Zach on Leadership

I used to work in a data center. My office was on-premises and the servers were on-premises. My physical proximity to the subject of my work and my co-workers was supremely important. Little by little, over time, this changed. Changes in technology allowed me to physically decouple from the data center. Remote console technologies allowed me to do the majority of my work from my desk. I rarely needed to physically go into the data center and stand in front... Read More Read More The post Working from Cloud: The Past Is Clear, the Present Is Complex, and the Future Is Uncertain appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I do one thing every day. That one thing makes all the difference. This article is about that one thing. By now, I’ve got you thinking, “I wonder what it is. Does he wake up at 5 AM? Does he run 5 miles? Does he take a cold shower? Does he meditate? Does he drink a gross green smoothie?” Good guesses. None of those things. It’s popular to talk about life hacks and habits that high-performing leaders do to enhance... Read More Read More The post One Thing Every Day Makes All the Difference appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I support medical freedom. I believe it is a basic human right for each person to determine their own medical choices. No government, employer, or educational institution should discriminate against anyone because of their choice. This past Saturday, I joined thousands at the Minnesota State Capitol who feel the same way. Why am I bringing this up? People are losing their jobs. Students are being denied an education. Many sit back, watch, and say nothing. I cannot. I can no... Read More Read More The post Medical Freedom is a Leadership Issue appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

What is your company’s culture? If you are honest with yourself, it’s probably a mixed bag. Some aspects are great. Those are probably the reasons that caused you to join the company in the first place and are the reasons why you stay. Some of the other cultural aspects aren’t so great. That’s normal. The question is, what can you do about it? Or even more importantly, what will you do about it? For most, the answer is nothing, but... Read More Read More The post Leaders Make the Culture appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Sometimes, engineers have ideas that can truly revolutionize everything, but management is too dumb to understand it. Once upon a time, I was that engineer. For a while now, I’ve been in management and at times, I am dangerously close to being too dumb for my engineers. I try hard not to let that happen. Early in my career, I worked as a systems engineer. Back then, everyone installed operating systems directly onto server hardware. Then in the early 2000s,... Read More Read More The post From Bleeding Edge to Dinosaur: A Tech Leader’s Pledge to Stay Relevant and Open appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak to over 50 interns that just completed their summer internships at CHS. I thought long and hard about what relevant message I could bring to this group and landed on the subject of early-career leadership. Over the years, I’ve become known for my leadership lessons. When I speak with students and early career professionals, they often tell me that they aspire to be a leader, but they are unsure of the steps... Read More Read More The post Tips for Early Career Leadership – Part 2 appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

This week, I had the opportunity to speak to over 50 interns that just completed their summer internships at CHS. I thought long and hard about what relevant message I could bring to this group and landed on the subject of early-career leadership. Over the years, I’ve become known for my leadership lessons. When I speak with students and early career professionals, they often tell me that they aspire to be a leader, but they are unsure of the steps... Read More Read More The post Tips for Early Career Leadership – Part 1 appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

“I’m sorry I’m such a problem child,” my direct report says to me. In reply, I say, “It’s okay. I have many problem children.” What exactly is a “problem child?” In actual parenting, it would be the kid that gives his or her parents more than their fair share of trouble. In business, it’s an employee that brings up a lot of problematic issues to his or her boss. The idea is that an ideal employee would have no problems... Read More Read More The post What Is Worse, a Problem Child or No Problems at All? appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Over my career, I’ve watched information security grow from a part-time job within IT into a fully-fledged department with a complex set of accountabilities and disciplines. I’ve never been the primary information security leader at my company, but I’ve always been a close partner. You probably hear from your information security team from time to time. Depending on your role, you may hear about policies, security awareness, audits, assessments, compliance, risks, and threats. However, you probably don’t hear a lot... Read More Read More The post An Outsider’s View: How to Partner with Your Information Security Team appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Here in 2021, the War for Talent is real and it is as intense as it’s ever been. If you aren’t familiar with the term, a simple google search will render over 300 million results. In short, leaders are nothing without their teams. The effort that leaders put toward recruiting, hiring, retaining, and developing talented team members is on a war-like scale. I’m not going to write an article about how to win the War for Talent. Many others already... Read More Read More The post Dealing with Friendly Fire in the War for Talent appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

