Zach on Leadership

I'm naturally fascinated by new technology. No one needs to tell me to keep up on tech trends. I do so naturally. I've done plenty of dabbling with Generative AI. I've written about it a few times on this blog already. If you missed it, you can check it out here, here, and here. Today's article is all about Generative AI technology adoption. Some never use it. Some play with it from time to time. Some use it daily. I'm... Read More Read More The post How Generative AI Fixed My Air Conditioner appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I remember the first time I set foot in a real data center. It was roughly 26 years ago. That's where the magic happened. That's where the serious IT engineering work was done. At the time, I was a desktop support technician. After a few years, I advanced my career to the point where I was qualified to work in the data center. I was elated. I loved every aspect of it. The ice-cold air conditioning, the blinking LED lights, the... Read More Read More The post The End of the Corporate Data Center appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Do you ever get the feeling that you should've been promoted to the next level by now? If you are early in your career, you might think you are the only one. Ask anyone. Every single person will say that they've been there for a season of their career. Most have been there multiple times. While the situation is common, it isn't easy to handle. Being overdue for a promotion can lead to frustration and disengagement. There are a lot... Read More Read More The post What to Do While You're Waiting to Be Promoted appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

This week, the President of the United States stepped into a modern EV and remarked with exuberance, “Everything is computer!” I will set aside the political context for this, because that's not the purpose of this blog. I will take a moment to reflect on this humorous comment because it provides me the opportunity to reflect on our relationship with technology in this modern era. The term “computer” I still use the term, “computer,” but I also recognize that it's... Read More Read More The post Everything is Computer appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Can you be a people-first, servant leader and still have the guts to make the tough calls when you have to? Yes, but it's really hard. Those of you who have been following me for a long time know that I'm all about servant leadership. You know the type. These leaders make work fun. They help people grow in their careers. They build a great culture. They take the blame and give the credit. They make people feel safe. They... Read More Read More The post The Difference Between a Good Servant Leader and a Great One appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I was asked a pretty insightful question this week. I was doing Q&A with Minnesota Technology Association's ACE Leadership cohort. We were discussing a wide range of leadership topics when one of the participants asked this interesting question: How do you know what's really going on in your team? Do you use dashboards or status reports? What's your method? I sat back in my chair for a moment to gather my thoughts. It occurred to me that this is a... Read More Read More The post How Do You Know What's Really Going on in Your Team? appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

It had been 5 years since I last coached a competitive Lego robotics team. 5 long years. What could possibly have changed? From 2017-2020. I coached a Lego robotics team through three seasons, two of which climaxed with appearances at the state championships. Those were some great years, and they inspired many blog articles. If you'd like to check them out, click here, here, and here. But then covid hit, and that changed everything. Also, shortly after that, all of... Read More Read More The post For the Love of Robots appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I love to teach leadership lessons inspired by pop culture references. Last week I drew leadership lessons from Napoleon Dynamite. That lesson was targeted at people my age and younger. Some of my older readers may not have gotten much out of it. I'd like to balance that out with an article that will likely resonate with people my age and older. In 1976, Boston released their debut self-titled album, with the hit, “Peace of Mind.” Fast forward 20 years,... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Boston's ‘Peace of Mind' appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Napoleon Dynamite was released 20 years ago and was wildly successful, especially considering its tiny budget. The first time I saw it, I thought it was pretty dumb. But I must admit, it's grown on me over the years. I recently watched it with my family and thought it was hilarious. I declared right in the moment, that I would be Napoleon Dynamite for Halloween. And, of course, you all know I like to draw leadership lessons from pop culture, and I... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Napoleon Dynamite appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Roughly 12-14 years ago, a war raged in every corporate IT department. The people wanted iPhones at work. Corporate IT clung to their BlackBerry's. This is most certainly old news. Why bring it up now? I think time gives us perspective. There are lessons to be gleaned now that were hard to see then. We love to talk about the hot new tech trends. Do we ever look back and evaluate our previous positions? What did we get right? What... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Losing the BlackBerry appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

