Welcome to episode 255 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_) – two technology professionals with backgrounds in IT Operations and Sales Engineering on a mission to help others accelerate career progression and increase job satisfaction by bringing listeners the advice we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we share part 2 of an interview with Larry Roberts, discussing Larry’s experience as part of the IT group and his work on ERP system implementation, the cultural changes affecting him as a result of corporate acquisitions, his personal struggles with alcohol, and the story of his path to recovery and resilience. Original Recording Date: 11-11-2023 Larry Roberts is a budding entrepreneur and owner of Red Hat Media. Red Hat Media focuses on podcasting, building better brands through podcasting, and building better podcasts through leveraging AI tools. If you missed part one of our discussion with Larry, check out Episode 254. Topics – ERP and Implementation Experience, Acquisitions and the Struggles of Working in IT, A Changing Culture, Side Hustles, Getting Lost, Warning Signs and Recovery * Mentioned in the intro * We forgot to mention during the interview that ERP stands for enterprise resource planning. This is a business software with modules that integrate functions such as accounting, order entry, purchasing, warehouse operations, and perhaps transportation management into a single package. 3:36 – ERP and Implementation Experience * Larry was brought into the fold very early in the ERP system implementation process. This was around 2000 or 2001. * Larry feels like they had purchased the JD Edwards software already. * There were discussions on the version they would use (one that was an experience more like using Windows and one that was more of a green screen terminal experience). * Larry believes the decision had already been made to use the green screen version (JD Edwards World) of the application. * John says one of his first jobs was a search for an ERP system application. * John remembers being involved in determining if his company was going to choose the version with the GUI version or the green screen version. * The green screen versions of the software usually ran on a mainframe and were extremely fast, having a number of keyboard shortcuts users would need to learn. It was a high ramp up time to get proficient, but once trained people could do everything without needing to use a mouse. * The Windows versions looked prettier but were slower to use (lots of mouse clicks needed). * Larry says the team went with the green screen version of the JD Edwards software due to the very customized versions of WMS (warehouse management systems), and this was also a big RPG Programming shop. The company wanted the customizability on the back end. * Larry tells us he never really understood this decision, feeling like there was customization at each facility to match the way that facility did things instead of facilities adapting their processes to the way the system worked.

Welcome to episode 254 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_) – two technology professionals with backgrounds in IT Operations and Sales Engineering on a mission to help others accelerate career progression and increase job satisfaction by bringing listeners the advice we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we share part 1 of an interview with Larry Roberts, detailing how Toastmasters made Larry a more effective communicator, and getting into teaching as a martial arts instructor, what made him a successful corporate trainer. We’ll also reflect on Larry’s time as a people manager. Original Recording Date: 11-11-2023 Topics – Meet Larry Roberts, A Summary of Corporate Life, An Instructor Joins Toastmasters, Teaching and Effective Communication, Techniques vs. Concepts and Application, A Trainer’s Effectiveness, Reflections on People Management, A Move into IT 2:17 – Meet Larry Roberts * Larry Roberts is a budding entrepreneur and owner of Red Hat Media. Red Hat Media focuses on podcasting, building better brands through podcasting, and building better podcasts through leveraging AI tools. * He spends Monday – Friday doing podcasts, interviews, taking client calls, and doing speaking engagements. Saturdays are the days when real work gets accomplished. * Larry is involved in a number of speaking engagements for organizations like Entrepreneurs Organization or EO and has spoken at conferences like Podfest, Podcast Movement, and Outlier Podcast Festival. He has also been doing some work with the and the Texas State School Board on the use of AI technologies in education from the perspective of both teachers and students. 3:57 – A Summary of Corporate Life * Larry worked a corporate job until January 4, 2021. * In his 20s Larry was a karate guy, and he tells us “fighting was life.” He owned a karate school for a while but said it failed miserably (his first business venture). * Right out of high school Larry started selling cars. Though he did well as a salesman, he wanted to focus on karate and eventually moved into martial arts full time. * Once Larry realized his martial arts venture was not going to work he needed to get a real job. He began working at Texas Instruments on something they called the clean line. Think of the Intel commercials where you would see people in the white suits (what Larry calls ninja suits). These same people worked in clean rooms. * “I worked in a clean room, and I wore a ninja suit every day to work. So that was kind of cool!” – Larry Roberts * Larry would work 12 hour days for TI and still had time to pursue martial arts in his spare time. * From the clean line / manufacturing position Larry moved into a corporate training position, which opened up some opportunities. * Larry leveraged the training opportunity to get a training management position in Coppell (a suburb of Dallas), wanting to relocate from the Sherman / Denison area of North Texas. * Though this was supposed to be a short stint for a couple of years, it turned into a 21 year career. * Larry started off as the training manager in a...

