Confessions of a not-so-accidental leader

Transcript

1. Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

2. "We would replace your talk with a Muppet re-run" --

   Adam Culp Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

3. The year is 2003 I think Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental

   Leader

4. "I think you should take a leadership course." -- my

   co-worker Peter, head of customer service at a cheat-on-your- partner dating web site Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

5. L O L Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

6. "No, really. Why are you laughing?" -- same person Confessions

   of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

7. L O L Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

8. So what if he was actually right? Confessions of a

   Not-So-Accidental Leader

9. What if I had leadership qualities but were in denial?

   Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

10. What does leadership actually mean? Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

11. Let's roll the clock back to the late 1970's and

    early 1980's Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

12. "Hey, I want to play baseball in the park?" Confessions

    of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

13. "Is anybody else playing baseball in the park?" Confessions of

    a Not-So-Accidental Leader

14. "Grab your gloves and a bat, we're going to go

    play '2 Against The North'" Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

15. Let it roll further to the mid-to-late 1990's Confessions of

    a Not-So-Accidental Leader

16. "Hey, I want to play dice-and-paper role playing games" Confessions

    of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

17. "Is anyone else out there wanting to play?" Confessions of

    a Not-So-Accidental Leader

18. "Great, make up your characters and come and play at

    my place. I have room in my computer room upstairs!" Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

19. Roll it all the way up to 2012... Confessions of

    a Not-So-Accidental Leader

20. "Hey, there are no PHP-centric conferences where I live" Confessions

    of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

21. "Who wants to help me organize one? I'll be the

    hype man and take care of the speakers!" Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

22. "Thank you all for coming to the 5th and final

    year of TrueNorthPHP!!!" Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

23. So what was the common thing? Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental

    Leader

24. Scary parallels to product development Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

25. I found a pain point I had Confessions of a

    Not-So-Accidental Leader

26. I wondered what it would take to solve that pain

    point Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

27. I created a solution Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

28. Does that mean I had "leadership skills"? Confessions of a

    Not-So-Accidental Leader

29. (snicker) Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

30. I believe my old co-worker was correct Confessions of a

    Not-So-Accidental Leader

31. Are you a potential leader without knowing it? Confessions of

    a Not-So-Accidental Leader

32. Uncomfortable assumptions about leadership Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

33. Many folks would have you believe that tech leaders are:

    • young • aggressively overconfident • always working long hours Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

34. Maybe that is people who sell you seminars on leadership?

    Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

35. Maybe this is people who know their ideas won't make

    money and want to cash out before anyone figures it out? Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

36. I am only one of those things Confessions of a

    Not-So-Accidental Leader

37. Except I have a beard (which conveys MASSIVE authority in

    tech) Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

38. Outcomes matter more then my awesome beard Confessions of a

    Not-So-Accidental Leader

39. The people I know who are best at leadership do

    not all look the same Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

40. What they have in common is a process Confessions of

    a Not-So-Accidental Leader

41. 1. Articulate ideas clearly Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

42. 1. Describe goals and directions Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

43. 1. Convince others of the values of 1 and 2

    Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

44. If you've ever done that... Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

45. CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ARE A LEADER Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

46. So back to the title of this talk... Confessions of

    a Not-So-Accidental Leader

47. Most of my career had been pretty deliberate Confessions of

    a Not-So-Accidental Leader

48. Jobs provided opportunities to build skills and network Confessions of

    a Not-So-Accidental Leader

49. Conferences provided opportunities to build different skills...and network Confessions of

    a Not-So-Accidental Leader

50. Social media provided opportunities to express ideas and attract cultists,

    er, followers Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

51. All of them together helped me realize that leadership was

    something I was willing to do Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

52. Except manage people for money Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

53. The same thing might be true for you Confessions of

    a Not-So-Accidental Leader

54. Think about the "Grumpy Tripod Of Leadership" $1 to me

    via PayPal to use in your own talks Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

55. 1. Identify a pain point you are having and find

    fellow sufferers Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

56. 1. Identify a pain point you are having and find

    fellow sufferers 2. Come up with solutions and invite others to join you Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

57. 1. Identify a pain point you are having and find

    fellow sufferers 2. Come up with solutions and invite others to join you 3. Execute a plan to implement that solution Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

58. "But Chris, how does this work in the real world?

    Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

59. Open Source! Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

60. (Comes with a massive amount of privilege to have the

    time to work on it) Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

61. OpenCFP Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

62. "Hey, I need to build something to collect talks for

    TrueNorthPHP because what we used the first time wasn't doing it for me" Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

63. "I'll open-source this so we can other people to help

    build it out because it's more than enough work for one person..." Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

64. "I can't believe so many people use this now! Let

    me take a look at those pull requests..." Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

65. That is leadership. Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

66. Find a group and keep them all moving in the

    same direction Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

67. Mentoring Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

68. "Hey, I wonder if there are folks struggling to figure

    out how to advance their career..." Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

69. "Is there a centralized place I can go and offer

    to help?" Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

70. "Hey, is Skype good for you? Talk to you at

    9pm once my kids are in bed?" Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

71. That is leadership Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

72. Welcome to not-so-accidental leadership! Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental Leader

73. Thank you and enjoy the conference Confessions of a Not-So-Accidental

    Leader