Managing Geeks A Journey Of Leading By Doing

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.

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.

Enjoy reading interviews with more than two dozen data professionals to see a picture of what it’s like to work in the industry managing and analyzing data, helping you to know what it takes to move from your current expertise into one of the fastest growing areas of technology today. Data is the hottest word of the century, and data professionals are in high demand. You may already be a data professional such as a database administrator or business intelligence analyst. Or you may be one of the many people who want to work as a data professional, and are curious how to get there. Either way, this collection helps you understand how data professionals work, what makes them successful, and what they do to keep up. You’ll find interviews in this book with database administrators, database programmers, data architects, business intelligence professionals, and analytics professionals. Interviewees work across industry sectors ranging from healthcare and banking to finance and transportation and beyond. Each chapter illuminates a successful professional at the top of their game, who shares what helped them get to the top, and what skills and attitudes combine to make them successful in their respective fields. Interviewees in the book include: Mindy Curnutt, Julie Smith, Kenneth Fisher, Andy Leonard, Jes Borland, Kevin Feasel, Ginger Grant, Vicky Harp, Kendra Little, Jason Brimhall, Tim Costello, Andy Mallon, Steph Locke, Jonathan Stewart, Joseph Sack, John Q. Martin, John Morehouse, Kathi Kellenberger, Argenis Fernandez, Kirsten Benzel, Tracy Boggiano, Dave Walden, Matt Gordon, Jimmy May, Drew Furgiuele, Marlon Ribunal, and Joseph Fleming. All of them have been successful in their careers, and share their perspectives on working and succeeding in the field as data and database professionals. What You'll Learn Stand out as an outstanding professional in your area of data work by developing the right set of skills and attitudes that lead to success Avoid common mistakes and pitfalls, and recover from operational failures and bad technology decisions Understand current trends and best practices, and stay out in front as the field evolvesBreak into working with data through database administration, business intelligence, or any of the other career paths represented in this book Manage stress and develop a healthy work-life balance no matter which career path you decide upon Choose a suitable path for yourself from among the different career paths in working with data Who This Book Is For Database administrators and developers, database and business intelligence architects, consultants, and analytic professionals, as well as those intent on moving into one of those career paths. Aspiring data professionals and those in related technical fields who want to make a move toward managing or analyzing data on a full-time basis will find the book useful. Existing data professionals who want to be outstanding and successful at what they do will also appreciate the book's advice and guidance.

This book’s author, Byron Love, admits proudly to being an IT geek. However, he had found that being an IT geek was limiting his career path and his effectiveness. During a career of more than 31 years, he has made the transition from geek to geek leader. He hopes this book helps other geeks do the same. This book addresses leadership issues in the IT industry to help IT practitioners lead from the lowest level. Unlike other leadership books that provide a one-size-fits-all approach to leadership, this book focuses on the unique challenges that IT practitioners face. IT project managers may manage processes and technologies, but people must be led. The IT industry attracts people who think in logical ways—analytical types who have a propensity to place more emphasis on tasks and technology than on people. This has led to leadership challenges such as poor communication, poor relationship management, and poor stakeholder engagement. Critical IT projects and programs have failed because IT leaders neglect the people component of "people, process, and technology." Communications skills are key to leadership. This book features an in-depth discussion of the communications cycle and emotional intelligence, providing geek leaders with tools to improve their understanding of others and to help others understand them. To transform a geek into a geek leader, this book also discusses: Self-leadership skills so geek leaders know how to lead others by leading themselves first Followership and how to cultivate it among team members How a geek leader’s ability to navigate disparate social styles leads to greater credibility and influence Integrating leadership into project management processes The book concludes with a case study to show how to put leadership principles and practices into action and how an IT geek can transform into an effective IT geek leader.

Learn Business Intelligence Markup Language (Biml) for automating much of the repetitive, manual labor involved in data integration. We teach you how to build frameworks and use advanced Biml features to get more out of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), Transact-SQL (T-SQL), and SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) than you ever thought possible. The first part of the book starts with the basics—getting your development environment configured, Biml syntax, and scripting essentials. Whether a beginner or a seasoned Biml expert, the next part of the book guides you through the process of using Biml to build a framework that captures both your design patterns and execution management. Design patterns are reusable code blocks that standardize the approach you use to perform certain types of data integration, logging, and other key data functions. Design patterns solve common problems encountered when developing data integration solutions. Because you do not have to build the code from scratch each time, design patterns improve your efficiency as a Biml developer. In addition to leveraging design patterns in your framework, you will learn how to build a robust metadata store and how to package your framework into Biml bundles for deployment within your enterprise. In the last part of the book, we teach you more advanced Biml features and capabilities, such as SSAS development, T-SQL recipes, documentation autogeneration, and Biml troubleshooting. The Biml Book: Provides practical and applicable examples Teaches you how to use Biml to reduce development time while improving quality Takes you through solutions to common data integration and BI challenges What You'll Learn Master the basics of Business Intelligence Markup Language (Biml) Study patterns for automating SSIS package generation Build a Biml Framework Import and transform database schemas Automate generation of scripts and projects Who This Book Is For BI developers wishing to quickly locate previously tested solutions, Microsoft BI specialists, those seeking more information about solution automation and code generation, and practitioners of Data Integration Lifecycle Management (DILM) in the DevOps enterprise

Addressing leadership issues in the IT industry to help IT practitioners lead from the lowest level, this in-depth book includes a case study to show how to put leadership principles and practices into action and how an IT geek can transform into an effective IT geek leader. --

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.

Today's new breed of technologically skilled employees often acts and thinks differently than their counterparts. And while break-the-rules approaches and attitudes can be helpful and even necessary for innovative, out-of-the-box thinking, they can also be a nightmare for managers. Managing Einsteins walks managers through proven best methods to optimize the skills, abilities, and knowledge of the new economy workforce--without stifling the creativity and innovative spirit needed for success. Written by two of today's top high-tech management experts, this clear, easy-to-read guide combines strategies for managing and team building with tips and pointers for building better communication between techies and non-techies, coaching for better performance, and more. The helpful skills and effective guidelines in Managing Einsteins will help managers "bridge the gap," providing: Antidotes for correcting problems in the workplace "Knowledge tests" for each topic covered Insights from top tech leaders including Larry Ellison, Michael Dell, and Andy Grove