Welcome to episode 253 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We are John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_) &#8211; two technology professionals with backgrounds in IT Operations and Sales Engineering on a mission to help others accelerate career progression and increase job satisfaction by bringing listeners the advice we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we share part 2 of an interview with Russell Swinney, detailing the role of the BISO (Business Information Security Officer), other types of executive leaders and their focus, how Russell builds trust as an interim leader, and advice for those seeking to get into cybersecurity. Original Recording Date: 10-24-2023 Russell Swinney provides interim CIO, CISO, and CTO services for companies in times of transition or trouble through his company InterStructure. If you missed part 1 of our discussion with Russell, check out Episode 252. Topics – The BISO Role and Path, Other Executive Lenses, Building Trust in the Interim, Cybersecurity Expertise and CISO Services, Advice for Those New to Cybersecurity and Parting Thoughts 2:58 &#8211; The BISO Role and Path * We shouldn’t overlook the BISO role (Business Information Security Officer), which is essentially the CISO for a business unit or division inside a large company. This person’s job would be to embed deeply in the way the business is running. * The leader of the business unit is your partner in obtaining funding to keep the business unit running well. Russell says the BISO would be closer to the business than even a CIO might be. * The BISO is often overlooked but can lead to tremendous opportunities like a CISO role, a CIO role, a COO role, or even a divisional vice president role. * “They have to have an expert knowledge of every component, human and technical, and how to keep them functional, safe, secure…and it can be a game changer in terms of knowledge….They know how the entire division runs….In manufacturing, they know how the whole plant runs and works what it takes to make it run best. They are in the weeds of securing all those devices, which is a myriad things.” &#8211; Russell Swinney, on the role of the BISO in a manufacturing environment * Cybersecurity can become a profit center in the case of the BISO rather than just a cost center. * The path to BISO can come from people with varying backgrounds (i.e. someone with operational knowledge who learns security, someone with security knowledge who learns operations, etc.). They need opportunity, mentorship, and training. In some cases they may need to learn people skills to progress into this role. * John mentions we maybe don’t talk about the leaders of business units enough and gives the example of GE when it was the largest company in the world. Those different divisions of GE likely had different requirements for both operations and information security. It’s easy to see how specialization within a business unit could be a great stepping stone. Perhaps some companies would rotate people through different business units. * Russell says someone who has deep knowledge of the operations of a business unit being placed in other business units to expand their knowledge is on track to be president of the company. * Note we had one other guest who spoke of targeting leadership of a business unit, and that was Scott Egbert in <a href="https://nerd-jour...

