Episode #474: Jeffrey Pfeffer – How To Gain Power, Break The Rules, & Advance Your Career – The Learning Leader Show – Advice that runs contradictory to common leadership advice. I’ll be getting the 7 Rules Of Power (not to be confused with the 7 Laws of Power).
Episode #475: Chandler Bolt – The Life Changing Process Of Writing A Book… (How You Can Do It Right Now) – The Learning Leader Show –

Writing is crystallization of thought. Writing can build your career – you become an authority by becoming and author.
Chandler’s process for writing: mind map -> outline -> rough draft.
How does Chandler write books and remain a busy exec? He blocks out intense time, then relies on his team to handle things for him during these blocks. Block out time and be intense about it while you’re in that time. Have a solid team to support you during your windows, trust them to get things done.
How do you find the time? Figure out what your time is worth: Divide your salary by 2800 to determine how much an hour is worth. Hire/Delegate everything not core that less that that hourly cost.
Person brand fastest to 6 figures.
Invest in things that build a defense moat around what you value (lifestyle, family, etc.). Turn this into a system so you can keep building them.
Plan your things before your business’s things – vacation, thinking, etc. Business will fill in the whitespace.
Writing topics: Broken record conversations – this things people keep asking you.
5 takeaways from the RSA Conference – Cybersecurity Dive – Organizations get 24 hours — if they’re lucky.
Microsoft won’t say if it will patch critical Windows vulnerability under exploit – Ars Technica – 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️😭
The 10 Commandments of Excellence – Great advise!
Episode #476: Kat Cole – Pragmatic Optimism, Reflection Questions, Humble Confidence, Building Trust, & The Hot Shot Rule – Ton of great notes on this one!

Should I listen to Episode 78?
Lead by action: Bring the coffee/donuts/etc to demonstrate service oriented leadership, vulnerability.
Hold ppl account and set expectations
Ppl closest to the action know what to do long before the leader does
Conflict resolution – humble and service of the team, assuming positive intent first
Connectivity and proximity
Humility, curiosity, confidence builds teams / raise your hand, raise your voice
Excellence mindset/framework: Courage and confidence balanced with Humility and curiosity lead to sustained excellence

Courage is speaking up and saying the uncomfortable things
Confidence is the belief you belong there
Humility is the belief you can’t do it alone, others have value and matter
Curiosity is the wonder, the desire to inquire
Having command over these mindsets, modulate each as the situation requires

Perspective breeds confidence
Find your way to speak – your wedge

“I have a question.” instead of waiting for your space to speak
“I want to add to that.”
“I would be failing you if I didn’t bring up this point.”
Is there something going on?

Burnout – catch it before you start letting people down

Do not over-commit – learn how to gracefully say no
Cancel if you need to
No is a complete sentence
No by saying yes –
Be clear on your values and priorities
Check-in with those closest to you and who matter most, including yourself

What has been the best part of the last 30 days?
What has been the worst part of the last 30 days?
Tell me one thing that I can do differently to be a better partner/teammate?
What has worried you the most in the last 30 days?
What is one thing you are most proud of in the last 30 days
What have you been most grateful for?

You can’t think your way into making a dent
Ask, answer, act.
Hotshot rule

682: Hustle Culture – Deep Dive – Joy comes from the process/journey, not the destination.

Risky Business #667 – “Shields Up” for cyber’s forever war – Risky Business – Always a great listen.
Why Everyone Needs a Blog – Daniel Miessler – Interesting reasoning behind blogging.
Just Copy What Works – Daniel Miessler –
Examples of barbell strategies – by Dwarkesh Patel – Do a lot of no risk and high risk, but nothing in the middle. Reap bigger rewards? Almost sounds too easy.
Apple’s Passkey Replaces Passwords With iPhone and Mac Authentication – WIRED – I can’t wait for this to be a real option for a environment.

BSidesSF on Twitter: “#BSidesSF Keynote: Building sustainable security programs 🧵 @astha_singhal on factors that contribute to the stress of being a security professional and changes security leaders can make to improve the sustainability of their programs and well being of their teams. https://t.co/xryeSJmNNl” / Twitter – Good steps towards a great security program.
BSidesSF on Twitter: “Talk: Buying Security: A Client’s Guide By @ramimacisabird A comprehensive guide to buying and getting value from security services. * ~200 resources synthesized * ~100 security professionals surveyed A 🧵” / Twitter – How to shop for the right infosec assessment for you.
BSidesSF on Twitter: “Redefining Threat Modeling: Security team goes on vacation Threat modeling is a key part of security programs, but security can become a development bottleneck as your company grows. @askjeevansingh describes how to scale threat modeling by empowering developers 🧵 #bsidessf” / Twitter – How can I apply to my infrastructure team?
Everything and Anything You Need To Know About SOC 2 – High level description of a SOC 2 report and why you need one during vendor due diligence.
Career Advice and Professional Development – Showing up and working hard – the oft missed career advice.
The Law of Connection (Part 1) – John Maxwell Leadership Podcast –
The Law of Connection (Part 2) – John Maxwell Leadership Podcast –
What Is Task Batching? A Comprehensive Guide –
https://www.makeuseof.com/what-is-task-batching/amp/ – I need to add task batching to my routine. I have a bad habit of doing low value work during high energy times.
https://fortelabs.co/blog/the-4-notetaking-styles-how-to-choose-a-digital-notes-app-as-your-second-b – I’ve been a fan of the second brain idea for a while, but I find it hard to keep tamed. I’m a toss up between gardener and librarian. I’ve settled on Bear after switching from Apple Notes to OneNote – but I still done really like any of them.
The 4 Notetaking Styles: How to Choose a Digital Notes App as Your Second Brain – Forte Labs –

5 great books for the summer – Bill Gates – What Bill is reading – mostly climate and political.
Making Sense with Sam Harris: #283 — Gun Violence in America – Sam and Graeme Wood discuss what we could actually stop all the school shooting deaths in a realistic way.
These plastic batteries could help store renewable energy on the grid – Plastic battery units could be a great option for homes with solar of they can get the price down.

