Blog

November 10, 2016

Greg Thomas

Now Tell Me What You Really Think

Ever sat beside someone and listen to them go off on a particular topic for 15 minutes and then nonchalantly ask them “Now tell me what you really think”. It’s part Tongue in Cheek in that they have already told you everything but part deeper analysis. You’ve told me all the little things that are bugging you – but now tell me the root cause – now that you’ve gotten it out of your system, now tell me what is really bothering you. Generally, it’s silence first, but wait for it, and you’ll get the real answer, the real problem

November 9, 2016

Greg Thomas

Overnight Leadership

Regardless of your profession, a promotion can be the most exciting and scariest set of emotions you feel all at once. One day you’re a developer responsible for your genius level of code, the next day you’re responsible for THE team and dealing with all THE issues and questions that go along with it. Welcome to Overnight Leadership – where your career was upended in mere 24 hours. Moving into a more “formal” position of leadership is not an easy transition (no matter how good you are), but you can ease your burden by starting off with a few consistent

November 8, 2016

Greg Thomas

Stop Talking about Change

I strongly dislike conversations about Change. I like Change, but eschew conversations about it. Long, drawn out conversations, with many milestones, devil’s advocates discussions that lead into follow-ups to the follow-ups and target dates for delivery some time next month at the end of a cycle that may or may not happen. It get’s exhausting. What I do like is change. The conversations that take 15 minutes and establish a new direction that everyone moves forward with. Maybe it’s not 15 minutes, maybe it’s an hour or a day long session – but the intent, the direction, the vision at

November 7, 2016

Greg Thomas

Deliver the AHA

Years ago, I was in a training session with one of our trainers and an actual customer. I was the new developer trying to learn about the product and what the business mindset behind it was. I remember the trainer explaining a crucial concept in the software, waiting for silence on the other end of the call and then putting the call on mute. “Wait for it. This is when it clicks and they realize the value of what we’ve built for them.” And sure enough it did – you could feel their jaws dropping on the other end of

November 4, 2016

Greg Thomas

Thankful Leadership

In a world of texting and social media – we simply don’t say it enough anymore. This isn’t about writing cards with long stories of your life and times together. This isn’t about whether you volunteer to do a job on your own or get paid to it. This is about recognizing the efforts that someone put in, whether misguided or not and simply thanking them for their showing up. Want to know the easiest secret to being a great leader? Say Thank you, mean it, don’t just say it, mean it – start there.