Writing on Leadership
Sayers vs. Showers
I’ve had the opportunity to work with many employees who struggled for one reason or...
Delegation 101
When I was first put in charge of a small engineering team, I loved being...
Empathetic Leadership: Finding the Problem Under the Problem
Empathy tends to be one of the most underrated qualities in a professional environment. As...
On Taking Breaks
I’ll be honest, I’ve never experienced burnout. I’ve always enjoyed my work, especially since I...
Startup Leadership: Setting Goals and Getting Buy-in
Almost two years after starting Draft.dev, I took a step back and realized that my...
You Want to Start a Business, but do You Really Want to be a CEO?
I went to MicroConf for the first time a couple of weeks ago. While I...
Entrepreneurial Leadership: Inspiring, Aligning, and Managing Your Team
I was having a conversation with a friend recently and she told me about her...
Managing Direct Reports at a Startup
I remember the first time I was put in charge of a team at a...
The 15 Best Books for New Managers
Being a manager is a career milestone. On the one hand, it lets you have...
The Best Management Books
Being a good manager requires a wide range of skills that often take years to...
Farmers, Pioneers and Software Engineers
I’ve worked with a lot of software engineers and met hundreds while speaking at conferences...
Managing a Remote Engineering Team
Coronavirus has forced the majority of software engineering teams across the world into remote work...
Developing New Engineers
I’ve gone through a couple iterations of my hiring process here on the blog, but...
On Diversity in Conference Speakers
I caused a bit of a stir this week because I called out a conference...
Say No
People will continue to request more of your time until you say no. I was...
Prioritization is Always Relative
When asking non-technical team members to prioritize their issues on an absolute scale I’ve noticed...
Roadblocks to Project Estimation
When I first published this in April, 2015, we were trying to obsessively estimate our...
Keeping Goals Manageable
It’s time for New Year’s Resolutions, which means it’s time for at least 127,000,000 people in...
The Key to Networking: Keeping in Touch
I first started using a system for keeping in touch with important people in my...
The Myth of the Hero
When I first published this post in June, 2014, I was just starting to manage...
Dealing with Fear and Uncertainty
I remember vividly the feeling I got when I was put in charge of my...
Stress a Little, It's Okay
I’ve always been pretty good at dealing with stress, but as I get older and...
The Key to Success: Never Stop Learning
Back in July, 2012 when I wrote this article, I was barely a PHP novice...
Placing Blame: Internally or Externally
There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who take responsibility when they...
Writing - You Don't Need a Degree for it
Writing has been one of my favorite hobbies since high school, but I used to...