Nobody enjoys losing a top performer. As a leader, it can be a heavy blow, particularly when the person is a critical player on your team. When faced with these tough goodbyes, we might ask ourselves – “What could I have done differently? Is there a chance they might stay?”

Over the course of my career in leadership I’ve had a number employees find their next great opportunity outside of the organization. When a talented individual who had significantly contributed to the team, receives an enticing offer from a major tech company and the salary bump is substantial, there’s not much I as a leader can do. Nor should I, I have always tried to build teams that are a great place to work and a great place to “have worked”. I want folks in my organizations to be able to look back and say, “I’m glad I worked there, look where it got me”. And we as leaders can look at that huge pay bump and say, look how great our culture was that they held out this long. However it’s still hard to lose top talent, all of the experience and context can be hard to replace. But instead of dwelling on the inevitable, decide to use this opportunity to learn more about why they are leaving and if there were factors beyond the salary that motivated this decision.

We all chase success, often associating it with relentless work and perpetual busyness. But in doing so, we might find ourselves on the cusp of burnout, a state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion. The book “Peak Performance” sheds light on this very conundrum, offering insights into sustainable high performance. One of the book’s vital lessons is the intricacies of burnout and how it intertwines with every facet of our lives.

Introduction

Leadership intricately weaves with the dynamics of power when influencing teams, partner departments, the organization, and even customers, especially in Security Engineering. The Manager Tools podcasts introduced me to this paradigm of role power, highlighting the research by French and Raven on power types. Just as Aunt May wisely stated, “With great power comes great responsibility.” As a budding manager, it’s pivotal to understand the interplay between newfound power and core values. Prioritize empathy, honesty, and transparency – not just because they’re morally right, but because they’re profoundly effective.

Every savvy business leader knows the importance of setting and managing objectives for their teams. Many have adopted Peter Drucker’s Management by Objectives (MBOs) strategy to align their team’s goals with those of the organization. In the world of cybersecurity, however, the rapidly evolving threat landscape calls for a more dynamic approach to managing progress and performance. In this context, cybersecurity KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), underpinned by Drucker’s famous maxim “what gets measured gets managed,” take center stage.

Introduction:

You’ve reached that crossroad in your career – senior engineer. It’s a proud moment, and yet, one with its fair share of uncertainty. The fork in the road is well-documented: a choice between progressing into management or continuing to hone your skills as an individual contributor. For a long time, the career path for many software engineers seemed to be culminating towards management. But, as I mentioned in my post Is Management for You? Navigating Your Career Path, the idea that management is the only path to progression and leadership is a misconception. An increasing number of engineers are exploring a different trajectory: the path of a Staff Engineer.