Even though I've recently changed jobs, I'll still be speaking at a lot of SQL events across the country and internationally. There are still a few trips that I've yet to finalize, in particular with the fine folks in Houston, run by my friend Nancy Hidy (blog | twitter), and my friends in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, run by my friend Mark Ginnebaugh (blog | twitter). Also, do to some missed deadlines, it looks like I won't be speaking at the Nordic SQL Rally this fall. My bad! On the other hand, you can see when checking my roster, that I hardly have time to catch my breath with this … [Read more...]
Come See Me. I’ll Probably Be Just Down the Street Soon!
Filed Under: Administration, Conferences, Cool Technologies, Databases, Nashville SQL Server Users Group, PASS, Presentations, Professional Development, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: DBA, Developer, Leadership, SQLPASS, SQLSaturday, Video
A Fond Farewell to Quest Software
The week of the 4th of July is a happy week for Americans. Most families get out for a parade, a fireworks display, a picnic in the park, a movie where Will Smith puts the beat down on a bunch of aliens, or an afternoon at the pool or lake. We celebrate the contributions of our service men and women. We honor veterans. We drink a lot of beer. We reflect on the founding of our nation and the meaning of “Independence Day”. My own reflections over the Independence Day holiday took me in a new and rather unexpected direction. After ten-and-a-half immensely rewarding years at Quest Software, … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Challenges, Professional Development, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Goals, Leadership, MVP, Professional Development, Quest Software, Writing
ITPro, Re-architect Your Life
Have you ever found yourself wanting to make a major shift - in skills, in roles, in relationships? One of my good friends, Jimmy May (Blog | Twitter), accomplished a set of major career and lifestyle revisions including relocating to Redmond, taking on a huge new level of job responsibility as part of the Microsoft SQL Customer Advisory Team, and achieving the noted accreditation of Microsoft Certified Master. Jimmy and I were chatting about undertaking major life changes like these and, as is often the case, his thoughts were too good not to share. Be sure to explore these excellent … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Conferences, On-Line Resources, Presentations, Professional Development, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Career, Goals, Leadership, Management, Plays Well With Others, Professional Development
Starting this week: Dublin, Maidenhead, and London
This might be most most overcommitted four-week period of time ever in my life. I'm tired just thinking about it! Not only am I traveling internationally and speaking over the next few weeks, I'm also helping on two book projects, learning some new applications from Quest Software, and helping on a small Transact-SQL refactoring project. Swag on hand? I've got a special printing of 500 video training DVDs for this trip: SQL Server Training on DMVs Performance Monitor and Wait Events Plus, I'll have a few posters, stickers, and other goodies. Come see me! SQL Saturday … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Conferences, Databases, Presentations, Professional Development, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Best Practices, Career, DBA, Developer, Leadership, Professional Development, Quest Software, SQL Server 2012, Training
Why Do IT Pros Make Awful Managers?
I'm being a little bit incendiary with that title. Many IT pros grow into very good managers. But it almost never comes naturally. It takes hard work and many hard won lessons before most of us ever achieve a degree of skill and comfort with managing other people. Thinking about moving into management? Help is here! I've been spending the past several years turning the lessons I've learned as a manager into a set of courses for IT professionals who want to make the leap in to management. I'll be presenting some of these lessons as full-day seminars. I hope you can join me! Details … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Challenges, Opinion, Professional Development, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Career, Leadership, Management
Why I Do Not Support The Current PASS ExeCo Slate
I read the PASS Officer Election announcement from June 15th with a bit of trepidation. There was something about the announcement which made me uncomfortable, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. As a bit of background, the PASS "officers" are also known as the Executive Committee (ExeCo), as described in the PASS Bylaws in section VIII.10. The ExeCo was added to the governance of PASS back in 2004-2005 as a check-and-balance against the extremely powerful office of president as described in the version of the bylaws PASS currently had in place at that time. Prior to the ExeCo, the … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Ethics, Governance, PASS Tagged With: Ethics, Governance, Leadership, SQLPASS
Now on SQLPASS, “Can Integrity Be Learned?”
Ok, I admit it. I've done about as good a job publicizing my monthly professional development column, Plays Well With Others, as NBC did when the transitioned Jay Leno back to the Tonight Show. So I'm going to try to better, henceforth and forever more! Two entries ago, I talked about the The 8 Characteristics of Exceptional Leaders. This month, I'm drilling into the characteristic on that list that generated the most controversy in emails and messages - "Absolute Integrity". Many people took issue with the concept that integrity can be learned, instead believing that integrity … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Ethics, PASS, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Leadership, Professional Development, SQLPASS
