Mid Career
Don't Let Others Run Your Life — Cut Your Schedule Like a Slasher Movie
If you don't make hard choices to focus on your top priorities, then you're choosing to fail at your top priorities.
Latest
Organizations
How I Transformed Amazon's Internal Transfer Process
Anecdotes, ranting, and some personal philosophy.
Newsletter
From Dave at Scarlet Ink — A One-Time Special Discount Offer for my Newsletter
Seriously. I'm not sure if I'll do this again.
Late Career
6 Ways that Good People Build Trust, and Become Leaders That Others Follow
What type of leader do you want to be? One core identifying feature of admired leaders is how many people follow them to their next role. And trust is the core tool to improve that metric.
Career Growth
Fake It Till You Make It — To Become a Leader, Act Like One
I found, rather than waiting for my promotions at Amazon, I was more fulfilled and grew myself as a leader by pretending I had already been promoted.
Interviewing
Three Tales from an Amazon Bar Raiser
A few examples of situations I went through as a bar raiser, one of the most entertaining positions at Amazon.
Mid Career
A Three Topic Article — Interviewing, Multiple Choice Management, and My Holiday Gift Guide
Sometimes you have a single topic, sometimes you have three. Today is a 3-fer.
Organizations
4 (More) Good Things and 2 (More) Bad Things and 2 Misunderstandings About Working at Amazon: From 12+ Years in Management
A continuation of my previous article about my experiences at Amazon. What they do well, what they don't do well, and in this article, I also mention a few common beliefs I disagree with.
Organizations
3 Good Things and 3 Bad Things About Working at Amazon: From 12+ Years in Management
Line manager to Senior Manager to Director. It was a great place to work, but I have a pretty balanced view of what Amazon does well, and what it doesn't.
Organizations
Stories of Good and Bad Feedback Dave Received From His Managers
A few anecdotal stories of times I received feedback from the senior leaders in my life
Late Career
Good Employees Follow the Rules. Great Employees Break Them.
Because the rules are meant for those who aren't as smart and brave as you. Seriously.
Late Career
Why You Can't Teach Leadership — Experience vs. Instruction
I'm slightly exaggerating, as I do think there are some very specific things we can teach. But the majority of the leadership job is gained through the school of hard knocks.