This document summarizes a talk on managing your tech career and tracking your tech skills. The talk covered finding your path in the industry, building your personal brand, evolving your mindset, and tracking emerging technologies. It discussed understanding the different roles and paths available, developing your career narrative, maintaining an online presence, participating in communities, and dealing with imposter syndrome. The talk emphasized the importance of continuous learning, building a technology radar to track new tools and platforms, and appreciating how your skills fit within the broader tech ecosystem.

1. Managing Your Tech Career
& Tracking Your Tech
Greg Jensen
Macalester College
Olin Rice, room 100, Wednesday March 30, 2016
12:00 - 1:00pm

2. www.slideshare.net
Search on “Greg Jensen” and you will spot the cover slide...

3. Overview
Finding Your Path
Building Your Personal Brand
Evolving Your Mindset
Tracking Your Tech

4. Finding Your
Path
Understand the industry landscape
and how to plot your own path
through it:
How does it all work?
What is your best fit?
Common Personas
Taking care of yourself
Telling your story

5. How does it all work? (common titles)
CEO, CIO, CTO, COO, CPO, CSO…
EVP, SVP, VP, Senior Director, Director
Chief Architect, Head Engineer, Fellow, Associate Fellow, Senior Staff,
Staff..
Senior Engineer, Engineer, Associate Engineer, Intern
Senior Manager, Manager
Senior Analyst, Analyst

6. How does it all work? (many roles)
Architecture / Infrastructure / Networks / Devices / Security
/ Software Development / DevOps / Testing & QA / Program
& Project Management / Business Analysis / Requirements
Management / Process Engineering / Team & Department
Management / Business Intelligence & Reporting / UX /
Product Management

7. How does it all work? (many variations)
Information Architect, UX Architect, Security Architect, Data
Architect, Network Architect, Software Architect, Systems
Architect, Application Architect, Solution Architect,
Capability Architect, Enterprise Architect, Cloud Architect,
Chief Architect

8. What is your best fit:
Technical Depth
Keep digging deeper into what is possible
How it works, how to leverage or apply
Technical Breadth
Follow connections, look for synergy
High level views, components & modules
People Management
Like to coach and mentor
Care, share and support
Art - Craft - Science
Logic and Rules vs Creativity
Tools or Systems vs Applications

9. Compensation = i* salary + j* stock options
+ k* benefits + l* who they get to work with
+ m* where they get to work + n* what they
get to work on + . . .
Managing the Unmanageable, Mantle and Lichty
What is your best fit:

10. ● Timing - be patient, company and
position first
● Base compensation
● Benefits
● Contracting vs FTE (30% plus or minus)
● Startups and Stock Options (vesting
schedule, shares, and shares outstanding)
Sidebar - let’s talk about...

11. Common Personas
Biz Stakeholders
Why does this take so long,
why can’t I change this or
that, when will it be
ready???
Senior Management
Time and cost estimates?
What will the ROI be for
each phase? Do we need
this many people? Lowest
contractor rates?
Engineers
We need these new tools.
That is not best practices.
We have to service our
tech debt. This won’t work.
That is not enough time!
Ops & Security
You will need a new
license. That is not
supported. This does not
comply with policy. Not
approved for deployment!

12. Common Personas
Not a good strategy for engineers
Don’t say “NO”, give options
Explain tradeoffs
Be positive, consistent, and
rational

13. The single most important leader in an
organization is your immediate supervisor.
—JIM KOUZES
You can safely assume all perceptions are
real, at least to those who own them.
—JOE FOLKMAN

14. You don’t have to like or admire your boss,
nor do you have to hate him. You do have
to manage him, however, so that he
becomes your resource for achievement,
accomplishment and personal success.
—PETER DRUCKER

15. Taking Care Of Yourself (first, then your job)

16. Taking Care Of Yourself...
Essentialism, The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (Greg
McKeown):
Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying Yes too
quickly and not saying No soon enough. Josh Billings
Flow, The Genius of Routine - Routine, in an intelligent man, is
a sign of ambition. W.H. Auden

17. Taking Care Of Yourself… diet, exercise & budget
YMMV - but we all have to guard against burnout
Time to do my job, 32 hrs
Time to communicate and manage (up, down, sideways), 8
hours
Time to study best practices, learn what is new, 8 hours
Time to network, 2 hours

18. Telling Your Story
First things first, pause for some gratitude… we are lucky to
be knowledge workers and in such a healthy industry
Do you fill squares or fill a role?
Why are you here, right here right now, what brought you
here?
If we created the perfect job for you, the one that would fit
you best and position you to bring the most value and

19. Telling Your Story
Now create an arc that connects the dots from your first
interests and activities to this ideal landing zone of a
perfect job. This is your career narrative.
You are now the main character in your own lifetime movie,
you have an arc to follow with lessons learned from both
failure and success, with a supporting cast that helped
educate, challenge and collaborate with you on your
journey.

