Never, Ever, Ever Stop Learning

Happy Thursday!

What an amazing Q3 CCIBT Global Town Hall on 9/12.  With coffee in hand at 5am, I was mesmerized by the Q3 Global Technology Town Hall, broadcast live from Charlotte, NC!  The highlight was the guest speaker, Rich Diviney, talking about the attributes of leadership (Leading Superheroes:  The 5 Secrets to High Performing Teams) using his background as a US Navy Seal (20+ years of experience as a Navy SEAL Officer where he completed more than 13 overseas deployments – 11 of which were to Iraq and Afghanistan).  He was simply WONERFUL.   If you were unable to attend or would like to listen again, a replay can be found here.

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Sharing a picture of the remodel progress with the good news that I have been told October 19 is our new move in date.  Cross your fingers as trailer living has gotten to be a little much!  😊  Pics of front of house (top), master bath tile (middle left), concrete pour (middle middle) and more tile (middle right, kitchen cabinets in (bottom left), floors in (bottom bottom) and more floors (bottom right).

Monday, the contractors got a big surprise when they went to use their tractor and found that our chickens had been using it.  The workers asked me if I had left the eggs there for them.  To which I replied, I normally give eggs in a carton.  Apparently the ripped up seat made for a good nest?  Crazy chickens.   It is a good reminder that around here, you should always watch where you sit as this could have been very messy. 

Never, Ever, Ever stop learning

We have spent much of the year talking about technical learnings in programming languages or cloud engineering/architecture.

I was reminded after listening to the Ask Me Anything this week, that sometimes the best learning is something we can digest while getting our mind off of something else.

Enter Ted Talks as not only are they free, but you can listen to them anywhere and they give free access to the world's best mentors and coaches. 

While it is easy to go to the most viewed Ted Talks, I want to suggest a few others that might help you advance your career or think differently about a topic.

1. Perspective is Everything by Rory Sutherland     Big takeaway:  Things aren’t what they are; they are what we think they are AND things are what we compare them to. 
2. Embrace the Near Win by Sarah Lewis     Big takeaway:  There is a difference between success and mastery.  Mastery is not the same as “excellence”
3. The Happy Secret to Better Work by Shawn Achor     Big takeaway:  happiness boosts productivity.
4. Your Body Language Shapes Who you Are by Amy Cuddy     Big takeaway:  confidence can be seen in body language.  Body language says a whole lot sometimes even can contradict words!
5. How to Let Go of being a “Good” person – and Become a Better Person by Dolly Chugh     Big takeaway:  Set aim on be the best version of self.
6. The Career Advice You Probably Didn’t Get by Susan Colantuono     Big takeaway:  Why do women get mired in middle management and how to break free to move up the ladder.

Now, truth be told, I wish I had found these by myself … but these were all recommended by friends and colleagues as great, unexpected finds. 

These six have pulled me in and really made me think, which is always a great thing.

Take a listen, let me know what you think and if you take anything away as a learning.

And, do you have a favorite Ted Talk that you want to share?  Send it over and I will give it a listen.

Happy Thursday all,

-srt