ABOUT

After graduating from the University of Liverpool with a degree in Computer Science I decided to take some time away from the keyboard and strike out into the world of business. This led me through marketing and sales roles before the pull of technology drew me back to software and into a sales engineer role.
 

This diversion into the business side of work set the stage for the rest of my career where I would find success in bridging technology and business teams. I continue to be surprised at the disconnect that so often occurs between business and technology teams, even within software companies. Aligning those groups is critical to success and is something I truly relish.

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Over the years I have managed many engineering teams, starting them from scratch or sometimes walking in the door to significant dysfunction.

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During that time the industry has changed, the introduction of agile practices for one, but my philosophy has changed significantly as well. I believe the best results are achieved by a few simple principles that I call CREATE:

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Context: It is my job to make sure that teams understand the "why" of what they are doing.

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Reward: Use positive reinforcement to reward positive results. 

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Empowerment: Give the team all the tools and opportunities to solve the right problems and provide an environment that allows them to be successful.

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Accountability: Agree on what accountability means and make sure they can are comfortable being accountable without fear.

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Trust: Start from a position of trust, behave in ways that engender trust, don't take trust for granted.

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Empathy: Have empathy for those around you, try to see the world through others’ eyes, and understand their perspectives and struggles.

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By following these principles I create teams that are happy and satisfied at work, leading to greater engagement, in turn leading to innovation and increased success.