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Leading Questions Podcast

We are Dawn Kuczwara and Jer Lance; technologists, leaders, and (most importantly) opinionated people who want to draw from our wealth of experience in becoming leaders and leading teams to help answer your questions. If you'd like yours answered, email us and we'd be happy to "help!"
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Now displaying: 2018
Dec 25, 2018

This episode's question:

I've been a leader for a number of years and recently took a position with a new company. In between my coming in and the last leader exiting, the company had a more junior team member filling the role temporarily, attending meetings to keep on top of projects, etc. Once I started, this team member became very posessive of their "management duties" and was very reluctant to give them up. How do I take over the parts of my job this team member was doing without causing issues with this person? I don't want to start off on the wrong foot with them, but they are being somewhat immature about handing back the reigns.

Don't forget that next month (episode 53, specifically) we'll be discussing Mark Manson's book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck, so give it a read!

Dec 16, 2018

This episode's question is:

I work for a small company of less than 100 employees. We're currently hiring additional IT team members, and I want to make sure that we are getting a diverse group of employees, not just white guys. However, everyone who has come in for an interview is a white guy. How does a company find people that aren't just white guys?

Our first book club episode is coming up, hurry up and read The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson and tell us what you think!

Nov 27, 2018

This episode's question is:

I have been mulling around my impending severance from the company I work for, and I can't help perseverating over one detail. The two week notice. What really is the point? To give some context, three fourths of our team has either been let go or quit in the past year. Every time someone puts in their two week notice, they are let go on the spot. We really don't have any sensitive materials at our disposal or security concerns, so one assumes it is out of spite. Knowing this, when my day comes, why shouldn't I quit without notice and deny them the satisfaction?

Nov 13, 2018

This episode's question is:

I have an employee who is unhappy with changes that are being made in the company, and has been very vocal about it. About 2 months ago he informed me in a one-on-one that he was actively looking for a new job. Since then I've had incidents where I've had to speak to him about bad mouthing the company and its direction while he's still here. Also, whenever something happens that he doesn't like he says "Well, I guess it's time for me to really start looking!" I know he's been interviewing and he's been passed over for at least one job. How do I handle this situation? He's got a lot of knowledge and is doing his job (now), but he's still not providing a lot of value. Complicating things is we're having a hard time finding and hiring new software engineers, so we really do need all hands on deck right now and I'm not getting a lot of help or direction from HR on this.

 

 

Oct 30, 2018

This episode features Karen Walker helping us answer the following question:

My company recently passed over a potential hire for culture fit. She seemed like a great candidate and did great on the hiring challenges. What is culture fit and why does it matter?

Helpful Links:

Oct 16, 2018

This episode's question is:

I've been a leader for a couple of years now and have identified some significant changes I need/want to make in my leadership style. What are your thoughts on a slow/steady "roll-out" focusing on one element at a time vs. a big-bang release of "Leader 2.0"?

In case you wanted to check out our completely unaware sponsor, they'll soon have a new newspaper...The Uranus Examiner!

Oct 2, 2018

This episode's questions is:

Am I hurting my career prospects the longer I stay as a senior developer but where there are no lead responsibilities and no team reporting to me? Conversely, how long can you be in a pure leadership position before a person would have a hard time getting a development job.

Sep 18, 2018
This episode's question:
Question about applying to "senior" positions: I tick almost all of the boxes listed as required qualifications with a few exceptions I could definitely learn on the job, but the responsibilities list notes a lot of leadership and project management work that I haven't done before. Am I unqualified to apply to these? I haven't really led anything outside of like...college projects. My work is as part of a team, not leading a team.
The actual sound a peacock makes can be found here...
Sep 4, 2018
This episode's question is a long one...
It is difficult for me to get enthusiastic about helping customers who I've never met, so instead, I motivate myself by helping my co-workers. I put effort into learning how to meet the needs of each person I work alongside-- only to find they will not be my colleague a few months later. It seems a developer is expected to last only two to three years at an employer. Is that familiar to you? And if so, do you get personally-invested in building a culture, institutional processes, and relationships, that strengthen an organization on the long-term? Does that require us all to develop the mindset of a contractor, in which we do it for nothing more than a sense of satisfaction with our professional self-image? I watch leaders invest care in building the well-being of an organization which is not tied in any way to their own well-being. The colleagues whose best interests they fought for, are scattered to the wind. We hoped to make each other happier while we were there, but did all the benefit of our work go toward making a rich stranger richer? I don't want to be enthusiastically complicit in our own exploitation. But I don't want to develop a cynical attitude either. Do you consider yourself better off because you made your organization more effective, even if its future is not tied to your well-being? I wish I could build or join a team, most of whom will still be a strong foundation for me ten years from now. Do you have any advice to make it possible?
 
