I attended The Lead Developer which is a single day conference for people leading engineering teams / teams of developers in Austin, Texas. I took notes on about ¾ of the talks on my iPad using Goodnotes. I’m getting closer to sketchnotes the more I practice this and I figured why not share what I took.
Videos should be published soon by the organizers.
My leadership coach shared a quote with me today that I’m using to help develop a talk I’m doing about how working remote saved my life.
In general, people are not drawn to perfection in others. People are drawn to shared interests, shared problems, and an individual’s life energy. Humans connect with humans. Hiding one’s humanity and trying to project an image of perfection makes a person vague, slippery, lifeless, and uninteresting.
Quote taken from Robert Glover in No More Mr. Nice Guy: A Proven Plan for Getting What You Want in Love, Sex, and Life
I’ve been engaged with leadership coaches for several months as part of Automattic’s internal leadership training program. Having a coach has been mind-opening and an excellent option for leadership training in a completely remote work culture. One of the recent questions asked of me was in regards to what I felt a true leader is and what qualities they embody.
My Answer:
A true leader is someone that people look up to for direction, answers, and guidance when it comes to doing their jobs. They also know when to listen and ask for answers from the people they lead. Leaders are also visionaries in the sense they can find paths unfollowed to lead people to so they can exceed the potential they think they’re only capable of.
What’s your definition of a true leader?
