managing your tech career
TRANSCRIPT
Managing Your Tech Career& Tracking Your Tech
Greg JensenMacalester College
Olin Rice, room 100, Wednesday March 30, 201612:00 - 1:00pm
www.slideshare.net
Search on “Greg Jensen” and you will spot the cover slide...
Overview
Finding Your Path
Building Your Personal Brand
Evolving Your Mindset
Tracking Your Tech
Finding Your Path
Understand the industry landscape and how to plot your own path through it:
How does it all work?
What is your best fit?
Common Personas
Taking care of yourself
Telling your story
How does it all work? (common titles)
CEO, CIO, CTO, COO, CPO, CSO…
EVP, SVP, VP, Senior Director, Director
Chief Architect, Head Engineer, Fellow, Associate Fellow, Senior Staff, Staff..
Senior Engineer, Engineer, Associate Engineer, Intern
Senior Manager, Manager
Senior Analyst, Analyst
How does it all work? (many roles)
Architecture / Infrastructure / Networks / Devices / Security / Software Development / DevOps / Testing & QA / Program & Project Management / Business Analysis / Requirements Management / Process Engineering / Team & Department Management / Business Intelligence & Reporting / UX / Product Management
How does it all work? (many variations)
Information Architect, UX Architect, Security Architect, Data Architect, Network Architect, Software Architect, Systems Architect, Application Architect, Solution Architect, Capability Architect, Enterprise Architect, Cloud Architect, Chief Architect
What is your best fit:Technical Depth Keep digging deeper into what is possible
How it works, how to leverage or apply
Technical Breadth Follow connections, look for synergy High level views, components & modules
People Management
Like to coach and mentorCare, share and support
Art - Craft - Science
Logic and Rules vs Creativity Tools or Systems vs Applications
Compensation = i* salary + j* stock options + k* benefits + l* who they get to work with + m* where they get to work + n* what they get to work on + . . .
Managing the Unmanageable, Mantle and Lichty
What is your best fit:
● Timing - be patient, company and position first
● Base compensation● Benefits● Contracting vs FTE (30% plus or minus)● Startups and Stock Options (vesting
schedule, shares, and shares outstanding)
Sidebar - let’s talk about...
Common Personas
Biz Stakeholders
Why does this take so long, why can’t I
change this or that, when will it be ready???
Senior Management
Time and cost estimates? What will the ROI be for each
phase? Do we need this many people? Lowest
contractor rates?
Engineers
We need these new tools. That is not best practices. We have to service our tech debt.
This won’t work. That is not enough time!
Ops & Security
You will need a new license. That is not
supported. This does not comply with policy.
Not approved for deployment!
Common Personas
Not a good strategy for engineers
Don’t say “NO”, give options
Explain tradeoffs
Be positive, consistent, and rational
The single most important leader in an organization is your immediate supervisor.
—JIM KOUZES
You can safely assume all perceptions are real, at least to those who own them.
—JOE FOLKMAN
You don’t have to like or admire your boss, nor do you have to hate him. You do have to manage him, however, so that he becomes your resource for achievement, accomplishment and personal success.
—PETER DRUCKER
Taking Care Of Yourself (first, then your job)
Taking Care Of Yourself...
Essentialism, The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (Greg McKeown):Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying Yes too quickly and not saying No soon enough. Josh Billings
Flow, The Genius of Routine - Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition. W.H. Auden
Taking Care Of Yourself… diet, exercise & budget
YMMV - but we all have to guard against burnoutTime to do my job, 32 hrsTime to communicate and manage (up, down,
sideways), 8 hoursTime to study best practices, learn what is new, 8
hoursTime to network, 2 hoursTime for family (6-9pm?), time for growth, time for
hobbies, culture, entertainment???
Telling Your Story
First things first, pause for some gratitude… we are lucky to be knowledge workers and in such a healthy industry
Do you fill squares or fill a role?Why are you here, right here right now, what
brought you here?If we created the perfect job for you, the one that
would fit you best and position you to bring the most value and make great contributions, what would it be?...
Telling Your Story
Now create an arc that connects the dots from your first interests and activities to this ideal landing zone of a perfect job. This is your career narrative.
You are now the main character in your own lifetime movie, you have an arc to follow with lessons learned from both failure and success, with a supporting cast that helped educate, challenge and collaborate with you on your journey.
Activity - Build a short narrative and “tell me about yourself”
Early Interests
● Passions
● Aptitude
● Influencers
● Talent
● Energy
● Fun
Skills & Experience
Think through each step of your journey:
What did you do?
What did you learn?
Quantify and qualify results
Why did you leave?
Why did you pick the next step?
