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June 7 · Issue #43 · View online
Level Up delivers a curated newsletter for leaders in tech. A project by http://patkua.com. Ideal for busy people such as Tech Leads, Engineering Managers, VPs of Engineering, CTOs and more.
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It’s been a tough week. I am certainly feeling overwhelmed. For me, I’ve written and discarded multiple drafts, unsure how to respond. I’m sure you’re in a similar position. Especially those of you with the protests, police and escalating military might right outside your door. My ❤️ goes out to all of you struggling as leader. Leaders have a responsibility to build the best environment for their team. A responsibility to create order out of chaos. In terms of chaos, people are looking for direction and you can provide it. In Coping with a Crisis I share how leaders should EAT (Empathise, Acknowledge, Take Action).
Empathise by reaching out to your team and ask them how they are doing. It’s impossible to fully separate emotions from the work. Share how you’re feeling - you’re probably sharing some similar emotions.
Acknowledge the situation. It’s impossible to pretend certain events aren’t happening. Focus on facts. Remember you may have team members with different values from yourself. Consider running a (distributed) “fireside chat” to talk about these topics openly. Finally, Take Action - Consider what options you have available to you, based on what you can control and influence. For many of us, control will be what you do, how you communicate and how you react. Choose to focus on actions that foster psychological safety, the foundation of high-performing teams. To do this, actively encourage inclusive behaviour and discourage any exclusive behaviour you see. When you allow certain behaviour, it is accepted as part of the culture. Invite people to learn more about biases. Some of the articles I’ve included this week offer ideas for you as leaders. I hope you enjoy this week’s content. If you find it useful, please forward to someone else and send me feedback. Stay safe and healthy 🙏
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You’ll notice this is a new section that doesn’t normally appear in Level Up. If you’re tempted to scroll down and hit the 👎 the button or scroll past this section, I ask you to pause. Take a breath and I invite you to ask yourself, “Why?” If you feel uncomfortable, that’s okay. Take an opportunity to learn more and listen to the challenges and stories of others.
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How Racism Shapes My Habits
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Maintaining Professionalism In The Age of Black Death Is….A Lot
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Black tech CEOs explain why the killing of George Floyd hits so close to home
Reading time: 7mins Tech CEOs have been vocal in their outrage at the death of George Floyd, but almost none of them are black. Here’s what the CEOs of Rocket Lawyer and ShotSpotter have to say.
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Relentless empathy: When hate demands critical leadership
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So Much of Navigating This Difficult Time is About the 'How' of Leadership
Reading time: 6mins This is a nice interview with Michelle Peluso (@michelleapeluso) SVP, Digital Sales and CMO at IBM, sharing compelling insights on leading through the pandemic, as well as memorable lessons on time management and the art of building a high-performing team.
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How to Spot When an Employee Is Secretly Struggling
Reading time: 9mins Thomas Hellwig from INSEAD offers some early warning indicators about employee burnout and appropriate actions you can take as a leader.
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U.S. Businesses Must Take Meaningful Action Against Racism
Reading time: 12mins (HBR Paywall) This HBR article shares a number of behaviours to avoid and some actions you can take if you’re a leader/manager and why you have a responsibility to.
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How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change
Reading time: 4mins Former US President Barack Obama (@BarackObama) shares a powerful message in response to the protests and police clashes. This is also a great example of how a leader effectively communicates a clear, empathic message.
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ThoughtWorks' Technology Radar - An opinionated guide to technology frontiers
PDF: 32 pages I missed including this link in the newsletter when it came out but the Tech Radar is always worth reading. Like everything in tech, context matters. Remember that ThoughtWorks is a software consultancy and the artefact reflects their experiences with clients around the world. I like to think of it as a summarised experience report from their teams. Your situation will differ from their aggregate view. But you will definitely learn something new! I certainly have.
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Software Engineering Within SpaceX
Reading time: 8mins
Yasoob Khalid (@yasoobkhalid) summarises a Reddit thread offering an insight into the the team structures, and hardware/software approach to building SpaceX.
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Tech alignment with ADRs, Working Groups and Narratives |
Reading time: 4mins A great set of three simply tools Lothar Schulz (@lothar_schulz) uses to achieve tech alignment in his teams. I’ve used a lot of these tools in my own work too and find them helpful.
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What might we miss working from home?
Reading time: 4mins Spotify Engineering Director Marcin Floryan (@mfloryan) reflects on how people might feel moving back into an office environment post COVID-19.
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A Plea for Action
Reading time: 3mins An evolving article from Kurt Kemple (@kurtkemple) with concrete short term and long term actions you can work towards for a more inclusive workplace.
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On anti-racist management practices
Reading time: 6mins
Rachel Hands (@handsrm) offers some links to broaden your management toolkit including books and links to other articles with concrete actions to tackle structural racism in the workplace.
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Here’s something you should avoid as a leader, asking (only) minorities to explain the situation or their feeling. Read the 🧵 for more detail.
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My manager brought up everything that’s going on in the most pc, round about way 🙄in a team meeting today then goes...”I’m hoping Jeremiah can jump in and say something...” I’m thinking no! I’m hoping one of Y’all would say something!
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Click through to see the two different approaches as a leader. 🤔
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I just sent this to my team. Fellow leaders/managers, please consider sharing something with your orgs https://t.co/Cd1mBualfg
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It's been hard to find the words or actions to take during these times. Sharing what I shared with the team at @ today in case it's useful for others in the similar shoes. https://t.co/8HRs0d4WeS
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If you enjoyed this newsletter, please send me feedback and share with others!
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Patrick Kua, Postfach 58 04 40, 10314, Berlin, Germany
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