Leading Geeks

Winner of the 2003 Financial Times Germany/getAbstract Business & Finance Book Award Leading Geeks challenges the conventional wisdom that leadership methods are universal and gives executives and managers the understanding they need to manage and lead the technologists on whom they have become so dependent. This much-needed book? written in nontechnical language by Paul Glen, a highly acclaimed management consultant? gives clear directions on how to effectively lead these brilliant yet notoriously resistant-to-being-managed knowledge workers. Glen not only provides proven management strategies but also background on why traditional approaches often don't work with geeks. Leading Geeks describes the beliefs and behavior of geeks, their group dynamics, and the unique nature of technical work. It also offers a unique twelve-part model that explains how knowledge workers deliver value to an organization.

Mastering the Art of Technical Leadership As a dedicated leader, you've probably read everything you could on leadership. Many books have been written about it. But you're a technical leader, so it's guaranteed that much of what you've read is incomplete at best, and quite possibly inappropriate. Sure, you can learn a lot by studying ancient generals, sales gurus, or even Steve Jobs, but you've got to remember that Attila the Hun never deployed SAP. The Geek Leader's Handbook recognizes and respects the unique challenges that geek leaders face. It provides both practical advice and a framework rooted in the understanding that: Geeks are different. Geeks would rather lead technology than people, but only people can be led. Geeks have a hard time working with non-geeks, but those who learn to do it well become great geek leaders. The Geek Leader's Handbook gives you practical, immediately applicable advice tailored to the day-to-day challenges of technical leadership. You don't need yet another laundry list of things you should do. To really grow as a leader, you need a solid framework to understand why these approaches make sense and to empower you to adapt them to your environment. The book also takes an unflinching look at what makes geeks different from other folk. To uncover those differences, co-authors Paul Glen and Maria McManus, collaborated as geek and non-geek. By synthesizing both perspectives, they reveal surprising and liberating insights that will help geeks become great leaders.

The second edition of best-selling Business Leadership contains the best thinking on leadership from the biggest names in the business. It offers leaders everything they need to know to prepare for today’s—and tomorrow’s—leadership challenges: how to understand the leadership process, identify opportunities, get things started right, avoid predictable pitfalls, and maximize success. Effective leaders use mind, heart, and spirit in their work, and this volume is designed to guide and support leaders in their efforts. With an introduction by Joan V. Gallos—editor of the highly praised Organization Development: A Jossey-Bass Reader—the author list for this invaluable resource reads like the who's who of business leadership.

The world is becoming more transnational. This edited collection examines how the immense transnational changes in the contemporary world are being produced by and are affecting different men and masculinities. It seeks to shift debates on men, masculinities and gender relations from the strictly local and national context to much greater concern with the transnational and global. Established and rising scholars from Asia, Australia, Europe and North America explore subjects including economies and business corporations; sexualities and the sex trade; information and communication technologies and cyberspace; migration; war, the military and militarism; politics; nationalism; and symbolism and image-making.

At some point in your career, you'll realize there's more to being a software engineer than dealing with code. Is it time to become a manager? Or join a startup? In this insightful and entertaining book, Michael Lopp recalls his own make-or-break moments with Silicon Valley giants such as Apple, Slack, Pinterest, Palantir, Netscape, and Symantec to help you make better, more mindful career decisions. With more than 40 stand-alone stories, Lopp walks through a complete job lifecycle, starting with the interview and ending with the realization that it might be time to move on. You'll learn how to handle baffling circumstances in your job, understand what you want from your career, and discover how to thrive in your workplace. Learn how to navigate areas of your job that don't involve writing code Identify how the aspects you enjoy will affect your next career steps Build and maintain key relationships and interactions within your community Make choices that will help you have a "deliberate career" Recognize what's important to your manager and work on things that matter

7.1.2 Project Planning.

In this highly personal and deeply experienced description of his journey from technology expert to technology manager, Andy Leonard shares his philosophy and approach to management. In contrast to recent management fads, which focus on things a manager should do, this book is about what drives the person who manages. The focus is on values, ethics, relationships, and what's right for the business and the people who make the business succeed. As Leonard says, "The theme of this book is about being as opposed to doing. Experience has taught me that to be a good manager, I need to know who I am and do what I am... What I am is what I have to offer the world, and it's the core of what I have to offer others who want to be good managers."Although the book is specifically about managing "geeks" (a term that technology specialists proudly claim), Leonard's experience and advice apply to any manager in any field. Leonard says that every manager needs to start by asking, "Who am I?" If that question makes you pause to think, this book will be a valuable resource and tool to help you be a better manager.

Many people think leadership is a higher calling that resides exclusively with a select few who practice and preach big, complex leadership philosophies. But as this practical book reveals, what’s most important for leadership is principled consistency. Time and again, small things done well build trust and respect within a team. Using stories from his time at Netscape, Apple, and Slack, Michael Lopp presents a series of small but compelling practices to help you build leadership skills. You’ll learn how to create teams that are highly productive, highly respected, and highly trusted. Lopp has been speaking and writing about this topic for over a decade and now maintains a Slack leadership channel with over 13,000 members. The essays in this book examine the practical skills Lopp learned from exceptional leaders—as a manager at Netscape, a senior manager and director at Apple, and an executive at Slack. You’ll learn how to apply these lessons to your own experience.