• L' Eomot Inversé (5/3/2013)


    I started out without anything much at all in the way of people skills, but got good training as I drifted up the hierarchy and ended up with some abilities that I never, when younger, imagined I could acquire: for example the ability to appear to suffer fools gladly and to know when it would be inappropriate to exercise that ability. And yes, people skills are very important. But technical skills are important too, probably more important at most levels than people skills.

    My thumbnail bio: USAF 8 years in skilled job. After USAF several bum around jobs for a few years. Then finally was able to do tech stuff again. I am now the senior DBA, and usually at equal with sys admin skills to the senior IT guy.

    One of my managers said in the past that she tried to do both the tech stuff at the same time she was doing personnel management stuff. She sucked at doing both at the same time. And she acknowledged it.

    During my interview I told my future boss, I'll do a team project, but I don't want to run the day-to-day management job. My manager values my skills and knows I don't want her job. My project teams know they have to do their jobs. If they don't they know their performance will probably go uphill. My manager respects my opinion -- but knows I'm not the firing manager. The team members know that my disapproval can effect their future job security. But my team members also know that I want the job done, not excuses.

    So it really comes down to deciding the track -- tech or manager and living up to it.



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    Jim P.

    A little bit of this and a little byte of that can cause bloatware.