Episodes
Have you ever been told to be more “innovative” with your code? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest, Rich Mironov, discuss the all too common disconnect between developers and those on the marketing side of organizations. According to Rich, this is the result of two very different work cultures existing in the same organization - one that’s collaborative and one that’s highly individualistic. The culture gap can be hard to cross. Thankfully, Rich has spent years...
Published 07/09/20
In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest, Kim Crayton, discuss how organizations are shaped by core values, and why values are integral for establishing true diversity and inclusion. Kim dives into some very uncomfortable truths in this episode, pointing out how most organizations are not actually ready for inclusion and diversity, because they are operating with misaligned values that make it impossible for stakeholders to thrive. Kim also explains how businesses can...
Published 06/25/20
How can we train teams to consistently produce quality code without negatively impacting productivity? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest, M. David Green, discuss Agile Dojos and how they can make teams more effective. Dojos provide a six-week training ground where teams focus on recognizing and replicating value by pairing, mobbing, and swarming. Coaches like Green help them to hone their skills and go through rituals more effectively. The results will be more...
Published 06/11/20
Engineers love to experiment, but is experimenting with your career a good idea? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus talks with salary negotiation expert Josh Doody about how this counterintuitive decision can benefit you over the long term. According to Doody, the key is to stop thinking in binary terms of “good” and “bad” outcomes and optimize for learning, instead. Doing so gives us a broader spectrum of results that we can use to decide how to proceed. This will allow us to...
Published 05/28/20
How do organizations actually work with Agile? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest, Allen Holub, discuss what organizations get wrong about Agile. Allen has been an Agile transformation consultant for nearly 40 years and has seen the best and worst it has to offer. Luckily, he says the worst can be avoided. The challenge lies in company culture and architecture. The Agile way of working can be a shock to an organization’s system. However, those willing to suffer a...
Published 05/14/20
Published 04/30/20
How do we build inclusive organizations that actually value diversity? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus talks with Rich Archbold, vice president of engineering at Intercom.io, about developing an inclusion and diversity plan for his company. According to Archbold, organizations must learn to be inclusive of the people they already have before they can become diverse. He says that this responsibility falls largely on managers, who are the most important factor in an employee's...
Published 04/30/20
How do we leverage remote work in our businesses and on our teams? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus talks with Rachel Farrer, CEO and founder of Distributing Consulting, about the challenges facing remote workers and their managers. Despite being around for decades, there are still many managers pushing back against remote work. According to Farrer, this is due to myths surrounding it as well as managers not utilizing it effectively. She wants people to know that remote work,...
Published 04/16/20
Is your team running so smoothly that it hums? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest, Ron Lichty, discuss what makes high-performance teams versus what makes low-performance teams. Most teams already know which category they fall into, but the solution to a low-performing team isn’t always clear. Drawing on 20 years of Agile experience, Ron narrows down the three root causes of low-performing teams as well as solutions that managers can implement to improve...
Published 04/02/20
Episode 40 What does it look like to be your own leader in times of professional transition? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus talks with Han Yuan, friend and former Senior Vice President of Engineering at Upwork, about transitioning into entrepreneurship from a traditional job and vice versa. How do you know it’s time to make a transition? Where do you find the support you need? How can you prepare team members for their own transitions? It’s a scary proposition for anyone....
Published 03/19/20
What if we could create a trade culture that allowed for change rather than relying on mechanical thinking? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest, GeePaw Hill, discuss how the doubling rate in the software industry has resulted in a complete lack of trade discipline. Drawing on his 40 years in the software industry, GeePaw’s solution is to develop a thick culture in which certain standards are established across the industry. They also discuss why the industrial...
Published 03/05/20
How do we improve in the area of product management? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest Ellen Gottesdiener, President of EBG Consulting, discuss ways companies can better oversee the development and lifecycle of a product in its entirety. Marcus and Ellen also discuss her Agile Product Planning method, best practices in the area of product management, and effective decision making methods with product management within your organization.   Show Notes A working...
Published 02/20/20
What can nature teach us about how to get the most from our organizations? In this episode, Marcus welcomes Dr. Kathleen Allen to discuss changing our perspectives of assigning roles within teams and organizations to what she calls leading a “living systems”. Dr. Allen is the president of her consulting firm, Allen and Associates, and has written many articles and contributed to a variety of books, including The Transforming Leader: New Approaches to Leadership for the Twenty-first Century...
