Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Branding Yourself at SQL Intersection

I delivered this talk yesterday at the SQL Intersection conference and it was surprisingly well attended. About 30 people came, which is on par with some of the other niche topics.

I had a few interesting questions during the talk, which I'll address in some future posts. For now, I'm keeping track of a few of them in this post. The ones I thought were interesting:
  • How do you counter negative posts about you?
  • How do you handle finding remote work?
  • How do you deal with not having a formal title or experience in an area you want to work?


Monday, October 28, 2013

Leadership–Inspiring others

One of the things you can do with leadership is to convince or inspire others to do things they might not think they can do. It’s influencing them to try tools, techniques, projects, something that makes them reach a bit beyond their comfort zone.

This might result in some failures, but it should allow people to learn more, to expand their skills, and hopefully find new ways to solve problems more effectively.

Your leadership might keep them going past failures to try again, or try something new.

These are valuable skills that can help you stand apart from others, and make you a more valuably member of a team. If you find that you can influence, inspire, lead other people, note that on your profile. Save these stories and use them for your next job interview.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Branding Yourself in Las Vegas

I’m speaking at the SQLIntersection/DevIntersection conference in Las Vegas next week and I’m delivering the Modern Resume/Branding talk on Tuesday.

If you’re registered, come.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Becoming a Leader

“You can lead even if you are not the leader.” – Erin Stellato

I heard this quote from a friend recently on a panel. It’s interesting in that it does help to inspire you to think about how you can make a difference even if you aren’t in charge.

The thing is, if you lead, you’re a leader. There isn’t a leader. There are people in charge, and people who lead. They can be the same, but they can be different.

Leadership is valuable, even when you aren’t in charge. When you aren’t the manager, or organizer, or Scoutmaster, or deacon, or any other “position” that determines direction, you can still lead.

That’s what leadership is. You convince people to do something when you have no power.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Be Happy

Work on your career, improve your brand, but remember to live your life.

And be happy.