Lead Prompt Podcast

I want you to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable on a regular basis. Let me explain why. I believe you need to regularly do something that makes you feel uncomfortable, because comfort is a "slow death" that leads to laziness. I compare this to building muscle: to get mentally stronger, you must cope with increasing stress. For me, this means taking on physical challenges I dislike, li...

In this episode I will show you how I use Google Gemini to summarize the news headlines for me each morning, so I don’t have to. I was unhappy with the quality of mainstream news in my country, Ireland, and found social media to be an unreliable source. I had also previously been critical of Google Gemini's image generation capabilities. However, I decided to give Gemini another try to solve my ne...

In this episode I will explain Conway’s Law, and leadership strategies we can employ to avoid it. Conway's Law is the principle articulated by computer scientist Melvin Conway in 1967, which states that organizations are constrained to produce systems that are copies of their own communication structures. Essentially, the architecture of a system will inevitably mirror the social dynamics of the t...

Most content online, including this episode, exists in a Long Tail of unpopular content that contains most of the material online. Let me explain. In this episode, I explore the concept of the "Long Tail," a theory explaining how the internet has shifted focus from mainstream products to a vast array of niche items. I've applied this to my own experience with creating online content, observing tha...

The greatest threat to widespread adoption of AI is human users witnessing AI hallucinations. Let me explain what this is, and how we might prevent it. This episode identifies AI hallucinations as the most significant threat to the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence. These are instances where an AI generates incorrect or untruthful information, which can be likened to a trusted human e...

While noble in intent, story point estimates from Scrum have been a failure in our industry. Let me explain why. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/706-Scrum-story-point-estimates-are-a-failure-(TLP-2025w36) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #manager #teamlead #techlead #software #estimates #scrum #story #points

In this episode I will review the list of leadership principles published by Amazon. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/705-A-critique-of-the-Amazon-Leadership-Principles-(TLP-2025w35) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #manager #teamlead #techlead #software #corporate #culture #amazon #principles #values

In this episode I will aim to convince you that every outcome from you team is downstream of culture. Let me explain. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/704-Outputs-are-downstream-of-culture-(TLP-2025w34) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #manager #teamlead #techlead #software #culture

I often see young leaders being attacked without even realising they are in a fight. Let me explain how you can spot this. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/703-Knowing-when-you-are-in-a-fight-(TLP-2025w33) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #manager #teamlead #techlead #software #conflict #resolution #passive #aggressive #behaviour #behavior #psychology

As I predicted in a previous episode, VPN usage in the western World is exploding. Let me explain why. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/702-VPN-usage-is-exploding-(TLP-2025w32) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #manager #teamlead #techlead #software #vpn #onlineprivacy #freespeech #freedom #speech

As a leader, you must never allow yourself to be led by fear. Let me explain. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/701-Never-be-led-by-fear-(TLP-2025w30) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #manager #teamlead #techlead #software #stoic #stoicism #fear #dune #frankherbert

The exchange of physical cash involves physical interactions with fellow people. But with cashless, those interactions reduced dramatically. Let me explain why this is a bad outcome. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/699-Cashless-societies-are-deeply-impersonal-(TLP-2025w27) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #manager #teamlead #techlead #software #stoic #sto...

At the beginning of my software engineering career, the threat was being replaced by offshore engineers at outsource firms. Now the new threat for both parties is AI. Let me explain. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/698-AI-is-the-new-outsourcing-(TLP-2025w25) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #manager #teamlead #techlead #software #stoic #stoicism #AI #Arti...

Throughout my career I have worked with many Product Managers, few of which have impressed me. Let me explain why. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/697-The-failing-of-Product-Management-(TLP-2025w24) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #manager #teamlead #techlead #software #stoic #stoicism #productmanagement #roadmaps

Ignoring a fire alarm does not put out the fire. As leaders, we must never ignore an alarm. Let me explain why. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/696-Leaders-must-not-ignore-alarms-(TLP-2025w23) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #manager #teamlead #techlead #software #stoic #stoicism #risk #monitoring #alarms

We usually think of aggression as a negative emotion, but for leaders it can be a positive driver for change. Let me explain. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/695-Leaders-need-positive-aggression-(TLP-2025w22) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #manager #teamlead #techlead #software #stoic #stoicism #motivation #rugby #karate

This week I want to explain to you the differences between leadership and management, and why it is rare for one person to master both. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/694-Leadership-versus-management-(TLP-2025w21) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #manager #teamlead #techlead #software #stoic #stoicism #risk #ceo #elon #musk

Leadership comes at great personal cost, and a career in leadership should not be entered into lightly. Let me explain. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/693-The-price-that-leaders-pay-(TLP-2025w20) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #software #stress #mentalhealth #burnout #pressure #stoic #stoicism #karate #martialarts

This week I am going to share with you the ultimate status report format, and explain why it works so well. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/692-How-to-write-the-ultimate-status-report-(TLP-2025w19) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #software #development #product #communications #logic #logical #fallacy #fallacies #reason #reasoning #decisions #reports #st...

Some lies are so big, the participants are left with no choice but to double down on them. Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/691-The-big-lies-(TLP-2025w18) #leadership #tech #leader #team #management #software #development #product #communications #logic #logical #fallacy #fallacies #reason #reasoning #decisions #geopolitics

Opinions that are stated confidently do not magically become facts. Let's talk about the fallacy of arguments from authority. Notes: I am endlessly fascinated by logical fallacies, they are everywhere once you become aware of them. Wikipedia even has an entire list of such fallacies, which states the following: "A fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of a...

Recently I delved into a topic that was escalated to me, that turned out to be far worse than I thought. Let's talk about leadership blind spots. Notes: As a leader, you cannot be everywhere at all times. Instead, you rely on your team to tell you if there are any issues that you need to be aware of. Like many leaders, I assume that everything is fine if I am not hearing about issues. That optimis...

I am convinced that we are witnessing the death of critical thinking in modern times. Notes: I am convinced that we are witnessing the death of critical thinking in modern times, let me explain. Recently I got piled on in a thread on that bastion of free speech, Hacker News, and it got me thinking about the demise of critical thinking again. The thought crime that I committed was to question the s...

Where are all of the hackers now, and is that culture still alive? Notes: When I first got into computer networks in a big way in the 1990s, the coolest thing you could be was a hacker. Now in 2025, I am left wondering where did all of those hackers go? Perhaps like me they got married, had kids, and took a steady job at a corporation or even a start-up? In the beginning of the usage of the term "...

Early in my life I was exposed to an excellent example of Stoic leadership, but I was too young to recognize it. Notes: One regret I have in my life is not discovering Stoic philosophy earlier. If there is one thing that has improved my mental well-being as a leader, it is discovering Stoicism. While I was too young to understand it at the time, I was exposed to an excellent example of Stoic leade...