20. Activity - Build a short narrative and “tell me about yourself”
Early Interests
● Passions
● Aptitude
● Influencers
● Talent
● Energy
● Fun
Skills & Experience
Think through each step
of your journey:
What did you do?
What did you learn?
Quantify and qualify
results
Why did you leave?
Why did you pick the
Direction & Vision
Weave it all together and
smooth out your arc:
1. Fine tune and revise
as needed
2. Show true north
3. Develop the overall
value proposition

21. This is my true passion - and it informs my daily
work if I stay focused and balanced

22. My Journey
1982 Apple II (first love), 1983 TRS-80 (first line of code), 1984 Z-100 (first IT job)
College Dropout, Bioenvironmental Technician, Computer Programmer,
Intelligence Analyst, Counterdrug Intelligence Analyst, Unix Systems Administrator,
Scientific Programmer, Team Lead, Sales Engineer, Systems Architect, Director of
Systems Integration, Director of Research & Development, Consultant, Founder &
CTO, Consulting CTO, Interim CTO, Technology Practice Manager, Unemployed,
Executive Consultant, Acting VP of Enterprise Architecture, CTO, Program
Manager & Lead Technologist, Product Manager, Acting VP of Engineering,
Solution Architect, Senior Program Architect, VP of Engineering, UMSEC Adjunct
Faculty Member, SVP of Engineering

23. Building Your
Personal Brand
Bringing your career narrative to life
and finding what is essential:
Authenticity
Performance
Linkedin
Community
Participation
Permission
Just Ask...

24. Authenticity
So easy to underestimate the importance of this...
No mask, no fear, be true to who you are, be in touch with
your own gut and intuition, and feel the connection to
your heart - Patty Jensen (my wife)
Build a support network, start with one person you really
trust

25. Performance
Results = Results
Anything Else = Results

26. Performance...
How you do anything is how you do everything
- Buddhist expression
How you do what’s next is how you do what’s next
- Greg Jensen

27. LinkedIn
Why bother with a resume anymore? (because you have to)
Just do it, and keep at it...
Google is your friend, learn best practices and dig through
examples
Don’t keep changing it for every job opening
Your profile is your passport (not your narrative)

28. Community
You are a “company”, an army of one, and your brand
matters
Everyone you interact with is a “customer” and their
experience matters
Be positive and communicate thoughtfully, be helpful
Don’t do it well because people don’t forget, do it well
because you don’t forget, you have muscle memory

29. Participation
It’s hard being an introvert, but there are so many benefits…
(and extroverts are still OK too)
Make the effort to come out and play
Think about what best supports your narrative and spend
your time wisely
Choose your moments at the office, there is plenty of
oxygen to go around

30. Permission
It starts with you
Grade yourself on a scale of 1 - 10 and be honest, but know
that people rarely rank you higher than you are willing to
rank yourself
Rich vs Poor (and not just in dollars) often comes down to
what you think you deserve, to your sense of self-worth

31. Just Ask...
Not just me, I mean anyone, anytime, for just about anything
This is the single biggest blocker in our own daily career
standup
Don’t bring any pressure or obligation or expectation, just
ask people if they can help you with whatever you need
help on… and make it clear you are happy to reciprocate
in any way that you can

32. Evolving Your
Mindset
We could complain and criticize, or
we could grow stronger and
happier:
Core Values
Growth & Learning Mindset
Imposter Syndrome
Staying above the line...

33. Core Values
What are yours, what are your employers and do they align?
Some examples:
Clear Communications Ownership
Craftsmanship
Recognition
Customer-Centric Thinking Respect &
Humility
Dogfooding
Results Over Politics

34. Core Values...
Culture reflects the real values of a company and its
employees (recruiting makes all the difference)
...along with the agenda and competency of senior
leadership
Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast :)
Read the history about this quote on Quora

35. Growth & Learning Mindset
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh0OS4MrN3E

36. Mindsetonline.com
In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like
their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They
spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent
instead of developing them. They also believe that talent
alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.

37. Mindsetonline.com...
In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic
abilities can be developed through dedication and hard
work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view
creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential
for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have
had these qualities.

38. Mindsetonline.com...
Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and
productivity in the worlds of business, education, and
sports. It enhances relationships. When you read Mindset,
you’ll see how.

39. Imposter Syndrome
If you feel anxious or feel like your confidence is slipping
away, look this up and read about it and take it all in. This is
extremely important for many of us and we need to step
back and know that we are OK, that we belong here and
have in fact earned our seat at the table.

40. Staying Above The Line
The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership,
Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, & Kaley Warner
Klemp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovrVv_RlCM
w

42. The Drama Triangle
Victim
Hero Villian
Wanting to be right
Blame
Fear

43. Servant Leadership
“SOMEONE WHOSE PRIMARY MOTIVE IS TO HELP
OTHERS SUCCEED.” - SIMON SINEK, LEADERS EAT
LAST

44. Tracking Your
Tech
Do the work:
Read every day
Books, blogs, podcasts,
youtube...
Your Tech Radar
Context & Ecosystem

45. Read (and watch, and listen, and learn…)
● Start with Google
● Establish regular touch points
● Explore terms and references...don’t
settle!
● If not knowing how things work is
something you are comfortable with,
you are in the wrong business

46. Tech Radar
Neal Ford, Thoughtworks
https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/build-
your-own-technology-radar
Split into 4 quadrants: Techniques, Tools, Platforms,
and Languages & Frameworks with four rings, from
outer to inner: hold, assess, trial, and adopt.
What makes sense for you? Modify to suit your needs
and go through the exercise of building one.

47. Appreciate the ecosystem and your context:
Corporate
Interests
You are here :)
Best Practices
Consumer
Interests
Science

48. In Summary:
● Observe The Landscape
● Visualize Your Own Path
● Experience Your Journey
● Appreciate The Ecosystem

49. Thank You