Tech Leadership Unplugged #4:The predictors of careers success
And why you'll always upset some people if you put yourself out there
Hey friends,
In this edition, I talk about:
how leadership advice on Twitter can backfire
update on my productivity video course
why LinkedIn is the next hot platform
why you should stick to what you’re passionate about
a movie recommendation
1/ Leadership advice: predictors of successful careers
This week, I wrote a thread about the qualities a software engineer needs to possess to have a successful career.
A lot of people liked it and shared it with their audience. Other people called me out as a bad leader, who makes quick judgments, has a fixed mindset, and doesn't think people can change.
Which is pretty much the opposite of what I believe in. And this is because I said I made up my mind in the first couple of weeks of working with someone.
I never said it's the norm, and I never said it's applicable all the time.
To be honest, I was probably a mess in my first 2 weeks, in 2006, at my first job. Not even I would have predicted a good career for myself.
Yet here I am.
People can change. People can surprise you. People can beat the odds.
Unfortunately, not everyone will, and that’s a fact.
My experience showed me that people who have the qualities I described in the thread really make it. I never said other people don't. But these make it for sure.
I respect everyone's opinion, "challenging ideas" was one of the items on the list, and I really hope you can help yourself or the people on your team stay on the right path or try to get them on it if they're not there yet.
2/ Update on my Productivity course
As some of you know, I started my online journey writing about Productivity and Time Management. And while this is not my current focus, Productivity is still something I’m still very passionate about. And will probably be forever.
Optimizing your schedule. Your work. Your life.
And last year I talked about how I wanted to create a video course based on my productivity system. And I created the outline, the slides, and pretty much everything else. I just had to film it.
And then life happened. A lot of work in the office, concentrating on Twitter, getting married, buying an apartment, and stuff like this, and one year has passed with no progress.
But, last week, I finally decided to get back to work. So, I already filmed about 30% of the course. I need to film the rest and edit it a bit (not too much, as I feel the content is much more important than how my face looks in sunlight).
And hopefully, in a couple of weeks, I will have it posted somewhere and you can access it. I will come up with a promo code for anyone reading this newsletter (probably half the price, I’ll see).
I’m very excited about this, as it will be the first online product I market and sell myself (I have one Agile course on Udemy) and I’m curious how it will work out.
And even if it doesn’t, I’ll still value the experience I get from this launch.
I’ll keep you updated on this.
3/ Linkedin: the next frontier
I have been part of a Discord Community for a while, called Small Bets.
From my point of view, it’s the best community out there for people who want to try new things outside their regular 9-5.
And the best part about this community is that they hold free masterclasses or courses a few times a month.
And this week, they invited my favorite creator on the whole Internet, Justin Welsh.
The title of the masterclass: “Understanding LinkedIn”.
A little background around Justin, he is a former executive who burned out twice in his career and decided to go full time on the creator business.
He started writing daily on Linkedin about sales and startups until he grew so much that he started writing about how to become a solopreneur and grow on different platforms.
His goal is not to become rich or buy an island, but to have enough money so he can enjoy a stress-free life with enough time to spend doing the things he loves (like walking every day with his wife).
The class was a summary of Justin’s course in which he teaches you how to grow on Linkedin and make it generate leads for your business.
I like his approach because things are changing.
Even though, initially:
Instagram was about sharing photos
Linkedin was a platform to find a job
and Twitter was one for arguing with strangers
They’ve all become great places to find your audience and grow an online business.
For people who like writing as opposed to videos or photos, Twitter was initially the best place to be.
But with all the algo changes after Elon’s takeover, it’s becoming harder and harder to grow on this platform.
And that’s why more and more creators are focusing on Linkedin.
Linkedin is growing fast and furious, and will probably reach 1 billion users in a few months.
And when it comes to lead generation:
No surprise it’s the hottest thing out there.
If you want to become a Linkedin creator:
Let’s connect there: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonard-alexandru/
Grab Justin’s course: the Linkedin OS. (Full disclosure: it’s an affiliate link and I get 35% of what you pay)
I am an affiliate for many online courses and cohorts (I will talk about my addiction in another edition) and I can assure you it’s the best if you want to start writing online.
4/ Content creation: why and if we should stick to what we know
Regarding content creation, I see many people nowadays getting to the hot topic: AI.
People on Twitter that had philosophy or finance accounts trying to ride the AI wave. Of course, that’s because these kinds of posts are getting a lot of traction these days.
Even though I think it’s useful for everyone to learn a thing or two about AI, people should stick to their experience and field of expertise. The opposite comes out as not genuine.
And this is not something new, it happened before with crypto, then with Cyber or web3.
And you get some followers but they will expect you to write about the things that they followed you for. When that doesn’t happen, they unfollow you.
Or worse, they just don’t engage with you.
That’s why you have accounts with 100K followers and 15 likes on a post.
So, people, stick to what you know or the things you’re genuinely interested in.
5/ Recommended movie: “The Whale”
I saw “The Whale” last week and it was way above my expectations.
I never was a Brendan Fraser fan and I thought the movie was just about gluttony. But it’s a very deep and complicated story about how our life experiences and regrets become fuel for our addictions.
If you have the opportunity, go see it.
After I walked out of the theater I swore not to eat Pizza for at least a month. It lasted for five days.
Thank you for reading, and let me know if you liked something in particular in this newsletter or if you want me to talk about some other topics.
Until next time,
Leo
P.S.: If you would like to read my content on a daily basis, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Linkedin.