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.

Most people get varsity letter jackets from their school, not their company. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my first corporate job was more like a school for me, than just a job. Like a good school, I learned how to lead. I learned good habits. I learned the right way to do things. It’s easy to be nostalgic about the past, but more than that, I want to share what I experienced because it was rare and... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from a Really Fun Company appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

For 24 years now, I’ve worked full-time in the tech sector. My work draws me into the inner workings of digital technology. I love my work. I get absorbed in it. That’s good, but too much of a good thing isn’t good. Dirt and its derivatives Early in my career, roughly 20 years ago, I remember taking a customer service training class. Sometimes, IT folks are known for being rude, arrogant, impatient, and disengaged. This class covered the basics of... Read More Read More The post High-Tech Work Needs an Antidote: Wildness Is a Necessity appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

In the past month, I’ve been going through one of the most intense and difficult leadership challenges of my life. The context is a leadership role completely outside of my duties at CHS. I’ve had to make some unpopular but necessary decisions. Since it’s still very fresh, I’m going to be intentionally vague on the specifics out of respect for those involved. However, I can be very transparent with my experiences and the lessons that I’m learning. As always, I’m... Read More Read More The post Leading Through Intense Opposition appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Confession time: I’ve become known on this platform as one of those tech leaders that is hard on salespeople. Some of my most successful blog articles have poked fun at the peculiar and annoying things that salespeople do to try and earn our business. You can read them here, here, and here. I’ve been told that some sales managers use that blog series as a training manual when they assign new salespeople to my account. I’ve taken plenty of shots.... Read More Read More The post I ♥ Salespeople appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

About seven years ago, I started intentionally developing my online presence as a tech leadership figure. There are a whole lot of factors that motivated me to do that, but I’ll cover just a few. Back in 2014, I wrote my Master’s thesis on the opportunity to leverage social media as an organizational leadership tool. Also, as a tech-savvy introverted leader, I figured I could probably do better and make a bigger impact online than in real life. Back in... Read More Read More The post How My Digital Presence Creates an Advantage in Real Life appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I’m not the quickest to comment on the latest tech trends. I read. I pay attention. I experiment. I take it all in. I read the hot takes just like everyone else. Artificial Intelligence is a hot topic, to say the least. I’ve intentionally waited a while to give my opinions some time to settle into shape. Enough time has passed, and now I’m ready to share my insights. Of course, as always, this is more about the technology leadership... Read More Read More The post The AI Article appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

What does it look like to live out your faith at work? It’s a challenging question. I’ve thought about it plenty. I’ve talked about it one-on-one countless times. This is the first time I’ve written about it on my leadership blog. Today is Good Friday, one of the most significant Christian holidays. I figured, if I can’t write about my Christian faith on a day like today, then I never will. So, here it goes. Faith is personal. Jesus Christ... Read More Read More The post How to Walk in Faith at Work appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Imagine you need to speak to a crowd without a microphone. It’s difficult. You must project your voice. You may have to yell to be heard in the back. You may have a hard time even getting everyone’s attention. You may have to wave your arms in the air or give an ear-splitting whistle. Then, if you are lucky, a humble A/V technician wanders up to the front and mercifully hands you a mic. You would stop yelling, wouldn’t you?... Read More Read More The post A Leadership Title Is like a Microphone appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

How would you do your job differently if you had nothing to lose? Would you take more chances? Would you be bolder? You’d definitely feel freer. The question is, what would you do with that freedom? For me, this isn’t a hypothetical question. I was in that situation. It was a while ago, and I haven’t written about it much until now. This experience shaped me, and I’d like to share it with you today. The setup I was leading... Read More Read More The post I Won’t Back Down: Doing Your Job like There’s Nothing to Lose appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Ambiguity is bad. Clarity is good. But the world doesn’t always offer us clarity. We are often faced with ambiguity. The question is, how do we deal with it? I’ll answer that. Related to all of this is the relationship between leaders and followers. I’ve often heard people criticized as “not able to deal well with ambiguity.” Have you ever said that about someone? Has anyone ever said it about you? In my opinion, it’s hard to assess that without... Read More Read More The post How Leaders Can Help Their Teams Deal with Ambiguity appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Today is International Women’s Day. Today, I’m grateful for the women I get to work with every day in my high-tech field. I appreciate the fortitude it takes to thrive in a field made up of mostly men. I recently attended a Minnesota Technology Association event for Women Leading in Technology. I attended for three reasons: #1, I wanted to support the women on my team. #2, The networking and speaker genuinely interested me. #3 I knew I would be... Read More Read More The post Leadership Lessons from Women in Technology Sixty Years Ago appeared first on Zach on Leadership.