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

This is a special treat for all the listeners to A Geek Leader Podcast.  My guest today is David Neal. Like me, he's from the south and I'm sure you couldn't tell that by either of our accents.  He's a well known keynote speaker, software developer, Microsoft MVP, and technical leader. He's a father of 5 sons (that's right FIVE!!!) and an amazing artist who sketches all of his keynote presentation slides. I've met David several times at conferences in the Southeast and most recently at CodeStock 2018.  After hearing David's Leadership Guide for the Reluctant Leader talk (see the video below), I had to get him on the show, and lucky for us, he agreed.   Visit David's website at reverentgeek.com Check him out his social pages: https://instagram.com/reverentgeek https://twitter.com/reverentgeek https://github.com/reverentgeek https://speakerdeck.com/reverentgeek https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidneal     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EWiSJj0q_0

Your team doesn't just "trust" you because of your title.  When I started at my most recent position where I head up the IT group at a mid-sized company just south of Charlotte, NC, I wasn't granted full trust of my team.  Just like, when you get a new boss, you don't fully trust them. You can't tell them just anything at first.  You have to learn how they react to things, how they accept feedback, etc.  As a leader, we must remember that trust works both ways, and people don't automatically trust you because you're their manager.  You must earn that trust.   Building Trust with Your Team is Critical A leader must provide the vision and direction for their team.  Then the team pours in their focus, assets, time and energy (FATE - from Todd Henry) into the project. Many times the team has no idea what is just around the corner and what might come of the work they are putting in.  They trust the leader to guide them.  If they don't trust you, will they really put in the hard work? You must build trust over time and ensure that your team trust you and that you can trust your team.  If you don't trust each other, it makes working with each other very difficult.  You'll always be watching your back, spending time verifying petty things that you should need to do.  When I have members of my team that don't trust each other, I find it difficult to watch them work together.  Their work doesn't flow, it doesn't jive, it doesn't move in an efficient way. It's just meh.  But when a team trust each other, their work has an artistic type of efficiency that is beautiful to watch. If you want to build the best team you can, then trust is critical. Trust is Dynamic It takes a longtime to build trust, but you can wash it away in an instant. Trust can also vary based on a person's mood, how they are feeling that day, and what situations they may have encountered that day. Trust is fluid and dynamic, its not a constant.  Trust varies from situation to situation and from circumstance to circumstance.  My team trust me to make a good technical decision on purchasing software or equipment, but they don't trust me to tell them how to go sky diving.  Trust is fluid and dynamic.  If you understand that you must build your trust in different areas at different times and at different paces, you will do a better job of mastering trust with your team. For example, when I started my new position, it wasn't long before I built up trust on my technical knowledge of Active Directory and server infrastructure. It took longer for me to build trust about my direct reports skill sets.  At first people were afraid to let me in on what exactly they were good at and what they weren't.  They didn't know how I would judge them.  I had to earn that trust by being vulnerable myself.  Showing them the areas I wasn't good at and letting them know that I understood that everyone is good, maybe even great, at somethings, and not good, or even downright terrible at others. And that it is fine.  It took time to communicate that I don't expect perfection, just a strive for perfection.  And that I don't want to focus on your weaknesses, but rather, focus on your strengths. Make your Actions Match your Words If you say you're going to do something, do it.  But more than that, if you say its "not okay" for someone on your team to do something, then you better be sure that you're not doing that thing.  For example.  If you're a boss who is strict on employees coming in on time, then you better make sure you're never late.  If you tell your team that its important to show up to meetings on time, then you better not be late to meetings either.  If you are, then your actions aren't matching your words.  I know this may seem petty, but it actually matters when it comes to building trust.  Our brain does a good job of figuring out in the background what matches and what doesn't.  They say the easiest way to spot a counterfeit $20 bill is to put it on a table next to s...

