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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: September, 2018
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?
 
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