Direction & Vision
Weave it all together and smooth out your arc:
1. Fine tune and revise as needed
2. Show true north
3. Develop the overall value proposition
This is my true passion - and it informs my daily work if I stay focused and balanced
My Journey1982 Apple II (first love), 1983 TRS-80 (first line of code), 1984 Z-100 (first IT job)
College Dropout, Bioenvironmental Technician, Computer Programmer, Intelligence Analyst, Counterdrug Intelligence Analyst, Unix Systems Administrator, Scientific Programmer, Team Lead, Sales Engineer, Systems Architect, Director of Systems Integration, Director of Research & Development, Consultant, Founder & CTO, Consulting CTO, Interim CTO, Technology Practice Manager, Unemployed, Executive Consultant, Acting VP of Enterprise Architecture, CTO, Program Manager & Lead Technologist, Product Manager, Acting VP of Engineering, Solution Architect, Senior Program Architect, VP of Engineering, UMSEC Adjunct Faculty Member, SVP of Engineering
Building Your Personal Brand
Bringing your career narrative to life and finding what is essential:
Authenticity
Performance
Community
Participation
Permission
Just Ask...
Authenticity
So easy to underestimate the importance of this...No mask, no fear, be true to who you are, be in
touch with your own gut and intuition, and feel the connection to your heart - Patty Jensen (my wife)
Build a support network, start with one person you really trust
Performance
Results = ResultsAnything Else = Results
Performance...
How you do anything is how you do everything - Buddhist expression
How you do what’s next is how you do what’s next- Greg Jensen
Why bother with a resume anymore? (because you have to)
Just do it, and keep at it...Google is your friend, learn best practices and dig
through examplesDon’t keep changing it for every job openingYour profile is your passport (not your narrative)
Community
You are a “company”, an army of one, and your brand matters
Everyone you interact with is a “customer” and their experience matters
Be positive and communicate thoughtfully, be helpful
Don’t do it well because people don’t forget, do it well because you don’t forget, you have muscle memory
Participation
It’s hard being an introvert, but there are so many benefits… (and extroverts are still OK too)
Make the effort to come out and playThink about what best supports your narrative and
spend your time wiselyChoose your moments at the office, there is plenty
of oxygen to go around
Permission
It starts with youGrade yourself on a scale of 1 - 10 and be honest,
but know that people rarely rank you higher than you are willing to rank yourself
Rich vs Poor (and not just in dollars) often comes down to what you think you deserve, to your sense of self-worth
Just Ask...
Not just me, I mean anyone, anytime, for just about anything
This is the single biggest blocker in our own daily career standup
Don’t bring any pressure or obligation or expectation, just ask people if they can help you with whatever you need help on… and make it clear you are happy to reciprocate in any way that you can
Evolving Your Mindset
We could complain and criticize, or we could grow stronger and happier:
Core Values
Growth & Learning Mindset
Imposter Syndrome
Staying above the line...
Core Values
What are yours, what are your employers and do they align? Some examples:
Clear Communications OwnershipCraftsmanship
RecognitionCustomer-Centric Thinking Respect &
HumilityDogfooding
Results Over PoliticsIntensity
Warmth, Fun & Laughter
Core Values...
Culture reflects the real values of a company and its employees (recruiting makes all the difference)
...along with the agenda and competency of senior leadership
Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast :)Read the history about this quote on Quora
Growth & Learning Mindset
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol
Dweck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh0OS4MrN3E
Mindsetonline.com
In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.
Mindsetonline.com...
In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.
Mindsetonline.com...
Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education, and sports. It enhances relationships. When you read Mindset, you’ll see how.
Imposter Syndrome
If you feel anxious or feel like your confidence is slipping away, look this up and read about it and take it all in. This is extremely important for many of us and we need to step back and know that we are OK, that we belong here and have in fact earned our seat at the table.
Staying Above The Line
The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman,
& Kaley Warner Klemp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovrVv_RlCMw
The Drama Triangle
Victim
Hero Villian
Wanting to be right
Blame
Fear
Servant Leadership
“SOMEONE WHOSE PRIMARY MOTIVE IS TO HELP OTHERS SUCCEED.” - SIMON SINEK, LEADERS EAT LAST
Tracking Your Tech
Do the work:
Read every day
Books, blogs, podcasts, youtube...
Your Tech Radar
Context & Ecosystem
Read (and watch, and listen, and learn…)
● Start with Google● Establish regular touch points● Explore terms and references...don’t
settle!● If not knowing how things work is
something you are comfortable with, you are in the wrong business
Tech Radar
Neal Ford, Thoughtworks
https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/build-your-own-technology-radar
Split into 4 quadrants: Techniques, Tools, Platforms, and Languages & Frameworks with four rings, from outer to inner: hold, assess, trial, and adopt.
What makes sense for you? Modify to suit your needs and go through the exercise of building one.
Appreciate the ecosystem and your context:
Corporate Interests
You are here :)
Best Practices
Consumer Interests
Science
In Summary:
● Observe The Landscape● Visualize Your Own Path● Experience Your Journey● Appreciate The Ecosystem
Thank You