Articles for category: Leadership

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.  

October 3, 2017

Greg Thomas

I’ll Know it when I see it

No you won’t. You’ll simply have eliminated a set of options from a myriad of choices that are in front of you. The only result from this strategy will be the continued infusion of frustration and confusion into the minds of your team as they try to hit some goal that no one knows exists, not even you. People who are “busy” use this term to great extent as a smokescreen to what they are looking for being some unearthly desire. The better approach, take an hour, by yourself, think, focus and come up with a few options of what

September 20, 2017

Greg Thomas

Play the Player or the Game?

There is a lot written about whether you should play the game or the player you are playing against. You see it in many sports games, where a player realizes the instant that they can’t win the game, so they start playing the player. Here’s the thing, when you play the player, you are no longer playing the game, you’re playing something else completely different, but it’s not the game. If you can’t beat them at the game you are in, create a new one that they don’t know they are in. This can work, this can be a strategy.

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