Welcome to episode 252 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_) &#8211; two technology professionals with backgrounds in IT Operations and Sales Engineering on a mission to help others accelerate career progression and increase job satisfaction by bringing listeners the advice we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we share part 1 of an interview with Russell Swinney, detailing Russell’s journey into the technology field after starting as a mechanical engineer, his progression into leadership, the genesis of his business, the interim and virtual roles for technology leaders, and some thoughts on both the CIO and CISO roles and the lenses people in each of these roles use to view the business and the world. Original Recording Date: 10-24-2023 Topics – Meet Russell Swinney, Learning and Onboarding, The Role of Mentors, Staying Technical and Organizational Constraints, Path into IT, Finding Inspiration and Hugging the Cactus, A Business Idea, Advice for the Potential Business Owner, The CIO and the CISO 2:50 &#8211; Meet Russell Swinney * Russell Swinney provides interim CIO, CISO, and CTO services for companies in times of transition or trouble. * Russell tells us he works well in a crisis, and it is a good opportunity to apply his experience. * In the 1980s Russell started supporting personal computers (PCs) for the forestry department’s computer lab while he was in college. * He was not a fan of mainframes, punch cards, or Fortran. * Russell was asked to connect all the computers and make them work, starting with the TRS-80 models with 8.5&quot; disk drives. * Russell wrote a book on how people could utilize these computers, and as a result of that work he was offered a graduate teaching position within the college of agriculture at Texas A &amp; M. * Russell would later help supporting building newer computer labs as personal computing took off around this time. * “I became a technologist and have been learning ever since.” &#8211; Russell Swinney * Russell started out in mechanical engineering, worked with Fortran, and did graphical drawing with pencils. He thought this would be a good choice and feels he is pretty mechanically inclined. * Russell was in Boy Scouts and spent a lot of time hiking. Due to this interest he thought maybe he should get into forestry since he “knew that stuff” (or thought he did). * “It was a good ride because I did very little actual forestry and a great deal of technology.” &#8211; Russell Swinney, on getting into forestry * Russell focused on applying technology to the business of forestry, gaining experience with the wood and paper products industries. 6:05 &#8211; Learning and Onboarding * Russell had learned what he knew about computers on his own even leading up the graduate teaching assignment. * Russell remembered the struggles he had gone through learning the material he needed to teach, and that made him better as an instructor. He cites doing lab practical type activities with studies to take computers apart and see what they looked like inside. * When we’ve recently acquired knowledge we might have more patience for someone just learning compared to someone who is working with that knowledge constantly. * Being in leadership has taught Russell that everyone is on some kind of learning journey.

Welcome to episode 251 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_) &#8211; two technology professionals with backgrounds in IT Operations and Sales Engineering on a mission to help others accelerate career progression and increase job satisfaction by bringing listeners the advice we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we share part 2 of an interview with Todd Cochrane, detailing how his company works through product and service roadmaps collaboratively, how to keep employees engaged in their work, the challenges of being CEO, and thoughts on developing a strategy for emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. Original Recording Date: 10-06-2023 Todd Cochrane is the founder and CEO of Blubrry Podcasting, a full service podcast hosting platform. If you missed part 1 of our discussion with Todd, check out Episode 250. Topics – Filling Expertise Gaps, Corporate and Individual Roadmaps, Leadership and Employee Engagement, Developing a Useful AI Strategy 3:32 &#8211; Filling Expertise Gaps * Nick feels like the above experience is an iteration of being mindful of our gaps in knowledge just like when Todd got on his show and asked people with different expertise for help. It’s learning from others but also humility. * Todd says he was a high school graduate going into the Navy and didn’t get a degree until he had been in the Navy for 20 years. In a way he was getting credit for much of what he had learned via the school of hard knocks. * Todd has seen people fail because they hung out with others who may have been fun people but who just were not going to advance in a company. It’s important to surround ourselves with good people. * John points out that just like skills diversification when one is riding a technology wave, it’s also about having a diverse set of people around us whose experience we can call upon to fill gaps in our own expertise. * We cannot be experts in everything. Having access to others with different expertise can enable the kinds of pivots we spoke about earlier (for the individual or for a business). * As company owner and founder, Todd would rather collaboratively come up with a plan with his team than just give them a directive. * Todd calls himself a geek and says there are times where he wants something geeky (i.e. a feature) that 90% of his customers may not ever need. It’s important to be careful and prioritize for the 90%. * There are certainly times when Todd’s team are building a feature that is intended to promote adoption (i.e. building it for only a small subset of customers) like some of the podcasting 2.0 work they have done. But these occasions are pretty rare, and the team knows why they are building it. * Todd says the team are very cognizant of the products and services roadmap when making decisions, and he looks at the year’s roadmap every day. Every 2 weeks there is an oversight meeting to discuss the roadmap with other company leaders. * Priorities may need to change based on the marketplace conditions. * “You have to be careful. Because if you’re working Scrum…if you interrupt the cycle you could really do huge damage.