Being an IT leader you get lots of opportunities to work with vendors.  Sometimes you welcome the calls, most of the times you don't.  This episode I'll go over some tips to help you work with vendors and make the best choice when deciding which vendor go with.  Vendor management is an important aspect of leading a technology team. Vendors at conferences or trade shows They usually are giving way gifts in exchange for a scan of your badge. Remember nothing is ever free.  If they scan your badge, you can bet they will email you and most likely call you.  Think about the value of that fidget spinner vs your time when you go to get your badge scanned.  My rule is, if you're not at least somewhat interested in the product, don't even approach the table.  The swag may look enticing, but you'll just be wasting your time and the vendor's time.   Stay away unless its legitimately a product you're interested in. Cold call vendors What to do when vendors cold call you?  That's tough, I usually don't answer the phone if I don't know who is calling me, but every now and again one gets through.  For starters, don't be rude, but also don't be too open either.  Be brief and have them get to the point. If its a service or product that you 100% know you aren't interested in and will not be interested in anytime soon, then politely say "no thank you, we're not interested, please remove me from you call list."  Now, if they don't take no for an answer, I usually say it again, and then say "goodbye" and hang up.  Try to always be as nice as possible, but don't continue a conversation that's going no where. If you might be interested in the product or service, but not right now, tell them.  Say, "hey, I can't talk now, and I'm not ready to move on anything right now, but feel free to call me back in XXX months and maybe things will be better for us to talk."  I usually go with 4 months as a standard.  This gets you off the phone, and doesn't burn any bridges incase this is a service or product you might be interested in in the future. If you are interested in the product and have time to take the call, then do so.  Talk it out, ask questions, but never commit to anything more than another call. Schedule the next call on your terms, and ask for information you can read or research prior to that next call.  I usually don't ask for references at this point, I wait until its time for a quote or SOW before I ask for references.  Its best not to get ahead of yourself.  Before the next call, be sure you have researched the company, product/service and checked for reviews and complaints. When you call vendors If you cold call a vendor, the vendor should feel like they've won the lottery.  But honestly, they rarely act that way. Be mindful of their time.  Don't expect to get all of the information you're looking for on that call.  The initial call is to make a request, and expect to get the information on a followup call/email/meeting, etc.  If you're looking for a product such as a software suite or cloud solution, ask to schedule a demo.  Feel free to ask about pricing, but understand that they are only giving you their first offer at this point.  Discounts could be in the works when you get to the negotiation stages. Don't show your hand too much on these calls, I never tell what my max budget is or even what range I'm looking to spend until I've seen a demo. Be sure you've done some research prior to calling, don't expect to get 100% of the info on the call.  Its a better use of your time and the vendors if you've read about them, written down some questions and have a couple of dates/times in mind for follow up meetings and calls. Do your homework before sending that email or picking up the phone. It will save an enormous about of time. Deciding between vendors This is the point where you should probably make a note to listen to the "Art of Negotiation" show once you've finished this episode.

I recently gave a talk on Employee Engagement for millennials.  Here are my thoughts on the subject: Engagement Stats https://www.themuse.com/advice/10-shocking-stats-about-employee-engagement 70% of employees not engaged at work 89% of companies think employees leave for more $$$ but only 12% actually do 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least 1 time per week but only 13% of disengaged employees receive weekly feedback 75% of people voluntarily leaving their job, don't quit their job, they quit their bosses. Why people quit their job They hate their boss Their work doesn't matter Adding Purpose Add purpose doesn't always have to be the big "P" Purpose, like saving the rainforest. It could just be the little "p" purpose, like why we do what we do.  This is another example of how Simon Sinek's "Start with Why" is so important in leadership. Ignoring Boss If a boss ignores an employee… they are 40% more likely to “actively disengage” from work and their company.  To "actively disengage" you aren't just not engaged... you are actively  looking for non-work related things to do.  Like gossip, blogging, searching for other jobs, etc.  These activities are not only be bad for the employee performance, but also the performance and attitudes of those around this employee. Critical Boss A Critical boss causes 22% increase in actively disengagement… that means, being critical is better than ignoring. At least critical bosses are paying attention, right? A Praising Boss  A Boss that praises 1 out of 10 successes usually has less than 1% of employees will actively disengage. So this means you only have to recognize and compliment 1 out of 10 great things your team members do... its not that hard. Motivation and Management Management is old school.  Management was creating in the 1850's as a way of gaining compliance in the workforce.  It works great for compliance, not so great for engagement.  If we want engagement, we need Leadership, not Management.  If/Then doesn't work 4 reason if then don’t work Engagement is intrinsic and IF/THEN is 100% extrinsic It puts individuals against one another in a competition, instead of working as a team It causes some folks to rationalize their ethics, leading to cheating and cutting corners It lacks emotional growth FACT - Money is a motivator Pay people fairly and enough to take Money off the table. Happiness is far more important than small raises. Dan Pink described motivation the best I've heard it in his book Drive. Autonomy Freedom in your job.  Maybe its where you work, how you work, what you work on, or who you work with. Mastery Getting better at things that matter. This could be training, personal growth, business growth, learning something important.  Getting a certification, or going or speaking at a conference. Also empowering (i hate that term) employees to do more, to stretch their role. Purpose Working on something that matters.  Making sure their job matters in the big picture. To hear more about purpose, check out my TedX Talk. (must listen to get the real value out of this episode) I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to iTunes and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

