I help people in tech lead from where they are.
In my time at Amazon Web Services I learnt that true leadership is not inferred by role or title. It’s about your impact and influence on the people around you.
Hi, I’m Bruce McLeod.
I’ve spent more than 30 years delivering customer value through technology, at Amazon, ThoughtWorks, a vendor to Microsoft, Australia’s National Broadband Network, AMP and Macquarie Bank among others.
While technology is the business, its also about the people and the day-to-day challenges of delivering for your customers and peers.
AI changes the rules of the game
AI is getting good at the work where the answer is clear. Writing a function, fixing a bug, creating a new test, filing the PR or drafting your document.
What Artificial Intelligence lacks, where Human Intelligence thrives. Experience, context and judgement. AI can’t decide which task is more important. It can’t help people who disagree to commit to a plan that they didn’t create. It most certainty isn’t answering the call when the boss calls at 2am.
Quickly, how you use AI in your role is becoming a core differentiator. If you use it to support high quality thinking you will get ahead of people just generating more slop.
Where did I learn this?
I was privileged to grow up as computers went from sci-fi to something small on our wrists, and on that journey there have been some key experiences that helped me on the way
Microsoft
I worked for years embedded at the Microsoft Solutions Delivery Centre. Developing and testing shippable value very day. Working alongside customers, using the tools and processes proven internally at Microsoft, solving their unique business challenges.
ThoughtWorks
My years as a ThoughtWorker provided a core foundation on enabling Australia’s largest businesses with Agile and Technology. Training teams in Agile, building and shipping applications, coaching teams and leaders on different ways to help customers.
Amazon Web Services
Working as an AWS Advisory Consultant and Customer Solutions Manager let me experience first hand what it means to be customer obsessed, data driven and what is needed to deliver results.
Most leadership happens without a title.
It’s the engineer who talks the team out of a bad architecture decision. The architect who gets two vendors to agree on an integration. The consultant who tells the client the timeline won’t hold, before it’s too late to fix.
None of them manage anyone. They are still leading.
I coach people in technology roles to handle those moments better: the meeting where the decision actually gets made, and the conversation that has gone sideways.