Talent Whisperers®
Quietly motivating and developing leaders of great talent
Learned Resilience explores how growth emerges at the edge of discomfort. Instead of shrinking from what makes us nervous, we can learn to engage it through right-sized challenges that expand our capacity. This perspective reframes fear, tension, and uncertainty as signals of potential rather than threats to avoid. Over time, leaning into these moments shifts us away from learned helplessness and toward a more adaptive, resilient way of living. Read More
We’ve mapped Jordan Peterson’s existential insights to the physical structures of the brain. Discover why having an ‘Aim’ is a biological necessity and how the T.H.R.I.V.E. loop provides the steering mechanism for the human journey. Read More
What is the root cause of a 10x engineer? Are “10x Engineers” mythical creatures that exist only in our imagination or are they real? Read More
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… Read More
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. Read More
Building bridges between product and engineering is enabled by providing thoughtful problem statements. Read More
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. Read More
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. Read More
In Talent Code, Daniel Coyle describes deep learning via short repetitions, feedback loops. I have applied this approach in coaching sports and in business. Read More
Along with the virtues of Agile Software Development also can come some destructive downsides that can erode trust and effectiveness within your company culture. Read More
Lessons from the inspirational Death Crawl scene of Facing the Giants are applicable to various forms of leadership. Read More
Different Stokes for Different Folks – which version of Agile to apply based on team, project and situation. Read More
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. Read More
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. Read More
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. Read More
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. Read More
Perspectives are helpful when facing a big, life decision with multiple aspects at play. Read More
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… Read More
I devised this Orange Observations exercise in my efforts to inspire my students to be observant. Read More