If you've every flown on an airplane then you've heard the flight attendant say: In the event of the cabin loose pressure, an oxygen mask will automatically appear in front of you. To start the flow of oxygen, pull the mask towards you. Place it firmly over your nose and mouth, secure the elastic band behind your head, and breathe normally. Although the bag does not inflate, oxygen is flowing to the mask. If you are traveling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask on first, and then assist the other person. That last statement may seem odd to anyone that has children.  I've got 3 kids and as a father, my natural tendency is to help my kids first.  But the instructions clearly state not to do that. Ever thought about why? Well let's think about it.  What happens if you run out of oxygen?  If you're out, then you can't help others.  You have to take care of your own need for oxygen first, then you can assist others. The same is true when you're leading a team. You have to put your oxygen mask on first.  Make sure you're healthy enough to lead the team.  If you run out of oxygen trying to save others, then its likely you both will perish. So as a leader, how do we put on our oxygen mask to ensure that we're taken care of? This is a super vague question with dozens of possible answers. I'm going to hit the highlights here.  For details on these 7 things, please listen to this episode: Take care of yourself physically - physical health goes along way with mental energy Take care of yourself mentally - take time to work on your mind, learn something new, not related to work Make time for Deep Work - Block off large blocks to time to immerse yourself on a single task or problem Make time for brainstorming - Many times the solutions to our largest problems come in the blank spaces, or the margins of our busy schedule.  Block time on your calendar for brainstorming.  I like to take a walk around the lake outside my office to think. Make room for growth - prune less valuable work relentlessly Empower others - Your team will never grow if you don't give them the opportunity. Delegate like a champ. Disconnect from time to time - When you're off work, you're off work.  Take time off, without your phone, laptop or iPad.  Disconnect and let your brain recover.   I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to iTunes and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

So you got a new job and now you have to deliver the bad news that you're putting in your 2 week notice.  How do you do it without burning bridges, saving face, and leave the position better for you having been there. Below are some tips that might help you out: Have a plan. I don't recommend quitting a job until you've already accepted an offer somewhere else, or have a side income stable enough to cover your basic needs (food, rent, etc.) Write a formal resignation letter.  Before you tell anyone, be sure to have written a formal letter of resignation.  Proof it and make sure its good, it could be the last written work your current employer has of yours. Tell your boss first.  Always give your boss the news in person before telling anyone else.  This is a respect thing.  You need to leave in a respectful way and nothing screams disrespect than having your boss find our your quitting from someone else.  This also means don't update your linkedin until after your last day of employment with your current employer. Keep the conversation short, polite, positive and respectful.  Be appreciative of the opportunity, even if you know you'll never come back to work here, you still want to leave on a good note, as potential future employers may call this company for a reference. Be ready for questions. Make sure you've created a transition plan if you think the company will back-fill your job. Have some sort of written "manual" on things that depend on you and only you to do.  If you have accounts that need to be transitioned to someone else, be sure they are documented.  Be prepared for the counter offer.  In today's economy its common to receive a counter offer to stay, but don't count on it.  Some bosses, like me, don't like giving counter offers.  If you get one, be sure you know what you'll say before hand.  See my episode on negotiation skills for more details. Don't hide where you're going, that's just creepy.  Be honest and open, but never talk about salaries. Remain professional and work your butt off for your remaining days.  Don't succumb to the temptation to slack off. This is the time to work your hardest so that you can ensure you leave the best possible impression on your co-workers and your boss.  You want them to remember you at your best incase you need them for references... plus, it's just the right thing to do. Once you're time is up, leave respectfully.  Be sure to go out of your way to spend a few extra minutes telling folks bye and thanking them for the knowledge and experience you gained from them.  Feel free to send out a group email to folks with your personal contact numbers, etc. if you want to stay in contact with anyone. Avoid saying anything negative about your current boss, job or employer. Follow up.  Try to reach out to folks on your old team, your old boss or others that you've built strong relationships with.  Offer to take them to lunch and keep in touch.  Tell them about your new job and ask questions about how things are going.  It's important to maintain those relationships the best you can.  Its good for you and them.   I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to iTunes and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