Aug 21, 2018
This episode's question:
Recently, I was informed that a new executive/c-level has joined the company. I found out about this on my weekly touch base with my boss, where I was introduced to said executive and informed, in that meeting, that he's my new boss. This seemed a crappy way to introduce the entire situation to me, but in thinking about it later I began to wonder what the right way to do something like that is. What is the right way to introduce a new leader to their team, assuming that it isn't common knowledge that a search is on for the position?
Helpful links from the show:
Aug 7, 2018
This episode's question is:
This was an interview question at a recent job opportunity, I was curious how you'd answer it: Explain a time when you tried your best to achieve a goal but failed.
Links from this episode: Download this episode
Jul 24, 2018

This episode's question:

What do you do if you don't fit into your job?

As mentioned on the podcast...The Peter Principle  

Jul 10, 2018
Sorry for the missed week, but we're back, bless our hearts! By my count, 10 f-bombs before we hit the 5 minute mark on this question:
I'm almost 30 and I'm single and I have no children and I'm doing okay with money. I have a good job that pays okay and they treat me fine but its a super boring job. I don't hate it, but I'm not excited to go there everyday. I had a chance to interview at a startup, and I did, and they've made an offer. I don't know if I should take it because I don't know how to make a decision like this. How do you know if you should switch from a stable career to a risky startup? How do you know how risky a startup is? What do you do if you made a mistake?
Brought to you by Uranus Fudge! (without their knowledge) And, upcoming conferences!
Jun 12, 2018
This episode's question is:
My company keeps pushing me to talk at conferences. Why should I?
Why should you, indeed!?  
May 29, 2018
This episode's question:
My company encourages conference attendance and reimburses expenses/travel. Previously I purchased a hotel stay for an event and was reimbursed immediately. More recently, I purchased a prepaid hotel stay and conference ticket for an event 2 months out, but my company has said that I can't be reimbursed the cost of the hotel because I haven't stayed there yet. Once the stay is complete, then I can add it with my other expenses for reimbursement. While I should have been aware of this rule change and I'm thankfully financially stable, but how much could I push back? Should I take the risk or is this even really a point of concern?
May 15, 2018
Join Yanni Kuznia and Jer as they broadcast the live Q&A from Penguicon! Questions include:
What is the worst job you've ever had (not starter jobs like fast food)? I keep hearing about servant leadership...what's that? It's easy to find tech conferences, what are good conferences for leadership? Is college necessary? If so, how much?
Note: I kept referring to "Carnegie Mellon" courses when what I meant to say was "Dale Carnegie" courses. One of those is much more "bullshitty" than the other. I'll leave which is which as an exercise for the reader. Download this episode
May 1, 2018
This episode's question:
Can you please discuss your thoughts on what constitutes a good resume and, more importantly, what constitutes a terrible resume? As a hiring manager, I'm subjected to a wide range of resume formatting, some of which is clearly performed by the recruiter or agency presenting the candidate. A recent trend separates a candidates job history from their skills or accomplishments, making it impossible to determine the candidate's career growth, for example. Can you discuss what an individual can do to clearly present themselves in writing to clear HR hurdles for a phone screen or in-person interview? Also, please share your all-time "worst resume" stories.
Download this episode Upcoming Events:
Apr 17, 2018
This episode's question is:
When you're interviewing, when should you talk about salary? And how?
Some events for your consideration: Download this episode Discarded titles: Talking Tenners, Discussing Dollars, Discussing Dead Presidents, Chatting About Cash, Chatting Cheddar, Jabbering About Jacksons, Questioning Quid, Wondering About Your Wad (eww), Speaking Sawbucks, Speaking Shekels, Speaking About Stacks...and so many more. See what we do for you?
Apr 3, 2018
I want to apologize for that pun first...but, here's this episode's question:
