Software Development Coaching

Ah, to be a noob again…

Early in my career I loved being a typical developer.

I would wear flip flops and a t-shirt, had flexible hours, and stayed up late writing code.

It seemed like the perfect job.

Good money, stimulating work, low pressure.

But I was young and naive.

Soon people expected me to walk on water.

Projects were planned around ridiculous deadlines.

I was under immense pressure trying to hit them.

The level of predictability managers expected just didn’t make sense.

I would often ask myself:

“They run this company – shouldn’t they understand how complex software development is?“

The price of “fitting in” with developers

Within a few years I realized I had a BIG problem:

The people who really have power at the company never took me seriously.

It didn’t matter how good of a job I did building software or leading teams.

Whenever a dispute broke out between me and management – I always lost.

So I would go home and vent to my wife, and at first she would listen.

But pretty soon I was becoming a cancer to my family.

I was getting too angry to even be around my kids.

I would play video games or smoke pot to just try and escape.

It was infuriating, but I just didn’t know what else to do.

My lifestyle had grown to depend on the salary software development offered.

I figured this was just how the rest of my career would go.

The reality check

Up to this point, I’d only ever worked as an employee of companies that built software.

But things took a dramatic turn when I moved to Austin, Texas 14 years ago.

When I arrived, I took an offer for a job as a software development consultant.

I didn’t understand how consulting was different from working as an employee when I started.

So after my first year, I had the worst performance review of my career.

My coworkers told me I argued with clients and treated them like crap.

I was told I had to change – or I couldn’t work there anymore!

You have to understand, I’d been a software architect for 8 years up to this point.

So I kept my cool, but I was insulted.

I thought I was “the shit” because of how much technical knowledge I had.

But deep down I knew it was true.

There’s no way I wast going to let a threat like this ruin my career.

I refused to let the moment define me.

The path to a crucial decision

So I committed to learning everything I could about working better with people.

While reading books and listening to podcasts, I watched other consultants like a hawk.

In meetings I listened closely to learn how they spoke with people.

And I asked them how they persuaded clients to not take shortcuts.

Pretty soon I realized the attitude of most developers has a fatal flaw:

It’s the complete opposite of what demands respect.

So I found myself at a crossroads:

Would I keep being the “lazy programmer” like most other engineers?

OR would I reject that stereotype – if it meant having the career success I wanted?

I always hated managers that only told people what they wanted to hear.

The last thing I wanted to do was become another one myself!

But I knew there was a difference between being fake, and just being more professional.

Things had to change if I was going to be taken seriously.

It was time to grow up and stand out from being an average developer.

Embracing the consultant persona

Over the next couple of years things finally started to really open up for me.

I was joining new projects and building relationships with people right away.

Even though clients wanted me to just put my head down and code – I knew better.

If I just wrote code and sat in a corner, I’d be ignored.

So I stopped following what everyone else did.

Instead of being the “technical guy” they expected – I hit them with a lot of questions about their business.

And it wasn’t long until I was invited to conversations with the leadership.

People in same positions that used to argue with me, were now bringing me to their bosses – nodding their heads in agreement.

Political support

Over the years that followed, I worked on projects in many industries.

For companies from startups all the way up to big enterprises.

But I started getting embroiled in some political snafus.

People sometimes felt threatened by me.

They would try to take credit for my work, or blame me for things I didn’t do.

So I began to seek counsel from experienced consultants I could trust.

Some were managers, some were technologists.

But their biggest qualification was that they cared about me.

It was hard to find time to meet, but when I did it was like a breath of fresh air.

When I felt overwhelmed they would encourage me, give me advice, and remind me to be realistic.

It took a while, but eventually I learned to see some of the things I was doing wrong.

And I was learning how to deal with people who threatened my success.

Reflections of a Jayme past

I was making a lot more money, and getting great opportunities.

But pretty soon I noticed a pattern that surprised me.

After all I’d been through, I couldn’t help noticing it.

Whenever I started a project with a client, I would inevitably meet their developers.

And they were just like I had been in the beginning of my career.

Brilliant, but ignored by their leadership.

So I would offer advice and words of encouragement when I could.

I knew they would be happier if they could understand why they weren’t being treated very well.

But management weren’t paying me to coach their developers – they wanted my results.

I needed to find another way to help them.