I've been noticeably absent from the podcast for the past couple of months, so where have I been? I planned to take 2-3 weeks off from the podcast and take my family on a much needed vacation to Turks and Caicos.  On our 3rd day of the trip I got the call that no son wants to get.  My dad has cancer.  At first the doctors were optimistic said they thought it was treatable so they scheduled scans and started chemo. I made it a point to spend as much time visiting him as I could. I decided to put the podcast on hold, and spend that time with my dad.  I traveled to visit and spend time with him every week and called every day.  I was blessed to be able to ask him the things I needed/wanted to ask him.  He told me about Vietnam, and got to say all the things he felt he needed to say to me. My friends and family prayed for his healing, and we got it.  Not necessarily in the way that I was hoping, but I know the cancer is no more, and I know he's happier and better than he was the last couple of months of his life. My father went to heaven. I was able to talk to him and say my goodbye on one of his last fully coherent days.  My dad told me he was proud of me, and I said the same back to him.  He said he loved me and for me to take care of my mom and sister.  It was sad, but then when the doctor came in and asked him about life support, he said heck no.  I'm ready to see Jesus and get to heaven.  My work on Earth is done.  Dad passed a few days later. This was a tough time for all of us, but we're at peace and we know that he's better off and that we'll be okay. Lessons Learned I learned, in real life, what I've been talking about all along.  Family trumps work 100% of the time.  We can always find another job, delay our work, but our time on Earth is short, and family matters the most.  Leaving a legacy is more than just doing good work, or having a good job. Its about making life better for the generations that come after you.  Billy Graham said it the best when he said, "The greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith." The 2 things I want you to get out of this episode, is that I'm back and hopefully will be sharing on a more regular basis now, and that life is more than just great work.  Leadership is more than just leading at work, its about leading at home, with your friends and family, and leaving a legacy. Focus more on leaving a great legacy, rather than building a great resume. Build a Legacy So how do you build a legacy?  Its about impacting people, not projects.    "Begin by with the end in mind." - Steven Covey.  Imagine your funeral.  Who will come?  Does it matter if they come?  Who will be glad they met you?  Who's life have you directly impacted?  I'm not 100% sure how to build a great legacy, but I can tell you what I'm doing. First, thinking about the people that matter most to me, and making sure that I'm investing into them. I'm paying attention to where my "FATE (Focus, Assets, Time, & Energy)" is going.  I find myself asking, is this the best use of my time more often than I did before.  The next thing I'm looking into is my scope of impact. How can I grow those in my network, my reach, the people I can impact?  What does that look like?  What do I have to give up to build a legacy?  What legacy do I want to leave?  And lastly, how can live my legacy right now.  In order to leave a legacy, you have to live it. Think about how you want to be remembered, and start living that way today.  I want to hear what your legacy is. Leave me a message on twitter @johnrouda with what you want your legacy to be. I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to iTunes and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

Whenever I talk about leadership at an event, I usually get a several people that either email me or talk to me afterwards to tell me how great that it all sounds, but that they can't do those things.  For some reason, something won't let them.  It's usually either fear or a lack of confidence, which I address in previous episodes: But sometimes its this thought or belief that we have to be perfect in order to be a leader.  I heard a really smart man one time say that: Leadership is about Progress, not Perfection - Steven Furtick That means to me, that you don't have to be perfect to be a leader, just willing to make progress.  No one is perfect, we all know that, but we all don't believe that.  With social media and the ability to filter and post what we want people to think about us, the realist view of most people is completely distorted.  If you want to lead others, and be a great leader, just make progress.  One step in front of another. Step, step, step... that's all it takes.  If you're moving in the right direction, people will follow you.  The problem is that many of us are afraid to move.  We're afraid that any attempt to move, could cause us to loose ground.  That may be true, but you can't lead if you don't move. Onetime I asked my daughter, when she was 3 years old, what a leader was.  She said, "It's the person in the front of the line." I followed that question up with one asking her what do leaders do?  "They go where we're supposed to go."  she said.  That answer was profound for me at the time.  It told me that in order to lead, I must go somewhere.  I don't need to be there yet, just make progress towards it.  As I've said countless times on this podcast and in my blog, when developing into a leader, the destination is a mirage.  It's a place we'll always be traveling to, but never reach.   I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to iTunes and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

