How often are you asking for help? Do you have a professional network you can lean on? How often are you simply going-it-alone and doing your best without first asking “who can help me?”

What tactics do you use as a technical leader to gain insight into the health of your organization? Your technology?

I find that one place I start with a software development team is the commit history. The best technical leaders I have worked want to see the work as it is committed to the project. The source code is the heart of what your team is creating. How it changes can tell you a lot about your team.

We talk about work-life balance as something to aspire towards. We can be self critical that we have not succeeded in the right balance. Do you achieve balance in your daily life? How do you go about achieving balance? Is it a destination and a continuous pursuit?

In a fifteen-minute standup the technical lead on the project spoke for thirteen minutes, explaining details that did not advance the sprint and kept others from checking in themselves on their work. Do you consider how much you are talking, and whether it adds value and improves communication?

Have you ever been asked to take on a new project by your boss that involves managing a bunch of different stakeholders. Managing a project is a core competency for any manager. Often times you are managing stakeholders outside your organization. Sometimes you are managing people who are totally new to you. This one trick can dramatically increase your success.