Career Growth
You're Poisoning Yourself in that Toxic Work Environment
I believe in working through challenges, communicating clearly with those we don't get along with, and taking control of our careers. And yet, some situations can't be fixed.
Latest
Personal Dave Posts
My Amazon Interview Loop — A Tech Director Remembers His Own Development Manager Interview
Let's flash back to 2007, when I was interviewing for the second job in my career. It was my Amazon interview.
Managing Up
Have You Been Ignoring Implicit Feedback, Letting Your Career Pay the Price?
Implicit feedback is the subtle feedback you likely receive regularly. Don't let it escalate to explicit feedback. I spend time translating subtle feedback to what it really means.
Newsletter
A Complete Guide to Interviewing Candidates — From Competencies to Questions to Debriefs
Interviewing can be complex, and stressful. Here's a guide to doing it well.
People Managers
A Day in the Life of an Amazon Tech Director Poaching a Senior Engineer
Recruiting from internal Amazon teams is a proven way to gain experienced members for your team. If you're careful, and convincing.
People Managers
A Day in the Life of a Senior Manager at Amazon Creating the World's Worst Operations Meeting
I decided that we needed an ops meeting. Unfortunately, my attempt didn't go as planned.
Newsletter
Happy Holidays! And Spending Your Life Wisely
A brief interlude during the holidays.
Mid Career
You Don't Have to be a Manager to be a Leader Because Leadership != Management
Leadership is a way of relating to others. Management is an organizational construct. Many leaders are not managers, and (unfortunately) some managers are not leaders.
Late Career
Motivation — The Secrets Behind How to Create Drive in Yourself and Others
A walk through of the major components of motivation (autonomy, mastery, purpose), and the tools you can use to build an energizing workplace.
Personal Dave Posts
An Announcement, a 2.5 Year Newsletter Update, and My Highest Ever ROI Action at Amazon
My move to Substack, a bit about how the newsletter has grown, and a great story about how I helped drive down errors across dozens of systems, without my team lifting a finger.
Career Growth
On the cusp of senior management - will she make it?
Career growth is a tricky thing. We have ups and downs, two steps forward and one step back. How will she fare?
Late Career
A Detailed Account of a Failed Principal Promotion
Not everything we do will be successful. We learn a ton from failure. Unfortunately for managers, our failures sometimes impact our teams as well.