We all have feelings of inadequacy. Many times I have this fear, that someone is going to show up at my door and shut it all down.  They will tell me that I'm not qualified to write about leadership, or to host a podcast, or to build websites or mobile apps, or to teach.  And it will all be over.  Everyday, at some point in that day, I suffer from feelings of being unqualified to do the work that I know I'm meant to do. Sometimes I let mistakes that I make, thoughts that I have, and my feelings get in the way of my work.  I've come to learn that these feelings and thoughts are normal.  We all, at times, have feelings of inadequacy.  We all have fear of missing out and fear of not being good enough.  That's fine.  But leaders, do it anyway. Sometimes its hard to do what you know you need to do, because you feel "Unqualified."  But aren't we all?  Am I qualified to talk on Technical Leadership?  I guess so, but I wasn't always.  I had to start somewhere.  I mean, is an author an author before he publishes his first book?  Is he qualified to be called an author?  No, but that doesn't mean he can't become one.  Leadership is the same way.  Even if you've never been a leader before, you can start now.  You don't have to be "qualified." to lead, you just need to start leading.  This book by Paster Steven Furtick, my paster and lead paster of Elevation Church, reminds us how throughout history God has used unqualified people do amazing things.  Its an inspirational book that just reminds us of many different people that had flaws and imperfections and glitches.  He talks about how the character Vanellope von Schweetz in Wreck it Ralph had a glitch, maybe was a glitch, but that glitch is what made her great.  She was successful, not in spite of her glitch, but because of it.  We're the same way.  God had put things in our life that only we have experienced in a unique way.  We have a special perspective that may really resonate with someone and help them out in a way that no one else can.  Basically, this book shows us how the things that make us unqualified to do great things, may actually be the things that make us great. Stepping outside of the book and taking its meaning into technology, Let's take Steve Jobs. Many of the things that made him not a great techie, such as his love for fonts and design, helped him take personal computers main stream, by making their user interfaces beautiful. Steven Jobs dropped out of school, but dropped into classes on design.  He didn't have the education and technical programming skills of someone that should be qualified to run a computer company.  But what he had, was exactly what was needed to make Apple a household name. If you want to get this book, you can get it through my affiliate link on Amazon by clicking the image below: I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to iTunes and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even 1 sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

Most people in Technology struggle with communication... better yet, most people in business struggle with communication.  I'm no exception to that, but I'm working on it.  Here are some of the things that I've learned and implemented to help me with communication. One of the reasons some of us are bad at communication is due to fear.  We're afraid to let people that we don't know, what we don't know.  We're afraid that they will think less of us or something... But really, if we only new how little they already think of us, then we wouldn't care what they think of us.  By little there, I mean how little time they spend thinking about us.   Think about, how much time do you think about the last time someone misspoke in a meeting, or said something in a funny, out of context way?  Not much right.  You may have thought about if for a few minutes at most then it was gone.  If you do mess up, its only going to last a short while.  In episode 7 I spoke about overcoming fear, check that out to find out more. 7 | 38 | 55 Rule Albert Mehrabian, a psychology professor published some research that showed 7% of the message received is through the words you actually say, 38% through vocal tonality used, and 55% through non-verbal communication (body language, etc).  Now, did you read that?  That means 93% of our communication is NOT the words that come out of your mouth... but more importantly, its how those words are used.  Now, I'm not a believer that this rule is 100% true 100% of the time.  That's one thing that bites us a techies. We like hard, fast rules that are always true.  But situational awareness will also dictate a lot of the messages being received through the communication.  For example, if you're in a crisis, things will be take very seriously and literally, but if you're out with friends, people may think you're joking or being more sarcastic.  But the spirit of the rule still applies, most of our communication is non-verbal. Email Communication We all get too many emails.  Keeping them short and to the point is super important.  Also remember that only 7% of our communication comes from the words we say.  So how the person is reading your email is largely how they will interpret it.  That, along with the situation they are in when they get the email. For example, if you send me a humorous email that makes a jab at me or says something sarcastic, but I'm in a bad mood and going through an outage with a system at work when I get it, I may not get the sarcasm or the joke and it may come a cross pretty bad.  I have a rule of 4 with my team and email. All emails should be 4 sentences or less... or at least that's the goal.  With the 100s of emails that I get every day, I find that I usually start to zone out after about 4 sentences and then I'm likely to either skim or skip the remaining sentences in the message.  This is bad for both me and you. Its best for business emails to be short and to the point.  Recognize that we're all busy and we have work to do, and that your email is interrupting someone's work.  So keep it short.  There are of course exceptions to this, like when you're documenting a meeting or prior conversation, or sending someone information that they requested.  Emails that they request are different than ones you interrupt them with. Another rule that I follow with email is the back and forth rule of 4.  If an email goes back and forth more than 4 times (2 from me and 2 from you) then we aren't getting anywhere.  I mean, seriously, we're missing 93% of the message right :).  So after 4 times, get up and go talk to the person, or call them or find another means of communication, like messenger, skype or slack. But bear in mind that these communication channels also have limitations.  Face-to-face doesn't have documentation, so its good to send a "Same Day Summary" back to the person just to recap the who, what and when of that conversation in a documented form,