For many years on this blog, I’ve advocated for people taking time off from work. It’s critical to maintain a healthy life and optimal creativity and innovation. You can’t do your best work when you are worn out. If you aren’t familiar with my previous writings on this topic, you should check them out here, here, and here. Even though I do my best to teach on this subject and lead by example, I’ve recently discovered that my efforts are... Read More Read More The post Sorry, Not Sorry: Take the PTO, Leave the Guilt Trip appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I was working with one of my teams recently on an exciting and important strategic initiative. Everything was coming together nicely. They had a solid approach, good stakeholder engagement, and a reasonable plan. There was just one thing missing. Apart from the direct team and the direct stakeholder group, almost no one knew anything about it. That’s when I said, “It’s time to come out of stealth mode!” What is stealth mode? This is a legitimate business tactic employed by... Read More Read More The post It’s Time to Come out of Stealth Mode appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Today is the fifth anniversary of the launch of Zach on Leadership. Why launch a new blog on the Friday before Memorial Day? Is anyone even paying attention then? There was a reason for this decision. In my leadership journey, this is an important date. 19 years ago, something happened to me that shaped my view of leadership forever. I made the biggest operational mistake of my career. I singled-handedly blew up my company’s data center. How I was treated... Read More Read More The post Five Years of Zach on Leadership: The Moments that Mattered appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working with one of my teams and an outside party to bring forward a proposal for approval. At one point in the process, there was some difference of opinion between the internal team and the external group. In that moment, I heard these words come out of my mouth: “alignment is more important than accuracy.” I was simply trying to be helpful, not profound, but after reflecting on the statement, I think there... Read More Read More The post Alignment Is More Important than Accuracy appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Back in high school, my days were broken up into several class periods. At the end of a period, the bell rang, signaling the time to transition to the next class. If I remember correctly, I had about 7 or 8 minutes to travel to my next class, use the restroom, swap books at my locker, and say “hi” to my band-geek friends. When the bell rang a second time, I was expected to be sitting at my desk at... Read More Read More The post 25-Minute Meetings: It’s Time to Add Transitions into Our Workday appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

I often talk with leaders that are new in their roles. They aren’t new leaders, but for some reason or another, they are in a new role, due to a reorganization, promotion, or job change. When I ask how it’s going, I usually hear answers like “busy” or “good.” Occasionally, I get a very brave answer: “I’m overwhelmed.” I appreciate this answer because it’s completely normal to feel this way in a new leadership role, yet few are vulnerable enough... Read More Read More The post New Leadership Roles Feel Overwhelming, but You Can Overcome appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

There are two questions that every leader must continually answer: Where are we going and what’s next? Answering these two questions every day is one of the most important things I can do. While the questions are simple, the answers are never easy. Additionally, the work is never done. These questions need to be re-asked and re-answered regularly. Not because our direction is erratic, but because our world changes constantly, and so does our context. In this article, I’ll break... Read More Read More The post Leaders Must Answer These Two Questions Every Day appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Recently, one of my LinkedIn followers, Jen Musbach, told me that one of the most significant things she appreciates about the Zach on Leadership blog is my consistency. Every Friday, my readers can count on a new blog article and podcast episode. While I am indeed intentional about consistency, I hadn’t thoroughly considered how rare and how important this is. Furthermore, for those of us who call ourselves leaders, there is an inherent lesson here for all of us, whether... Read More Read More The post Leadership Means Consistency appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Once upon a time, Minnesota was known for bad weather and more than our fair share of lakes. For the past 11 months, we’ve become world-renown as one of the most divisive places on the planet. 11 months ago, following the tragic death of George Floyd, I wrote a series of articles about my observations and how these events influenced my leadership philosophy. You can read them here, here, and here. Now, this week, a new tragedy occurred. This one,... Read More Read More The post How Do You Lead a Divided Team Toward Unity? appeared first on Zach on Leadership.

Many leaders have an awkward relationship with their job titles. Titles drive us to achieve. I distinctly remember the moments I was given the title of senior engineer, then manager, then director, then vice president. Those were big moments that simultaneously made me proud and humble. I also lead outside of my corporation. At my church, I was elected to an elder position, and then subsequently, board chair. When people address me by my formal title, I often do a... Read More Read More The post How Should a Servant Leader Use Their Job Title? appeared first on Zach on Leadership.