Make your peers your first team.
August 8, 2018.
Long term, I believe that your career will be largely defined by getting lucky and the rate at which you learn. I have no advice about luck, but to speed up learning I have two suggestions: work at a rapidly expanding company, and make your peers your first team.
Presenting to executives.
August 6, 2018.
Recently I've had the chance to work with folks who are just starting to present to executives. Giving a presentation to senior leadership is a bit of a dark art: it takes a while to master, and most folks who do it well can't quite articulate how they do it. Worse yet, many folks who are excellent rely on advantages that resist replication: charisma, quick wit, deep subject matter expertise, or years of experience.
Your hiring funnel.
August 1, 2018.
Most companies believe they are constrained by funding, product market fit or hiring. Books have been written about each of those, and this will be a foray into hiring. In particular, it'll be a look at how to use the fundamental hiring diagnostic tool: the hiring funnel.
Scaling consistency.
July 30, 2018.
In small organizations, it's easy for folks to be aware of what others are doing and to recollect how you've previously approached similar problems. This hive mind and memory creates a consistency to decision making that correlates strongly with quality. The subtle slide into inconsistency is often one of the most challenging aspects of evolving from a small team into a much larger one.
Book recommendations.
July 24, 2018.
Folks occasionally ask me to recommend books to help them in their professional career.I can usually think of a couple recommendations in the moment, but always feel like I'm forgetting far more good book than I'm recommending. In the hope of providing a better answer going forward, I've written up some of the general purpose, leadership and management books I've read.