Zach on Leadership

I’m the youngest of two. I have a brother who is three years older than I. We were each other’s primary playmates growing up. We constantly played games together. We played a wide variety of games, but I particularly remember excessive amounts of Foosball, Monopoly and Super Mario Kart. What do you think happened when I continually played competitive games with someone who was three years quicker and smarter than me? I lost a lot. A whole lot. We didn’t... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Losing at Mario Kart appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

A leader on my team recently approached me with an interesting question. He asked me, “how do you solve complex problems?” My initial instinct was to ask about specifics: “Tell me about your problem and we will discuss it.” His response was fantastic. He said, “I don’t want you to solve my problem for me, I want you to teach me how to think through it.” That was cool. As a leader, I am used to solving complex problems. Usually,... Read More Read More The post How to Solve Complex Problems appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I just got back from the deer woods. Each season has its stories, triumphs, and failures. As I drove home from my trip, I considered the leadership lessons from this sport. I thought I’d share my insights with you in this article. I didn’t grow up deer hunting. I married into it. For 19 years, I’ve gone up north with my in-laws and have fully embraced the tradition. Some people grew up with the tradition, but I didn’t. 19 years... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Deer Hunting appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Growing up, I was an avid reader of Garfield comic books. These books weren’t challenging, epic, or educational in any way. They were just silly and fun. I didn’t read every book (there are over 60), but I read the first 30 or so before I reached adulthood. It’s impossible to read Garfield without learning these two principles: Lasagna is good and Mondays are bad. Mondays Why Garfield hates Mondays is a bit of a mystery since he doesn’t have... Read More Read More The post Garfield Was Wrong about Mondays appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

There is one character in the universe of superheroes that inspires technology leaders more than any other. His technical prowess is unparalleled, and he commands more confidence than any technology geek could ever hope to muster. I am, of course, referring to the one and only Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man. Tony Stark, the individual contributor In the original Iron Man films (1-3), Tony Stark established his technical abilities, drive for innovation, tenacity, and arrogance. Sure, he had... Read More Read More The post The Leadership Legacy of Tony Stark appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I love new technology. That’s one of the reasons my job is so fun. I get to see the latest and greatest technologies and put them to work to help our company achieve our purpose. There are two side-effects of this activity which are not as much fun: Technology that is new and shiny today becomes old and tired in a very short time. The new technologies we bring on need to displace something. Adding and adding, but never removing... Read More Read More The post Bring Out Your Dead: The Joy of Decommissioning Old Technology appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

My work as a technology leader is more often marked and differentiated by the human element than technology itself. Certainly, on this blog, the vast majority of my articles are about people and organizations in the enterprise technology context more than about the actual technology. However, as a technology leader, I often embark upon intellectual journeys as well. Many are specific, but this one is general. It applies to almost every sizable corporation. If you are an enterprise technology leader,... Read More Read More The post From Skeptic to Enthusiast: Now That Cloud Is Boring, It Is Finally Interesting appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

At my company, CHS, we are currently in our performance review cycle. This is a staple procedure in every large corporation I’ve worked. I’ve received performance reviews for 20 years and have been giving them for 13 years. Most people I talk to look at this process as an unpleasant chore. Most understand that it’s necessary, but painful nonetheless. Every Human Resources organization in every company gives plenty of guidance on how to give a performance review. That advice is... Read More Read More The post How to Make the Most of Your Performance Review appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

As I’ve progressed through my career, the demand on my time has continually increased. I get a tsunami of sales calls, a blizzard of emails, and a monsoon of meeting requests. Leadership comes with a fair amount of extreme weather analogies. So, there you have it. The debtor I think subconsciously, many of us look at this subject like a debtor trying to pay our bills. We have more bills than money, and we honestly agonize about which ones to... Read More Read More The post The Art of Declining Meetings appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

If you are an experienced leader in a completely new role, this article is for you. I haven’t started a completely new position in many years; however, I do talk with leaders in this situation all the time, so I think it’s worth sharing some wisdom. If you have recently started a new role, I know exactly how you feel. You are trying desperately to memorize names, find the conference rooms, decipher company acronyms, all while trying to make a... Read More Read More The post New Leadership Roles and the Mean Time Between Horrifying Discoveries appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Six months ago, I left my office in the corporate headquarters to join 40 co-workers in an office experiment. I wrote an entire article about the experiment and what we hoped to achieve, but I will summarize the main points here. Our corporate office campus is being remodeled floor-by-floor, so we needed some additional space to work while our floor got the makeover. We could have sought the closest suburban office building with space, but we intentionally decided to try... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from the Lowertown Experiment appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Most people in leadership positions go through some sort of 360 feedback review from time to time. I’ve gone through this at several companies, and always learn something through the process. I’ve made the argument before on this blog that self-awareness is an absolutely critical attribute of every successful leader, so naturally, the more feedback we get, the better, right? I recently read a book that’s pretty popular right now: Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the... Read More Read More The post What to Do with the Three Different Kinds of Feedback appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I’m a Seth Godin fan and follower. I read a lot of leadership books and there are a lot of great authors out there. However, if I had to pick one modern author that has made the biggest impact on my leadership, it would have to be Seth Godin. A few years ago, I wrote a blog article about my favorite leadership book: Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? If you missed that article, be sure to read it first, then come... Read More Read More The post Heroes Raise the Bar: Leadership Lessons from a Book You Cannot Buy appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Woody Allen once said, “Showing up is 80% of life.” I tend to agree. As I look back on big moments in my life, I remember who showed up. I know who flew 1,000 miles to come to my wedding. I remember who drove five hours each way to watch me walk across a stage for 15 seconds when I graduated. Because it’s important to me, I’ve made it a priority to show up for others. I’ll get on a... Read More Read More The post Showing Up Is 80% of Life: Don’t Phone It In Just Because You Can appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

The cult classic, Office Space, was released to VHS and DVD 20 years ago this month. It came out in theaters earlier in 1999, but hardly anyone saw it then. It only became popular after the home video release, so it seemed timely to commemorate that event with a set of blog articles reflecting on the quintessential lessons therein. In late 1999, I was early in my professional IT career. Like Peter Gibbons, I was fixing the Y2K bug, working... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Bill Lumbergh appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

The cult classic, Office Space, was released to VHS and DVD 20 years ago this month. It came out in theaters earlier in 1999, but hardly anyone saw it then. It only became popular after the home video release, so it seemed timely to commemorate that event with a set of blog articles reflecting on the quintessential lessons therein. In late 1999, I was early in my professional IT career. I was living the hilarity that I saw on the... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Peter Gibbons: The Straight Shooter with Upper Management Written All Over Him appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

The cult classic, Office Space, was released to VHS and DVD 20 years ago this month. It came out in theaters earlier in 1999, but hardly anyone saw it then. It only became popular after the home video release, so it seemed timely to commemorate that event with a set of blog articles reflecting on the quintessential lessons therein. In late 1999, I was early in my professional IT career. I was living the hilarity that I saw on the... Read More Read More The post What Can Modern Product Teams Learn from the Bobs? appeared first on Zach on Leadership.