There's a meme circulating on the internet called the bell curve meme, or the midwit meme. It points out funny things that newbies do, compared to the prevailing wisdom of the masses, compared to the insight of the experts. The joke is that the experts often mirror the newbies. I haven't seen the meme applied to technology leadership, but I thought I'd give it a try. “Don't bring me problems. Bring me solutions,” says the leader, feeling smart, strong, and... Read More Read More The post Bring me Problems, not Solutions appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Eight years ago when I started Zach on Leadership, some of my first blog articles were about helping people advance in their careers. I love techies. I'm one of them. I spent years of my career as a technician and engineer. Then I advanced and started climbing the corporate ladder. I truly believe that techies make the best technology leaders, but few of them are equipped to succeed in leadership. That's where I come in. I detailed the pathway that... Read More Read More The post What's the Difference Between a Director and a Vice President? appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

One of the most fundamental questions a tech executive must answer is, should we buy or build our software solutions? On the surface, this seems like a pretty straightforward question, but it can get complicated in a hurry. The basic line of reasoning works like this: Is there a commercial solution that meets my needs? If so, I should probably buy it, because why would I reinvent the wheel? That would be dumb. On the other hand, if I have... Read More Read More The post Reimagining the Buy vs. Build Process appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Mark Zuckerberg famously started Facebook with the motto, “Move Fast and Break Things.” Eventually, they abandoned that motto after they broke a few too many things. I relate to this struggle more than most. Some lean more toward operational stability. Some lean more toward disruptive innovation. I'm squarely in the uncomfortable middle. Operations I've been accountable for operations my whole career. Twice now, I've been explicitly hired into a company because they really needed some operational rigor. Things were breaking... Read More Read More The post The Balancing Act of Innovation and Operations appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Last week, I shared some leadership lessons from our company's response to the global outage caused by a CrowdStrike update. Upon further reflection, there is an additional lesson to be shared. If you missed last week's article go back and read it, then continue on here. After the initial recovery of our critical workloads, we took stock of the enormous job ahead of us to recover a large number of individual end-user computers spread across the globe. By then, we... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Volunteering for Extra Work appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I awoke on Friday, July 19th to a phone full of missed calls and texts. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I went to my work computer, and jiggled my mouse to wake it up, only to see the blue screen of death. I returned the calls and quickly got up to speed on the technical carnage impacting the planet. Some of you never heard of CrowdStrike before last Friday, but most of us in enterprise technology know it well.... Read More Read More The post The Day 8.5 Million Computers Died appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

If you've been following Zach on Leadership for any amount of time, you know that I'm all about servant leadership. It's a regular theme on this blog. If you'd like an overview of my views on servant leadership, check out this article. I'm in favor of it because it yields such good outcomes for everyone involved. The employees win, the customers win, and the leaders win. There aren't any downsides. Yet, some still resist this leadership philosophy. Some argue that... Read More Read More The post Servant Leadership Isn't for Wimps appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Don't you love it when you find a small tweak that makes a big difference? That always feels like a win because so much of what we do requires tremendous effort and the benefits are not always realized. We experienced one of these low-effort, high-reward changes this past year, and I thought I'd share our insights. Problem #1: Like many organizations, we rely on the timely cascade of relevant, contextualized information. Discussions at the executive level get shared with the... Read More Read More The post The Meeting Cascade: A Small Tweak to Improve Communication Speed and Cross-team Collaboration appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I just got back from a two-week vacation. A common reaction I get is, “Wow. How did you pull that off?” I didn't always do this. I started taking 2-3 week vacations annually about 9 years ago. The thing that triggered it was the purchase of an RV for our family of six. Sure, you can take your RV out for a weekend, and we do, but if you really want to use it for what it's capable of, you... Read More Read More The post Can You Really Take a Two-week Vacation? appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

This past weekend, the world got one of the best-ever looks at the Aurora Borealis, aka the Northern Lights. Personally, I was in northern Minnesota at the time. I forgot my DSLR camera at home but managed to snap some decent shots with my iPhone. I took in the beautiful sights with several friends, who were also feverishly taking photos of the sky with their phones. This is what I experienced last weekend. Many of you probably experienced something similar:... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Seeing the Northern Lights through a Camera Lens appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Note to my non-techie audience: This article is a bit more technical than usual, but as always, there's a leadership lesson. This week, I'm reflecting on my time as an engineer and am considering what that means for my leadership practice. There are things that I did back then, that I now oversee. The technologies and times have changed, but a lot of the principles have not. 20 years ago, I worked as a senior systems engineer for a financial... Read More Read More The post Recreating Engineering Excellence as a Leader appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Is leadership a general skill, or is it context-specific? In other words, does it help to have domain knowledge in the area you are leading, or can a skilled leader lead anything effectively? I've spent 100% of my professional career leading in the technology domain. I've never led a business unit, sales team, marketing function, or anything else. I generally consider my technical knowledge a huge asset when leading technology teams. It gives me credibility and empathy with my team... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Serving on a Church Board appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