Welcome to episode 250 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_) &#8211; two technology professionals with backgrounds in IT Operations and Sales Engineering on a mission to help others accelerate career progression and increase job satisfaction by bringing listeners the advice we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we share part 1 of an interview with Todd Cochrane, detailing his Naval experience in electronics working on special projects for aircraft, experience in program management, how Todd got into podcasting and later became a business owner, the nuances of running a business part-time, and how a company and individuals can shift based on market conditions. Original Recording Date: 10-06-2023 Topics – Meet Todd Cochrane, Naval Service and Technical Knowledge, Program Management, An Injury and a Different Role, Getting into Podcasting and Monetization, A Tech Wave and a Shift, Diversification of Focus and Expertise 2:30 &#8211; Meet Todd Cochrane * Todd Cochrane is the founder and CEO of Blubrry Podcasting. Blubrry is a full service podcast hosting platform. * At the time of this recording they are working with around 100,000 shows / podcasts at a variety of levels (some shows using Blubrry for hosting, some for analytics, some using the PowerPress plugin for WordPress). * The team at Blubrry is about 17 people, and they have been in business since 2005. * Nerd Journey proudly uses Blubrry statistics and the PowerPress plugin! 3:51 &#8211; Naval Service and Technical Knowledge * In vocational tech school Todd took 2 years of electronics and then joined the Navy in 1983. His official title at that time was aviation electronics technician. * Todd also served as a back end operator in specialized P3 aircraft used more as platforms for intelligence collection. Todd tells us he was involved in this kind of work for 25 years. * During his tenure in the Navy, Todd got exposed to something called special projects. * People would bring a box for a specific function in the plane (a “box de jour”), and Todd would do the mechanical and electrical designs for these to get them in the planes quickly. * Todd’s true Navy background was in synthetic aperture radar and involved work with Sandia National Labs. * To pair with his deep technical knowledge of electronics, Todd started to tinker with other things like bulletin boards and downloading shareware while stationed in Guam. * This was back in the days of dial up modems. * “I really was kind of a geek in all aspects of job and life….When the bulletin board era died, I basically became a blogger.” &#8211; Todd Cochrane, reflecting on his time in the Navy. * Todd calls himself a failed blogger, feeling he was not great at it. This was around 2002. * In 2004 Todd got into podcasting but continued to work another job. After retiring from the Navy in 2007, Todd spent 12 years as a tech rep (basically the same job he had been doing but as a civilian). * Todd continued to work with and for Naval personnel until 2019 while running his own company on the side. * “Needless to say those were some exciting years because there was no...

Welcome to episode 249 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_) &#8211; two technology professionals with backgrounds in IT Operations and Sales Engineering on a mission to help others accelerate career progression and increase job satisfaction by bringing listeners the advice we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we share part 2 of an interview with Duncan Sparrell, detailing Duncan’s progression into management and back to life as an individual contributor, how he evaluated decisions to change jobs and companies, advice on technology hype cycles and where to place yourself in them, and the genesis of Duncan’s cybersecurity experience. Original Recording Date: 10-02-203 Duncan Sparrell is Chief Cyber Curmudgeon at sFractal Consulting, a boutique consulting firm for software and cybersecurity that Duncan founded which helps with his personal mission to make the world a safer place. If you missed part 1 of our discussion with Duncan, check out Episode 248. Topics – Progression to Leadership, Training and Gaining Influence, Player Coach and the Manager to Individual Contributor Move, Move Choices and Enjoying Your Work, Information Warfare, Technology Hype Cycles and Following the Money 3:19 &#8211; Progression to Leadership * Is climbing the ladder that Duncan mentioned going into people management or continuing to progress as an individual contributor? * The answer is both! He went back and forth between the two (individual contributor and manager). Duncan climbed the tech ladder as an individual contributor as well as doing it as a manager. * Duncan was promoted to lead engineer early in his career (more responsibility and more pay) and later into “actual management” which required performance reviews and real people management. * Duncan was able to learn to manage people in what he calls the ideal way and was in a role that was half an individual contributor and half a people manager (so some responsibilities for each or a foot in both worlds). In this case the group he was managing was small enough to allow him to do it. Duncan says being in this position allowed him to get involved in bigger and bigger projects. * We might refer to this type of role as a player coach type role based on conversations with other past guests. * Duncan mentions direct reports (people reporting through you) and indirect reports (those you lead through influence without authority). * In order to succeed you need the ability to influence without authority. This requires credibility, integrity, and trust with your co-workers (trust with both subordinates and trust with your management). It is a balancing act do it well, and one must be persistent. * A mistake or bad day (like being a jerk) can erase many “did greats” and may come back to bite you. In Duncan’s experience, jerks do not get rewarded. * “Being a jerk is just the wrong time to be a jerk.” &#8211; Duncan Sparrell * Did Duncan ask for the role as half individual contributor and half manager (player coach), or did someone encourage him to do it? * Duncan says people encouraged him to do it and went through the process of feeling him out for it. Once an opening came up, he was sort of pushed into it. Some of Duncan’s other career moves were somewhat similar to this.

