Episode 359 | John Rouda - Leading Wisely

Guest:

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John Rouda talks with Dave Rael about family, leadership, education, learning, and the value in books and talks

John Rouda is an IT Leader and Computer Science Professor. Currently, he is an IT Director and he teaches as an adjunct professor at both York Technical College and Winthrop University. John has spoken at numerous conferences and is currently on the board of the Interface Cyber Security Conference. John’s past experiences include more than a decade of Technical management in both software development and network infrastructure. In 1999, John Rouda and 2 partners founded a business developing, hosting and marketing websites. The business was profitable each year until it was sold in 2007 to a larger competitor. John has developed dozens of mobile apps for the Apple Appstore and Google Play Marketplace. He holds two master degrees, one in Business Administration and one in Computer Science. He has written 3 books that can be found on Amazon & Audible. John regularly speaks on technology, entrepreneurship and leadership topics at events and conferences, including a TEDx talk in 2015. He hosts a technical leadership podcast called A Geek Leader that can be found on iTunes or at https://ageekleader.com. John is married to a beautiful wife and has three wonderful kids who he dearly loves. He volunteers for his church and the community.

Chapters: 0:32 - Dave introduces the show and John Rouda4:05 - John on teaching and how he became a professor6:24 - Managing doing a multitude of different things7:55 - Connecting with students and hiring them11:27 - John's transition into leadership and lessons learned the hard way16:30 - Becoming a good leader17:45 - Feedback loops in leading people22:13 - Comparing being a technical contributor and a leader24:41 - John's history with conference speaking28:04 - John's motivations for becoming a podcaster and the nature of A Geek Leader31:32 - Finding ways to reward team members with purpose35:45 - John's book recommendation39:39 - Managing doing many things - John's wisdom on productivity and focus42:25 - John's story of failure - losing a significant portion of a team at the same time44:50 - The importance of mentors and nature of the relationship48:00 - Education and schooling - the diminishing value of college51:10 - John's top 3 tips for delivering more value

Resources: A Geek Leader - John's podcast John's Website John's TEDx talk Simon Sinek - How Great Leaders Inspire Action Dan Pink - The Puzzle of motivation TED Talks Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us - Daniel H. Pink The Secrets of Happy Families: Improve Your Mornings, Tell Your Family History, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More - Bruce Feiler Bruce Feiler on TED The Design of Design: Essays from a Computer Scientist - Frederick P. Brooks Jr.

John's book recommendation: Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need - Todd Henry

John's top 3 tips for delivering more value: Communicate effectively Use your time wisely Never stop learning