Published 02/06/20
How can you build trust as a leader? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest, Michael Lopp discuss the small practices that make a good leader. Listen to learn about building trust, respect, and relationships in a leadership role.    Show Notes Leadership practices are small things done repetitively over time. @2:29    Leadership is a skill. @3:32  Empathy is a powerful skillset. @5:17 The practice of one on ones is important in connecting to a team. @6:44 Asking for...
Published 01/23/20
On this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest, Amitai Schleier, discuss a new project Amitai is working on regarding reviving an old, but useful, open-source program called qmail. Strategy and collaboration on this project as well as how to manage a project of this nature are discussed.    Show Notes The ‘old’ project is called notqmail. @1:10  Last stable release was in 1998 then it was abandoned. @2:45  Elders decided to make some changes in 2007 and called it notqmail....
Published 01/09/20
To be a modern manager, you must manage yourself first. In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest, Johanna Rothman discuss how you must learn to manage yourself to be effective at managing other people. They will discuss some common mistakes managers make and some important values to instill in yourself that will make you a better manager, such as integrity, vulnerability, and congruence.     Show Notes If we don't manage ourselves, we don't have the capability of...
Published 12/19/19
Are you a resilient manager? Do you want to become one? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest, Lara Hogan discuss what it means to be a resilient manager. She will discuss some effective management skills and thought processes. She will also introduce us to the idea of the manager Voltron.    Show Notes  New manager care packages @1:00​ Becoming a manager is scary for different reasons for everybody. @5:10  Management skills are the same across the board. @9:15 At...
Published 12/11/19
​Are you compassionate? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest, April Wensel discuss compassion in technology and how it affects people. April shares how to become more compassionate as individuals and how we can bring more compassion into our organizations. Dive in to learn about a more compassionate future.   Show Notes Compassion is about reducing suffering. @1:09​ Compassion is what's missing in technology. @1:22 Emotional intelligence ties into compassion....
Published 12/05/19
​In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest, Camille Fournier discuss some points from her book, The Manager's Path. They discuss the importance of time management and how to effectively manage employee turnover in a leadership role.    Show Notes A day in the life of a manager varies, but it is a lot of meetings. @3:58​ As a manager, you have to be on for all the hours you are in. @5:07 It's important to make time for your "thinking time." @7:14 The big problems are the...
Published 11/28/19
Have you ever wondered why am I doing this? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus discusses his vision for the future and how we can work together to change it. Are you with me? Show Notes Consider your why and get on board with mine. @4:02​ I want to create a future that's more productive and more valuable. @5:09 This future will have lower turnover and higher productivity. @5:58 Small ideas have to start somewhere and they grow. @6:53 Bad management and leadership comes from...
Published 11/21/19
Episode Description ​Is conflict always a bad thing? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest, Jennifer Jones-Patulli, discuss how people tend to think about conflict and how they handle it. Jennifer provides insight and tools to use as leaders to help handle conflict situations within an organization and among staff. Conflict may be uncomfortable, but it is not always bad.  Show Notes Fight, flight, or freeze reactions Cultures approach conflict differently Conflict is...
Published 11/14/19
​Turnover is a huge problem in our industry. There are many reasons people choose to leave their jobs and in this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus dissects the top reasons software professional decide to seek other employment and ways to prevent future turnover from occurring.   Show Notes Technology and software have the highest turnover rate of all industries Managers can affect turnover Reasons why people leave Lack of opportunity for advancement Unsatisfied with leadership of...
Published 11/07/19
In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest Esther Derby discuss change. They discuss her book, Seven Rules for Positive Productive Change, and how change is viewed and implemented by individuals  and organizations.  Show Notes Change is a core aspect of leaders' and managers' jobs Change is viewed differently from different people, or different places in an organization How do people and companies "do change"? Codifying when we know the least Forest succession as a...
Published 10/31/19
​In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and his guest Jason Wong discuss how one size does not fit all in leadership. They dive into how the traditional leadership model isn't working well and how it could be changed to become more effective. The two also enlighten listeners on a new followership model, and why followership can be just as important as leadership. Show Notes The traditional leadership model isn't working well Great Man Leadership New model should be less...
Published 10/24/19
Published 10/17/19