My 16-year-old son, Nathan, got a job this week at a local fast-food restaurant. His experience reminded me of the stories I hear every week from “open-to-work” technology professionals looking for their next opportunity. While there are differences, there are more similarities than you might think. I'll tell you his story, and then we will see what lessons apply to the rest of us. Originally, Nathan had no interest in working in fast food. He wanted to work at our... Read More Read More The post How to Get a Job in 2024 appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

“I need more staff,” says the manager, with a look of panic and exhaustion in his eyes. What happens next varies from leader to leader, but usually winds up in the same place: “No.” This experience is demotivating for the manager, aggravating for the overworked team, and is no picnic for those up the management chain either. In this article, I will unpack this dynamic a bit. A lot is going on here. I'll even offer a few suggestions for... Read More Read More The post I Need More Staff! appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

You are a fantastic leader. You've got a great team. You gather everyone together in an all-team meeting. You carefully announce and explain your new innovative and strategic initiative. It's inspiring. People nod their heads. They even clap at the end. Then the meeting ends and everyone goes back to their desks and does what they've always done. Despair This doesn't really happen, does it? Your team members are good people. You are the boss. Of course, they listen to what you have to... Read More Read More The post Exploring the Disconnect Between Leadership Communication and Reality appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I love the future, but sometimes, it is important to recognize the past. More than most, I pay attention to company history. I love our origin story and the twists and turns along the way. Understanding our past can help us make sense of our present and realize our future. CHS is a 95-year-old company. That history is filled with a lot of mergers. The most significant merger happened in 1998 when Cenex and Harvest States joined to form CHS. CHS'... Read More Read More The post A Legacy of Innovation: Happy 60th Anniversary to the CHS IT Department appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Ever had a leader who was too involved in all of the details? We call that leader a micromanager. It can feel suffocating and unempowering. Ever had a leader who was aloof, uninvolved, with their head in the clouds? I've not heard “macromanager” as a commonly used term, but it seems like the appropriate semantic. This leader makes you feel unsupported and alone. Have you ever heard someone describe themself as detail-oriented? Have you ever heard someone describe themself as... Read More Read More The post How to Use Your Leadership Lenses appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Each week on this blog, I build my leadership brand. Whether you know it or not, that is what I'm doing. I spend more time doing it than talking about how or why I do it. It occurred to me recently that my readers may want to build their leadership brands. First, a caveat: What I do works for me because I'm me. How much of this is transferrable to you depends on so many factors. So, I'll tell you... Read More Read More The post Building Your Leadership Brand appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I was cleaning out my desk over the weekend and found some old relics of my professional past. I found a mix of trinkets, awards, business cards, certifications, and some old floppy disks. I flipped through the disks and found this exam preparation software for the Networking Essentials exam, which was part of the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer NT 4.0 certification. I passed this exam back in 1998 and completed the entire certification for MCSE in 1999. That was 25... Read More Read More The post What You've Learned Matters a Little. What You've Learned Lately Matters a Lot. appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

One of the biggest themes in Zach on Leadership is leading teams. That's the core part of the job where most leaders need the most help and encouragement. However, that's not all there is. Another big piece, especially for technology leaders, is vendor management. I've written plenty about the technology sales process. In case you missed those articles, you can check them out here, here, here, and here. I've even written specific articles about price negotiations and sourcing. So, what... Read More Read More The post Leadership Practices for Technology Vendor Management appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

