develpreneur podcast
Posted on Interviews 2.0

Use Differing Perspectives To Be Better

We continue our conversation with “The” William A. Adams with a foray into diversity. Differing perspectives that are correctly managed and embraced are a part of high-functioning teams. Diversity is a popular term to use to get good press. However, that is not useful in itself. We must look for diverse experiences and backgrounds and then utilize them to improve the team. This benefit only occurs when we work with the differences rather than force them to conform. Differing Perspectives For A Complete Picture There are countless stories of companies that built a product they thought would take the world by storm only to release it to the sound of crickets. These often come from a team that was in... Read more

develpreneur podcast
Posted on Interviews 2.0

Destined For A Career In Software – A William A. Adams Interview

We start a new discussion in this episode. Our conversation with “The” William A. Adams begins with a background that shows he was made for a career in software. He makes the most of the hand he was dealt and has an incredible resume with experiences to match. By the way, William also happens to be a black man in a predominately white world of IT. However, more on that in later episodes. A Career In Software Was An Obvious Choice As we look at the stories and activities of his childhood, this man was born to be in IT. These are stories that might feel familiar even and relatable. Thus, his story is motivational and shows that effort and... Read more

develpreneur podcast
Posted on Interviews 2.0

Rock Bottom Can Be a Starting Line

The discussion with Chip Nightingale concludes with his story about hitting rock bottom and then turning around to grow back to success. He was in about as bad a place one can be and was ready to call it quits. However, he was stopped and managed to turn things around. His story is one that points out that while we can be in a bad situation, that does make it the end. Sometimes it is where our story truly begins. Rock Bottom Is Not An End Chip’s story about rock bottom may not feel quite the same as yours or someone you know. Nevertheless, it is an example of how we can flip from a focus on our mistakes to... Read more

develpreneur podcast
Posted on Interviews 2.0

Invest In Your Team – They Will Want To Stay

This episode continues our discussion with Chip Nightingale. We explore how it can be risky to invest in your team but also rewarding. The view of employees as quick to leave once they receive training is short-sighted and often wrong. There is a natural fear that people grow to a certain point and then leave. However, that is not always the case. Many times they will stay because they know they will continue to grow. Invest In Your Team For Growth You can invest in your team as a leader or mentor by training them to move up in the organization. Yes, you might be training them to take your job, but that is not a negative. It is a... Read more

develpreneur podcast
Posted on Interviews 2.0

Informal Mentoring – A Chip Nightingale Interview

We start our next interview with a discussion about informal mentoring with Chip Nightingale. There are many formal mentoring options out there for you. However, some of the best ways to advance your career are to look to the informal ones that are available in your daily life. Your coworkers, leads, and even your boss can provide you with mentoring that is invaluable to your career. Informal Mentoring Happens Every Day There are people in our work and personal lives that pour into us and help us grow. We can look at this as informal mentoring and all it costs is our time and attention. Better yet, we can develop our mentoring skills and help build our teams through mentoring... Read more

develpreneur podcast
Posted on Interviews 2.0

Learn To Work As A Team – A Missing Part of Education

The last part of our interview with Sebastian Schieke looks at how we fail to educate people on how to work as a team. We have activities as part of education that give experience with teamwork. However, we tend to skip the essential parts, like how to work with others and assess what motivates us. Better Awareness Helps Us Work As A Team One of the first things we need to understand is what motivates us and how we communicate best. Then, we can work on matching those attributes with those of our teammates. That is an essential step in teamwork and creating high-performing teams. We build from each member’s unique skills and drivers to craft a well-oiled team. It... Read more