I have fun doing a regular weekly article at HPCWire that covers some of the same topics we cover here, only with more of an emphasis on supercomputing. I usually don’t publish items that are substantially the same here and there. Today’s topic is important enough, however, that I think it’s worth making an exception […]

Want to kick your career up a notch? Then here’s something that virtually no one will ever tell you. I don’t think anyone ever told me this, either, but I’ve found time and again that when I make real progress I’m following this rule: don’t do everything on your list. My rule of thumb is […]

This is part two of a two part series on managing your career more effectively by thinking of the expertise and services you provide to your boss as a brand. If you missed the first part, check it out here.
Ok, so you’re convinced that you thinking about yourself as a brand to your boss might […]

“Career management” sounds like something you should be doing, right? But how to get started? You should read a book on marketing and selling services.
The very idea brings up images of car salesmen, snake oil, and telemarketing. The small person in our heads says, “I’m not in sales!””
Oh, but you are. It turns out […]

Here’s a simple rule that I bet you heard in first grade: neatness counts. It’s still true. Also, not running with scissors is still solid advice, too.
Those of you who are engineers, and perhaps the scientists among you, will likely chafe at the notion that an important part of your document isn’t the content. […]

There are lots of little skills and bits of attitude and information you need to pull together to make a complete person, and the same is true in making a complete leader or a even complete employee. No one collection of tips, insights, tricks, and anecdotes can fully prepare you for anything interesting.
Find a foundation, […]

Sometimes many, many failures.
All this excellence-seeking will lead you square into the path of something that most of us will go to great lengths to avoid: failure. We’ll blame others, blame our circumstances, and blame the weather to avoid responsibility for failure. Most usually and tragically we avoid failure by avoiding those things at which […]

Leadership starts with adherence to the principal principle: be great at what you do.
It doesn’t matter what you do. It doesn’t matter where you do it. Some are called to be great in a way that changes the world, others are recognized with Nobel prizes. Most of us are not given such high callings or […]

(If you are just tuning in, you might want to take a glance at Part 1 to catch up.)
Heady stuff. Do you, um, have anything a little more about, you know, me?
Why yes, I do.
Understanding how to be an effective leader is good for your career. The stuff we’ll talk about in the coming months […]