This Talent Whisperers’ blog aims to provider leaders with alternate perspectives and insights that help evoke Human Transformation in themselves and those they lead. The perspectives were arrived at through years of experience, observation and learning. That learning is kept current through ongoing experience, observation and through researched books on relevant topics.\
Talent Whisperers Pages – A Place to Start
The Talent Whisperers Pages are the living center of my work — shaped by decades of experience across eleven disruptive companies and continually updated through new roles, conversations, and learning. Before exploring the blog posts, start with the pages to see the full frameworks on leadership, coaching, human transformation, and resilience. These perspectives evolve over…
10x Engineer Root Cause
What is the root cause of a 10x engineer? Are “10x Engineers” mythical creatures that exist only in our imagination or are they real?
Weathering Storms: How Startups Build Learned Resilience and Thrive Through Uncertainty
Weathering Storms is the secret to startup success. There may be paradigm shifts in the market or the economy, your product-market-fit hypothesis may have been wrong, or there could be a pandemic.
Generative AI
Generative AI is here and growing very fast. A quick overview of why you should be paying attention.
New Hires
New hires present the best opportunityto put employees on their path to achieve their greatest potential. There are three very impactful people in determining the joy, success and fulfillment an employee finds in their job…
New Managers
In developing talent within an organization, there are times where an individual contributor , often one that has excelled as an engineer, may be interested in becoming a manager.
Building Bridges
Building bridges between product and engineering is enabled by providing thoughtful problem statements.
Radical Candor
Radical Candor is an overlooked asset in creating high-performance teams when that candor is built upon a foundation of trust. I’ve discovered that evoking transformation can often require radical candor. However, when properly applied, the transformation can resemble a metamorphosis.
Data: Trust but Clarify
Trust but Clarify is a valuable practice often overlooked in many analyzing data rituals. We may follow best practices for bringing the most value to customers. Yet, we may still go awry if we simply follow principle and trust completely what the data is telling us.
Lean Out / Lean in
The WEF estimates that it will take the U.S. another 208 years to reach gender equality. So, women and minorities may need to lean in for some time. As leaders though, we should lean out to create space so others may lean in.
Talent Code Applied
In Talent Code, Daniel Coyle describes deep learning via short repetitions, feedback loops. I have applied this approach in coaching sports and in business.
Confidence Villains
Leaders inspire people to persevere in the face of adversity and ultimately derive energy from the challenge of confronting their villains.
The Dark Side of Agile
Along with the virtues of Agile Software Development also can come some destructive downsides that can erode trust and effectiveness within your company culture.
Death Crawl
Lessons from the inspirational Death Crawl scene of Facing the Giants are applicable to various forms of leadership.
Vectors of Influence
Vectors of Influence come from all sides in a changing world and tension easily arises that hinder effective Human Transformation.
Different Stokes for Different Folks
Different Stokes for Different Folks – which version of Agile to apply based on team, project and situation.
Handling Interrupts
Handling interrupts can be a draining burden for any team that is responsible for existing systems. If that team is also iterating on those systems to enhance and/or improve them, this impacts the ability to plan.
Lean Staffing – It’s about the People
At IMVU, we focused on hiring and developing engineers that loved challenges and loved to iterate and move fast. This included an interview process where each question was set up to get harder and harder. This was done until we had pushed beyond the candidates comfort zone.
Start with Trust
Start with trust to set the foundations of a relationships when a new person joins your team. The first impression you make on them sets the foundation for the rest of your journey together.
The Room Where it Happens
As leaders, much of the magic happens in the one-on-one conversations either in the privacy of a physical of virtual room (think Skype or Zoom) or on a walk-about as a more neutral setting and where you also benefit from the energy of being in Motion.
Where to Begin the Journey?
When a new person joins your team, the first impression you make on them sets the foundation for the rest of your journey together. So, the question arises: Where to Begin the Journey? Before you impress upon them your intentions and objectives as a leader, you should first establish with yourself what you believe to…
Aliens as Customers
Imagine you had aliens as customers. From my experience, this is much better than assuming we know them well and completely understand what would best serve them. If they are alien to you: Start Small and Iterate build-measure-learn Get to MVP quickly. Validate by testing variants. Use small steps to continuously innovate and iterate to…
Perspectives – Goldilocks and the Six Chairs
Perspectives are helpful when facing a big, life decision with multiple aspects at play.
