September 16, 2019

Greg Thomas

Leaders Can Code

You can do both. You don’t have to give up one to do the other. You aren’t measured by how good you are by doing the other. There is no ying or yang, give or take, pull or push. Leaders do code, they can code, they want to keep coding. What they don’t realize (the leaders that don’t code) is the only person stopping them from coding, is themselves. Unless you have a boss that said – “stop coding, lead now” – the decision was all your own. Not to worry, you have plenty of time to get back at

September 13, 2019

Greg Thomas

Meetings Can Go Late

If you are getting immeasurable value out of them. If no one is dropping out on their phones. If people are looking more towards the front than at their laptops. If everyone is engaged. If the conversation is exciting, discourse is happening and everyone is respectful of each other’s ideas. If forward momentum is happening. If it’s worth it. We are focusing too much on timeboxing simply for the sake of timeboxing when in effect we should be focused on the value and not how long it took. Don’t kill the momentum because Outlook pops up and says so.

September 12, 2019

Greg Thomas

Go Last

The person who goes last is responsible for summing everything up. Everything that came before them is at their fingertips. They get to have the last word. Their words are the last ones that everyone will think of and linger with as they walk out of the room or the conference hall. They have a choice in how they respond, in what they do. Whenever I have gone last, what I was going to say has always changed because it has to, it can’t, it can’t stay the same with everything I just would have heard, it has to change,

September 11, 2019

Greg Thomas

Go First

The first person to speak at a conference, workshop, training seminar, practice, meeting or any other type of gathering sets the tone. They set the tone for what is going to come next, for what the expectations are and what we are going to do going forward. They lead. Everything else after is compared to them – the first speaker – not the second, not the third, not the fourth, the first. Want to set the tone? Go first. Want to lead the direction? Go first. Want to start the conversation? Go first. Want to make change happen? Go first.

September 10, 2019

Greg Thomas

Good Teams Gone Bad

Good environments, great teams, amazing delivery environments, go bad. In can be a result of any number of factors; familiarity, history, hubris, laziness, indifference, whichever the factor you choose. But good teams can go bad. The goal is to make sure it doesn’t happen to yours and to always keep the focus where it should be. To that end; Keep them on target – distractions are a team’s worst enemy. Remind them why they are here – we all forget. Keep Levelling Up- don’t let them rest on their laurels, encourage them to reach for more. Focus on each member