• 2 Posts
  • 30 Comments
Joined 3 years ago
cake
Cake day: August 4th, 2023

help-circle

  • So, I’m not a manager, but I am in a leadership position. (I’m a “tech lead” on my team of developers, and I hold more “leadership”-ness than tech leads do on some teams.) And my experience comes more from software engineering than anywhere else.

    The first rule is that to be a good leader, you have to be a good person. Don’t “switch teams” if/when you become a manager. Your job is to advocate for your team. To cover and take blame for your team. To give them space to work. To give them the autonomy they need to improve their processes. To make sure they know they have the autonomy they need to improve their processes. To be vocal to your team in calling bullshit on upper management and agree with your team when your higher-ups do bullshit. To absorb bullshit from above as best you to prevent it from impacting the team any more than absolutely necessary. To talk your team up. To make sure their work is as “meaningful” as possible. To bolster their egos by trying to get them a bigger slice of the “jurisdictional pie”. To ease up when they’re struggling. To learn from them and along with them. To ensure to the extent you can that they get insight into what’s going on at higher levels of management (the high-level company goals and how what your team does fits into that as well as how decisions that might affect your team are made high up). To support your team’s basic needs (sleep can be a big one when overnight on-call is involved, do everything in your power and everything not in your power make damned sure your team never has to do overtime, and of course money is tied to basic needs). To make sure the biggest personalities on your team don’t silence or drown out others. To eschew needless busywork and take care of the necessary tedious bookwork behind the scenes so your team doesn’t have to. To make time for your team, both on an individual basis and on a whole-team basis. To be a source of comfort. To foster relationships between your team and those outside their team that they need to work closely with to succeed as a team. To let them self organize. And to be honest, humble, and apologetic when you have made mistakes, and also open about the fact that you’re learning how to be the best you you can be.

    DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES fall into the trap of thinking you’re “in charge”. There are very few circumstances in which you should tell people what to do or assign things to people. (Help them to learn how to pull assignments rather than pushing assignments onto team members.) Also, don’t try to “leave your mark” or push your agenda on the team. (No “I’m going to improve things”. More “I’m going to help my team improve their own processes.”) Push the team’s agenda to those above you.

    A few resources you need to read/watch/consume/whatever, whether you’re in IT or not:


  • TootSweet@lemmy.worldtomemes@lemmy.worldThe struggle
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    6 days ago

    My mother has two chihuahuas. Neither one needs an angel chihuahua or devil chihuahua on their shoulders. Each one barks enough for three dogs all on their own.

    (This is no reflection on chihuahuas in general. She once had another chihuahua who would never bark, ever. Until we specifically taught her to bark on command for a treat. And after that, on command was the only time she ever barked.)
















  • You put this better than I could. I hate it when I get that tiny rush of “oh that’s cool” whenever I see/hear/experience something before realizing it’s completely bullshit.

    “Oh shit, Shaboozey did a collab with Eminem? Gotta hear that. This is so coo-… fake. It’s fucking fake. Fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu…”

    Every time, it feels like it “pollutes” or “taints” my brain. I don’t want that shit in there. For a similar reason to why I immediately go and look up a news story I see somewhere random on Snopes if it seems a little too perfect.


  • Why do you think the hate is so vocal/common/strong?

    When blockchain was the new hot snakeoil, sure there was the annoying guy at work that would try to buttonhole you and try to get you to invest your life savings in Skibidicoin or whatever, but you could tell them to fuck off and it wouldn’t really be an issue. But there’s no way you can just not participate in the whole “generative AI” thing.

    It’s not an offensive sort of vocal hatred. It’s a defensive sort of vocal hatred. If people (and yes, my employer is one of the worse offenders) would quit nonconsentually forcing AI on me, I’d opt out. But as it is, my only option is to take it and then go vent on Lemmy.