Embrace the Challenge
After riding the dot com wave as VP, Engineering for the fastest growing software company on NASDAQ, I decided to embrace the challenge to give back by getting my teaching credentials at San Jose State. I walked by this statue commemorating Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ brave protest at the 1968 Olympics on my way…
Orange Observations
I devised this Orange Observations exercise in my efforts to inspire my students to be observant.
Powerful Questions and Active Listening
Powerful Questions and Active Listening enable more meaningful, effective and mindful one-on-one conversations.
Why are 10xers so rare?
Why are 10xers so rare if so much thought has been given into what makes a 10xer and what cultivates a Growth Mindset. Why are these Waldos so rare and hard to find? If we imagine that excelling, succeeding, finding happiness is basically a choice, then why aren’t we all enjoying being there? Perhaps because…
Acknowledgement
Telling someone that they are amazing, naturally creative, resourceful and whole with unbounded potential is NOT an acknowledgement.
Heart Rate Meditation
There are advantages for mind, body and soul to being calm oneself to be more present and aware. Much of the guidance on meditation starts with focusing on the breath. I found it to be more effective to practice Heart Rate Meditation by focusing via direct feedback. Also, a key to consciously changing your heart…
Building Collaborative Groups with Broken Squares
Broken Squares, Blokus, etc – Games to teach collaboration
Role Models
Inspiration, curiosity and drive for someone with a growth mindset can be sparked or fed by role models. Here are just a few of the many role models that inspired me If we consider the possibility that the potential lies within each of us to be a Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Malala…
Teach Someone to Teach
Give someone a fish, and you feed them for a day. Teach someone to fish, and you feed them for as long as fish are at their fishing spot. Teach someone to learn, and they may discover that they can themselves … – find other fishing spots – – learn to hunt – – build…
Level 5 Leading
I like to framing styles of leadership as I see them in the fish story. I’m adding a level 5 here that is not as easy to grasp as the others: Level 3 and above leadership empowers, inspires, grows and scales teams and organizations. Level 1 and 2 leadership often leads to under-utilize or diminish…
Radical Candor in the Mirror
Radical Candor in the Mirror is all about not being delusional or self-destructive, but instead recognizing opportunities for continuous growth within ourselves.
Radiant Energy
The radiant energy that filled on a chance encounter with the Dalai Lama 40+ years remains with me to this day.
Making Rules
My first early childhood education exercise was to go to a pre-school where a teacher was having particular trouble with three very disruptive boys she could not get under control. She hoped just to get a day of relief by having me take them for the day. I approached the boys and told them that…
The Path to Enlightenment
The path to enlightenment lies not in the footsteps of another. – CD In developing talent, it is important to help them learn to find their own path that not only resonates with them, but that is also appropriate for the unique experiences they will come upon in their path. When I interview someone who…
Relentless
In Relentless – From Good to Great to Unstoppable, personal trainer Tim Grover explains what he has learned from coaching athletes like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade. Grover breaks down what it takes to be unstoppable, keep going when everyone else is giving up, to thrive under pressure, to never let your emotions make…
Content Strategy – Content Types
Content Strategy seems to revolve around at least nine types or concepts of content that I’ve come up with in the purposes they serve as part of a user experience. This is what I walked away with after our oldest, Tasha, tried to explain Content Strategy and Content Types to me which led me to…
Unconscious Bias / Privilege
Unconscious Bias and Privilege are things that are easy to claim we don’t have. The City Bus metaphors may help us wake up.
Bird’s-Eye View
The bird’s-eye view of myself came early for me leading to more Out-of-Body experiences and living and coaching from an elevated perspective.
Cost-Cutting Done “Right” (DRAFT)
In challenging times of change, layoffs and cost-cutting may be necessary. Employee morale, engagement and trust in leadership takes a big hit with a layoff. How do we turn that into a win?
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