This is an article for all of you who spent Christmas and the ensuing days setting up and fixing all of the electronic gadgets that your friends and family received. If you're that guy or gal, you know exactly what I'm talking about. This used to mean installing computers, televisions, and sound systems. Also, setting the clock on Grandma's microwave, but times have changed. Now, so much has a digital component to it. Gaming systems, online services, internet of toys,... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Community Tech Support appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I love to look at the world around me and glean leadership lessons to inspire myself and others to rise to our calling. It's Christmas. In years past, I've drawn leadership lessons from pop culture movies. If you are in the mood for that, please check out my series on Elf. Some of you read the title and guessed that I'd be writing about Ralphie from the movie, A Christmas Story. But this isn't about “a” Christmas story, but “the”... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from the Christmas Story appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

On the evening of December 16, 1773, the brave patriots of Boston stood against tyranny. My Great Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather was among them and played a key role that changed the course of human history. Benjamin Edes Benjamin Edes was a member of the Sons of Liberty and publisher of the Boston Gazette. The Boston Gazette was the most radical of Boston newspapers often expressing a patriotic and revolutionary point of view. Some of the conspirators met... Read More Read More The post Leadership Reflections on the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

A few years ago, I took my family on an RV trip to the Canadian Rockies (Banff, Jasper, and Yoho). It was one of our most epic trips, and I'd love to do it again. If you've been there, you know what I mean. Some of you know that I've taken my family on a lot of epic RV trips. I've written about it before here. Since I've camped in 49 states, 5 Canadian provinces, and 37 national parks, people... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Driving an RV Backward up Mountain Switchbacks appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

When I was a kid, I remember watching Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. In this film, the crew of the Enterprise traveled back in time from 2286 to 1986. Scotty tried to use a MacIntosh computer by speaking to it, “Hello Computer”. Of course, it didn't respond. Bones handed him the mouse, and Scotty spoke into it as if it were a microphone. Of course, that didn't work either. If you need a refresher, check out the scene here:... Read More Read More The post Hello Computer: The Opportunity for Generative AI to Modernize Computing appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Fell off the jetway again This is a reference to the opening scene of the 1994 film, Dumb and Dumber. Lloyd is a limo driver who drives Mary Swanson to the airport. It was the best day of Lloyd's life because he met the girl of his dreams. It was also the worst day, because he got in an accident, got fired, and ran off the jetway trying to return her Samsonite briefcase. Being a leader often feels this way.... Read More Read More The post Dealing with the Ups and Downs of Leadership appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Four years ago, I wrote “Leadership Lesson from Deer Hunting.” It's one of my better articles. I wrote about the lessons learned from the preparation required to hunt and the stillness and patience in the woods. I also reflected on my experience passing on this sporting tradition to my two older boys. If you haven't read it, please check it out, then continue on here. 4 years later A lot has changed in 4 years. My oldest son, Caleb, harvested... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lesson from Deer Hunting – Part 2 appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

In retrospect, had we known how much work it was going to be, we probably would have never done it. That's how it is with ambitious endeavors. It starts with a vision. Then, we commit. Then, we nearly fail in a hundred different ways, yet we persevere to the end. This year, my 17-year-old son, Caleb, and I made a Mandalorian suit for Halloween. I wore it to work. He wore it that evening. This story starts about a year... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Building a Mandalorian Suit appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Last week, I published a big article about ZachGPT: My little side project to build an artificial intelligence in my likeness. If you missed it, check it out here. In the week since, I've been reflecting on that experience. It felt really good to get my hands dirty with emerging tech. It occurred to me that the reasons why, how, and to what degree I do this have important leadership implications. That's the topic we will discuss this week. Letting... Read More Read More The post Hey Tech Leaders: How Often Do You Get Your Hands Dirty With Technology? appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

So, I did it. I merged with AI. I jacked in. My consciousness is in the machine. Well, sort of. I read and watch plenty of Sci-Fi. This sort of thing fascinates me. While my opening statement is an exaggeration, it's as close as I can get with today's technology. And it was easier than I thought. Let's back up a bit. I've been preoccupied with Generative AI as of late. Yep. Me and everyone else, I know. About six... Read More Read More The post Introducing ZachGPT: Your AI Leadership Chatbot appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

