Articles for category: Leadership

November 3, 2017

Greg Thomas

It’s Always a Good Job

If you know something today that you didn’t know yesterday – you did a Good Job. If you tried something new, fell on your face and want to get up tomorrow and try again – you are doing a Good Job. If your work is making people, think and question their approach – you are doing a Good Job. If your quiet actions are drowning out the deafening sounds of negativity – you are doing a Good Job. If you show up early, leave late and never complain about it – you are doing a Good Job. It’s not always

November 2, 2017

Greg Thomas

Be a Supporting Hero

Everyone wants to the hero that solved the customer’s problem, fixed the last fifteen bugs, saved the sprint, etc, etc. But whoever they are, they didn’t they do it on their own. Someone took over their other tasks. Someone else cleared their calendar of meetings. Another person on the team took on all their new hire interviews for them. When they worked through lunch, someone grabbed them a coffee later that afternoon. That’s how they got it done, that’s how they became a hero and that’s why the Supporting Hero rates higher in my book – they don’t do it

October 30, 2017

Greg Thomas

What is Inititiave?

Initiative is our first step towards leadership. It’s leading the Army of One on all the missions where only we can go (and perhaps only where we want to go). It’s the 10 seconds it takes to step forward and put up our hands to volunteer for something new. Before you lead others, you need to lead yourself. Want your team to start commenting their code? Start commenting your code. Want your team to come to meetings having read last week’s action items? Start reading last week’s action items. Becoming a Leader starts with you and the ability to lead

October 26, 2017

Greg Thomas

Ignoring the Date

One of the hardest parts in leading a software release is being late. You tried your best, you rallied the team, you put in the extra effort, but it simply wasn’t enough – for whatever reason, you’re shipping late. Okay, that’s done, that’s known, you know it, everyone on the team knows it, maybe even your dog knows it. Now it’s time to keep repeating. Not because you are trying to be rude or dismissive but because they need to understand that the release is shipping on a different date and inform their stakeholders (so the process can continue). The

October 25, 2017

Greg Thomas

When the Team Comes Together

They are unstoppable. A force of nature. The combining of all lions into Voltron. Yes, they are that good. And you know when it happens, you know the moments I’m talking about, I don’t need to say more than that. So how you do make it so the Team Comes Together Every, Single, Time. Now that’s a problem worth solving.