nationally and internationally on data analytics, educational practices and technology. Her book A Recipe for Success Using SAS University: How to Plan Your First Analytics Project is being used in curriculum and classrooms around the country. When not running the technology-world, Dr. Jones spends her time with her husband Ricky, and two sons, Ethan (7) and Dylan (4), and their beloved dog, Cooper (10). Click to find out more about Sharon Things We Talked About Today: Getting girls involved in code Learning problem solving skills Women in Tech Resume writing Volunteering and using Tech Never giving up when things don’t go the way you planned How she got started in Tech “Girly things” with tech “Copy & Paste” to learn Introducing Kids to coding Adult Education The Dot Consulting The Dottie Rose Foundation – Girls in Computer Science Constructed by Girls (wearable fashion) Carolina Women in Tech Her Podcast Her Tech Passion Keeping Trying If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. https://www.bestcolleges.com/careers/career-guide-women-in-tech/ Connect with Dr. Sharon Jones: Podcast – Lady Tech Charmers LinkedIn Twitter Lady Tech Twitter Lady Tech Facebook Instagram The Dot Consulting The Dottie Rose Foundation Carolina Women in Tech   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! Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show

About Sergey Razin CTO, Faculty Member @ USC and Serial Entrepreneur As CTO, Sergey is responsible for driving product strategy and innovation. As noted authority in advanced analytics and machine learning, Sergey pioneered and hold patents in the application of these technologies in the areas of security and media analysis, expert systems and natural language processing. He is an expert in applied behavior analytics and creator of Topological Behavior Analysis (TBA). Sergey has also served as Principal Investigator (PI), leader in research, development and architecture in areas of big data analytics, speech recognition, telephony, and networking. Sergey is a faculty member at the University of South Carolina covering topics of AI and Entrepreneurial Engineering as well as Industry Advisory board member at USC. Sergey holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the Moscow State Scientific Center of Informatics. He also holds a BS in computer science from the University of South Carolina. Today We Talked About How he got started in Technology Accidental Ph.D. Being a Professor AI for Customer Experience Awareness The importance of Data https://thispersondoesnotexist.com AI being proactive for customer benefits Leaders and AI Learning about Machine Learning and AI AI showing its work is up to the developer Connect with Sergey Twitter Swampfox LinkedIn   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!