Episode #462: Max Lugavere – How To Become Smarter, Happier, & More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life – The Learning Leader Show – This one’s been in my notes for a while. I like how the basics are his first step: sleep good, eat right. I’m interested in trying Intermittent fasting as well – I know I eat way too much crap.
https://learningleader.com/maxlugavere/ – Testing direct from Instapaper via the shortcut.
The Big Mistake People Make About Networking – Jordan Harbinger – This is your job as a relationship-builder: To identify needs, find someone in your network who can help fulfill them, and connect those two people.
If You’re “Too Busy” To Respond, You’re Doing Something Wrong – Jordan Harbinger – “Because here’s the truth about people who don’t communicate well: They’re not too busy to respond. They just don’t care enough to respond. Poor communicators think that they don’t communicate well because they have more important things to do. This is how they justify their poor communication to themselves and to others. But what they’re really saying is that they don’t consider communication all that important.”
Do Less – Hidden Brain – Humans are built to find new and creative solutions to problems, but we aren’t so good are subtracting things to find better solutions.
The Rise of the Triple Peak Day – I’m not sure I’m a fan of this new triple-peak day. People deserve some time to be productive for themselves.

Democracy in Danger – Media Lab – Good analysis of what the impacts of the Ukraine war are on Russia.
Did Domestic Violence Really Spike During the Pandemic? – Freakonomics – So all our predictions on the pandemic-related social issues were wrong? 🙃
EU deal will force iPhones to use USB-C charger by 2024 – Smartphones – The Guardian – Apple switching to USB-C? I’ll believe it when they opt for it globally instead of just for the EU.
Elon Musk Threatens to End Twitter Deal Without Information on Spam Accounts – The New York Times – Why is he trying to back out now? I think he could do some real good, but he’s not going to make a dent in the bots.
Apple iOS 16 previewed at WWDC 2022 – The Verge – Doesn’t appear to be anything overwhelming in this update, but all good positive steps.
Beacon is switching to a four-day work week. Here’s why. – Beacon – I find the 100/80/100 rule interesting. 100% of the pay, 80% of the work time, but 100% as effective? Could you maintain the same effectiveness with 80% of the time?
I’ve locked myself out of my digital life – Terence Eden’s Blog – A very scary ‘account’ of losing everything in a fire, including your entire digital life. What would you do?
Researchers show off how easy it is to control your smart tech – IoT is easy to hack, you say? Never would have guessed. 🤷‍♂️

Hot Swaps – Darknet Diaries – Great listen on how easy SIM swaps used to be.
The 25 Micro-Habits of High-Impact Managers – First Round Review – Not sure if I shared this one yet – but I finally got a chance to read it. A ton of powerful advice on being a more impact full leader.

I’ve noticed how buried I was feeling, but it wasn’t until I got a few days away from the whirlwind that I realized how far I am from where I want to be. I cannot realize my full potential as a leader buried until these piles of work that is best done by my team. And how will I find the time to reflect or plan when I can barely find the time to eat my lunch?

So what’s my action plan? Some of the great ponderers have said that clearing the deck is just a self-defeating loop that creates more work. But what if clearing the deck is actually providing the deliverables your job demands? I strongly recommend a good triage session of clearing the deck by applying these rules:

Does this task still need to be done?
Does this actually require me to do it?
Can I empower or develop someone on my team with this task?

I’ve made a big dent in my helpdesk ticket piles by applying those rules. I can keep my list down by appling the “who not how” principle: Understanding WHO can help you accomplish this task instead of HOW you can complete the task.

The biggest challenge I have is a lack of documentation on the tasks that I am still doing. My thoughts here are:

document the process if required in our KB system, then delegate;
or document the expectations for successful completion of the task, then delegate and let the team member decide how it gets done.
Either option will work well in my situation.

This has been a pretty successful day. I brought my personal helpdesk queue down from 150+ to 62 items that require me to make a decision.

Your Tim Hortons Coffee App Knew Where You Were at All Times – WIRED – I lost some respect for Timmy HoHos on this over-reach.
Windows Autopatch now available for public preview – Could Microsoft finally come up with some useful patch management? Will they build support for 3rd party apps?
Best Laptops Under $500
4 Quick Tips for Managing Email Overload on the Go – The New York Times – Nothing new here but good tips for making your mobile email app more efficient.
A Respected MIT Professor Said Your Success Will Be Determined by 3 Things. Here’s How to Get Better at Each of Them – Inc.com – Speak, write, have good ideas. This is worth the read.
Finland’s Green Party endorses nuclear power – Alliance for Science – The USA needs to place more focus on nuclear energy as well, including safer plant designs and micro-reactors.

Dave McCormick concedes to Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania Senate primary – Ok…so Trump is backing Dr. Oz for Senate? WTF is going on in the Republican Party?
June 4, 2022 – by the grugq – The Info Op – Lots of interesting tidbits with political ramifications.
Spectacular Total Lunar Eclipse Photo Includes Milky Way –