Welcome to episode 248 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_) &#8211; two technology professionals with backgrounds in IT Operations and Sales Engineering on a mission to help others accelerate career progression and increase job satisfaction by bringing listeners the advice we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we share part 1 of an interview with Duncan Sparrell, detailing how he became a programmer, the innovations he was a part of at Bell / ATT Labs, what it was like to work between research and development, the work he has done on standards, the breadth of the cybersecurity field and possible roles, why we should keep the big picture in mind, and thoughts on helpful meetup groups. Original Recording Date: 10-02-203 Topics – A Chief Curmudgeon, Technical Origins at Bell Labs, Learning to Program, Meetup Groups and Lesser Known Cybersecurity Roles, Working on Standards, Cybersecurity Perceptions and Moving Up, Connecting to the Big Picture, Sources of Innovation, Life at The Idea Factory 2:15 &#8211; A Chief Curmudgeon * Duncan Sparrell is Chief Cyber Curmudgeon at sFractal Consulting, a boutique consulting firm for software and cybersecurity that Duncan founded which helps with his personal mission to make the world a safer place. * After retiring, Duncan wanted to give back to the community. He does some consulting, a good bit of pro bono work on standards, and also non-profit work in the area of cybersecurity. * Duncan really likes fractals and has a tag line about the closer you look the more you see. He also tells us the name fractal was already taken, so he had to put a letter in front of it (in this case “s” which could align to his last name, security &amp; software work, etc.). * As for the curmudgeon label, Duncan says he is old and can be one at times, but he also likes to push back. And rather than refer to himself of the CEO of a one person company, Duncan needed to come up with some other title. Chief Curmudgeon is where he landed. 3:50 &#8211; Technical Origins at Bell Labs * We’re rolling back well into the last century here. Duncan attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (or RPI), which had only 1 computer at the time. * When the school’s computer was upgraded Duncan said they had to build a new building for the new one (since computers were quite large at the time and were programmed with punch cards). * Duncan did well in school and stayed for a master’s degree. He only took one computer course, and that was in Fortran. Duncan tells us this was the worst grade in a class received over the course of his academic career. * Duncan’s masters thesis was focused on programming an arithmetic processing unit (which was the size of a refrigerator) attached to a mini computer. This had to be programmed using assembly language, and Duncan programmed it to do Fast Fourier Transforms (or FFTs), which was how he learned to program. * The mini computer project got Duncan interested in programming. * Duncan went to work at Bell Labs (or Bell Telephone Laboratories) after being offered a job there, which was the R&amp;D (research and development) arm of the Bell System of companies. John and Duncan refer to this as the “Ma Bell” days.

