A while ago I had an experience that has direct application to technical management and especially technical management for women. (Certain information and aspects of the event have been changed, but the message is the same.) I was having a conversation with a woman who had retired from technical program management a while ago. (There is no need to explain the exact discipline she was in, just know that it was a very technical one and that she … [Read more...] about How Neurological Levels Can Affect Your Career
Management
How to Delegate
Here we go again. There seem to be endless discussions about "delegation". Over and over again the same answer is given regarding how one should go about learning to delegate. And over and over, the advice seems less than adequate. The most recent article I read was on the TechRepublic website and it discussed delegation and how to learn to delegate successfully. Like so many other discussions regarding this topic, it focused on the idea that … [Read more...] about How to Delegate
#95 The Air Traffic Controllers Were Not Managed!
Hello everyone, I think that the "air-traffic-controllers-asleep" issue has some interesting lessons for us in the area of management. Here is what I mean. One of the workshops I conduct includes a section devoted to the topic of “how to develop your team culture”. That is, what can a manager do to develop and propagate the culture that the manager wants to “install” into the organization? Now for many managers the culture they think … [Read more...] about #95 The Air Traffic Controllers Were Not Managed!
#94 Why Everyone Wants To Be A Leader
Hello everyone, I'm always amazed at how much people love the word "leader". Everywhere I read (only a slight exaggeration) I find references to this person is a leader, that person is a leader, everyone is a leader. Leadership doesn't even seem to be a function of experience. Someone right out of college can be a leader, but not many people seem to be willing to raise their hand and proclaim that they are a manager. They may be a manager by … [Read more...] about #94 Why Everyone Wants To Be A Leader
#86 It’s Easy To Become a Technical Manager
"You are worth gold!" Hello everyone! Two or three weeks ago I received this comment to one of my blog postings that read, in part, as follows: "My question is how do I get back to a position of manager vs IC? (Individual Contributor) When new managers came into play - change happened and because I had the safety of a paycheck I became and now am an IC. However I am unhappy and I would like a suggestion on how I can get back to a … [Read more...] about #86 It’s Easy To Become a Technical Manager
#84 The Young Are Restless—Once More
"Young people and the manager" Hello everyone! Is it a bad rap? Last week I wrote "The Young Are Restless" and I received a number of emails commenting on my evaluation of the situation. All were positive and in agreement with what I had written, and yet, there two sides to the story. In this blog I want to address the other side. "Young People and The Manager" Last week I told the young people, the young engineers, they had three … [Read more...] about #84 The Young Are Restless—Once More