When I was 13, I got my first job. I was a newspaper carrier. I learned a ton of formative personal leadership lessons from that experience and I wrote them all down here. With that job, I was my own boss. I worked alone. When I turned 16, I got a second job, in addition to the paper route. My next-door neighbor, Bruce, ran his own candy vending machine business. These were the small pedestal machines with bulk candy in... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Servicing Candy Machines as a Teenager appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Ownership. It means, “I've got this.” It's the words, actions, and attitude. It's the competence and the confidence. It's not associated with any particular job title or level. When it's there, we feel good. When it's not, we're lost. In the world of information technology, ownership can be elusive. Development blames operations. Operations blames development. The business blames IT. IT blames the vendor. The vendor blames the other vendor. People suffer. At the end of the day, all we want... Read More Read More The post From Engineer to Owner appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

True story: Generative AI recently hallucinated, claiming that I wrote an e-book entitled, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Technology Leaders.” That was totally made up. But I liked the idea, so I decided to defictionalize it. Or here's a creepier explanation: GenAI knew the future… Never mind. Let's not go there. Back in the day, when I started my career, Stephen Covey's “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” was hot. I remember taking a corporate classroom course on... Read More Read More The post The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Technology Leaders appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I was just talking to a friend recently who didn't get a leadership role he applied for. In this particular case, the fact that he went for it was very public among his peers. It was a long shot. There was an incumbent with a clear advantage. My friend was the underdog. He put all he had into it, but it didn't work out. Not this time, anyway. This story stuck with me, not because it's a unique story. I'm... Read More Read More The post What Happens When You Go for a Big Leadership Role and Don't Get It? appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I just got back from a two-week vacation with my family and another family that we are close friends with. There were 13 of us in all, exploring the beauty of Costa Rica. Early in the trip, I earned the nickname, “Nature Guide.” When we went on hikes in the jungle, I naturally looked at the map, figured out the path, and pointed out interesting flora and fauna along the way. No one asked me to do that. It just... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from the Jungle Cows of Costa Rica appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

In the 1999 film, The Matrix, Morpheus tells Neo, “There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.” As leaders, we do all sorts of things to develop better productivity for ourselves. We read books, listen to podcasts, and discuss best practices with each other. That's all great. It's a necessary first step in the process. It's hard to improve if we are ignorant. But what if we find a gap between our newfound knowledge and our actual behavior?... Read More Read More The post Walk the Path: Use Viva Insights to Reinforce Good Meeting Habits appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Have you ever commuted to the office to attend a meeting, only to wish you hadn't? Have you ever joined a meeting remotely, only to realize that you should have been there in person? If you answer yes to those questions, this article is for you. We are more than a year into full-blown multi-persona flexible work. I've written about the topic on many occasions already. The article will go deep and attempt to solve a very specific problem. But... Read More Read More The post To Commute, or Not to Commute: That Is the Question appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I am a personality & leadership assessment junkie. I've written about MBTI and StrengthFinder on this blog. I've also taken DiSC, InColor Insight, Enneagram, and countless others. I take Greek philosophy's maxim, “Know Thyself” very seriously. I also believe that there's no such thing as a well-rounded person. Sometimes our performance management and education systems are designed to create well-rounded employees, but that's a fool's errand. People aren't well-rounded. But teams can be. This has been a theme on this... Read More Read More The post Working Genius: A New Tool in the Toolbox appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I am here to help. I like being helpful. It makes me feel useful. I like doing for others what they cannot do for themselves. This may not seem like much of a leadership attribute, at least not in the traditional sense. You may think that leaders don't give help, they get help. In many ways, that's true. They hire people who help them achieve their desired tasks. However, when adhering to the principles of Servant Leadership, leaders take the... Read More Read More The post Help Others Achieve Their Goals appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I caught myself saying something peculiar this week. I said, “I like busy managers.” At first, that may give you pause. It may seem a bit odd, and perhaps even a little cruel. After all, managers tend to be some of the hardest-working people at a company. They often show up before their team, leave after everyone is gone, and carry the burden of stress on top of it all. So, why would I take pleasure in the massive workload... Read More Read More The post I ♥ Busy Managers appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I am from the email generation. I came of age and joined the workforce in the late 90s right around the time that email became the standard-issue, de facto communication standard. When I attended college, students were issued email addresses. When I got my first professional job, it came with an email address. Folks a few years older than me didn't have that experience. I was right on the edge of it. Faxing and inter-office memos were on their way... Read More Read More The post Email is the New Fax appeared first on Zach on Leadership.