Translating Tech Tactics to Leadership
Leadership is hard but we have an established set of tools and techniques for building software systems that we can use to build our leadership systems.
In this collaborative talk, presenters Rick and Andrew share their stories about how they took advantage of the untapped potential of applying software engineering practices to engineering leadership. Plenty of stories, hypotheses and learnt lessons are shared along the way!
We start with the concept of "Pairing beyond Programming," where we discuss using pair programming techniques to achieve robust, meaningful outcomes in leadership. We discovered that this technique helped us achieve better quality work, improved efficiency, more accountability and quicker learning.
The conversation then shifts to "Test-Driven Development (TDD) for Leadership," breaking down its core principles and showing how they can be adapted to create a more effective leadership system which improves the impact our leaders have, overall communication and risk management.
Through our applications of these techniques and lean/agile principles we have found our leaders have been able to experiment faster, build a strong learning culture and feel more supported by the organisations they work in.
We want to share these insights so you can help your established and emerging leaders as well.
Andrew Murphy & Rick Giner
Andrew Murphy started his career as a Software Engineer but, after a decade in technology leadership, he decided to focus on teaching the skills that he learnt the hard way. When he moved into leadership there was no support, so he had to make all the mistakes (a lot of them!) and learn from them.
His goal is now to make sure that tech leaders don’t have to do things the hard way by providing them with the mindsets and skillsets that can make them happy, confident and effective leaders.
His company, Tech Leaders Launchpad, currently focuses specifically on the new and emerging leader space, as that's the place we can have the biggest impact on the students, and the industry.
Rick Giner has worked in delivery and software engineering roles for more than 20 years - across agency, enterprise, startups, and public sector. He's been active in many communities across this time, founding the BuzzConf Emerging Technology festival, The Web Meetup, and many more.
In his current role as Managing Director of Everest Engineering, he runs the Australian arm of this international consultancy. He enjoys creating positive work cultures and leading distributed teams across the world. He is an experienced coach, mentor, facilitator and public speaker with an interest in leadership, accessibility, and emerging technology.