I am currently a programmer in niche languages with specialized experience going to school to be a software developer. I don't have a lot of experience doing large programming projects in C++ or Javascript or whatever. I make a good living now, but I get the feeling I might need to take a pay cut as I enter the development world. What should I expect to make as a person who is not new to tech but is new to being a developer?
Some events you should consider attending!
Mar 20, 2018
This episode's question (bear with us, it's long...):
I've been fired from my last 5 jobs, 3 of which have been in the last 9 months. Now I'm getting to the last point in interviews (3rd and at the end they really want to give me an offer letter) and not heard anything from potential offers since. Including silence when I've tried contacting them via email. The reasons for my firings were as follows:
  • In the role of a Software Engineer: I got fired after 3 months for not learning fast enough.
  • In my next role as a Software Engineer at a small business: I got fired after my 30 day review in which my manager gave me glowing praise
  • In my next role as a Software Engineer: I got fired after working there close to 3 years. When asked why I was told, verbatim, "We are exercising our right as an at-will employer not to tell you"
  • In my next role, as a Lead Software Engineer and Project Manager at another small business: I got fired . This one I know why, I didn't get along with the CEO's micromanagement and working remote. I was set up for failure too many times
  • In my most recent role as a Scrum Master at a medium sized company: I got fired close to my 3 months. I was again given glowing praise and minor feedback on my 30 day review.
None of these companies will tell me what's going on or give me anything to work on and improve upon. Do you have any advice? Please.....I don't know what to do or how to improve.
Fun facts from this episode: Download this episode
Mar 6, 2018
This episode's question:
I have a person working with me that is a friend. She's a great friend but a terrible employee that is hurting my business. My question is this: how do you fire a friend while maintaining the friendship?
And boy do we have a treat for you...Dawn's daughter in a turkey hat! Love you, T! :)
Feb 20, 2018
This episode's question:
My current position has a manager title, but I have no direct reports. However, I am expected to lead others who do not report to me. What's the best way to lead people that you don't have direct authority over?
This seemed appropriate!
Feb 6, 2018

This episode's question:

At a previous job, I had an employee transfer from another group to mine. In chatting with her it became clear that the reason that she moved groups was because she'd been sexually harassed by her previous manager. She'd reported it to HR and their solution was a warning to the manager and moving the engineer to another group (mine). I'm really bothered by this, both by my peer and the company's reaction. How do I continue to work and collaborate with a peer that I've not only lost respect for, but that has done something I'm pretty disgusted by and angry with (and gotten away with it)?

With special guest Mike Eaton helping us answer questions and talking about Kalamazoo X (Saturday, April 21 in Kalamazoo, MI. Be there!)

Download this episode

Jan 24, 2018
It's meetings all the way down this episode...here's our question:
At what point is it appropriate to interrupt a manager's meeting and inform him that he's wasting everybody's time? Right now, I am sitting with 18 people gathered in a big conference room and the manager is going through his spreadsheet of projects to get updates from each person. He's spending about 10-15 min per person. First, we are NOT going to get through this list today. Second, this is a colossal waste of everybody's time. How do you go about giving that sort of feedback to your manager and how do you deal with time-waste meetings?
As promised...Zoey...
Jan 9, 2018
This episode's question:
I'm a leader and my manager isn't helping us get better. He keeps having leaders under him stop being leader because they can't learn how. I'm new. I want to learn. How do I learn if my leader can't teach?
Also mentioned during this podcast: Kalamazoo X conference on April 21st, 2018...go to there! Download this episode
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