Welcome to episode 247 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_) &#8211; two technology professionals with backgrounds in IT Operations and Sales Engineering on a mission to help others accelerate career progression and increase job satisfaction by bringing listeners the advice we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we share part 3 of an interview with Dr. Sirisha Kuchimanchi, detailing how Sirisha made the decision to leave the corporate world, how she became interested in podcasting, and how life has been as an entrepreneur. Original Recording Date: 09-16-2023 Dr. Sirisha Kuchimanchi is an entrepreneur who started her career working for a semiconductor manufacturer in the tech industry which resulted in 17 years of experience. If you missed parts 1 and 2 of our discussion with Sirisha, check out Episode 245 and Episode 246. Topics – Walking away from the Corporate World, An Interest in Podcasting, Loss Aversion and Sunk Cost 2:35 &#8211; Walking away from the Corporate World * Nick had the chance to meet Sirisha at a local podcast meetup and wanted her to share the story of walking away from her job at TI with our listeners. Did it have anything to do with learning to set boundaries, the pressure of the role she was in at the time? And did the two months away provide unexpected clarity? * Sirisha was working her full-time job, she was podcasting at night, and she had teenage kids at home. At some point she realized she was dropping things at home. * “When I looked at it, I realized time was my biggest constraint.” &#8211; Dr. Sirisha Kuchimanchi * Sirisha tells us she had her finances in a state which allowed her to make a calculated risk decision. * What Sirisha is working on now is constantly changing she says. She has many ideas, some that work and others that do not. * During the time of this recording Sirisha has kids in college and tells us it’s probably not the best time to make a decision like this. * With time being the biggest constraint, Sirisha had to decide where she wanted to go. * Sirisha’s organization was very supportive, and she was able to take a leave of absence. Her son was about to be in college, and this time also gave her the ability tot think about what she wanted to do. * As Sirisha was working through the various projects she had going, the time off gave her the space to come to a decision. * “There are all these things I want to work on. There’s never going to be a great time, and the time for me is now.” &#8211; Dr. Sirisha Kuchimanchi, on the decision to walk away from the corporate world * Sirisha feels she will probably re-enter the corporate world in some manner, but it might not look the same. The experience she has gained to this point doesn’t go away because of the decision. * Sirisha tells us she has learned many things from podcasting that she never would have otherwise. She can, for example, combine her tech experience with knowledge of how we show up externally and the importance of it. * The two month break reiterated how well each team member who was working for Sirisha at the time performed in their role. The fact that she was able to disconnect helped Sirisha understand there were other things she could do a...

Welcome to episode 246 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_) &#8211; two technology professionals with backgrounds in IT Operations and Sales Engineering on a mission to help others accelerate career progression and increase job satisfaction by bringing listeners the advice we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we share part 2 of an interview with Dr. Sirisha Kuchimanchi, detailing Sirisha’s progression from team lead into people management, the responsibilities of a manager, ways Sirisha built a culture of excellence, and a framework for evaluating new career opportunities. Original Recording Date: 09-16-2023 Dr. Sirisha Kuchimanchi is an entrepreneur who started her career working for a semiconductor manufacturer in the tech industry which resulted in 17 years of experience. If you missed part 1 of our discussion with Sirisha, check out Episode 245. Topics – Gaining Leadership Skills, Team Lead vs. Manager, What Good Looks Like, Exposure to and Evaluation of New Opportunities, Leadership Metrics and a Culture of Excellence 2:59 &#8211; Gaining Leadership Skills * Looking back, Sirisha feels she has moved jobs about every 3 years. She also knows how to gauge her level of boredom. * Before moving on to a next job, Sirisha remembers meeting a friend for coffee who asked her, “why do you keep moving laterally? Why would you not try for a management job?” * Like many others, Sirisha was having trouble answering this question. She didn’t have people management experience and was not sure if she could lead people. Most of the managers Sirisha had encountered had great ideas, and she felt she did not have any great ideas. * After being asked this question and initially dismissing it as a no, Sirisha thought more deeply about it. * Sirisha had gained some supervisory experience by this time, feeling like the person she was supervising may not have needed much from her. * “Being a manager is a hard job.” &#8211; Dr. Sirisha Kuchimanchi * While we can acknowledge there are both good / average / bad managers out there, we need to understand the role of a manager is quite difficult. They are getting feedback and communicating information both up to their management and down to their reports. They have to filter the information and keep things on track. There is more heavy lifting involved than you might realize looking from an outside perspective. * After thinking about the discussion with her friend for a while, Sirisha told her boss in the next 1-1 that she wanted his kind of job one day. Sirisha saw how spectacular her manager was in the role (feeling there was no doubt he was going to progress and move up the chain), and she felt comfortable sharing her aspirations with him. She had worked in some different organizations and understood the spectrum of roles available to her as a possible next step. * By the next 1-1 meeting, Sirisha’s manager shared some things she would need to do to begin pursuing a role as a manager. * She would need serious leadership experience such as leading disparate teams where you have to influence without authority (i.e. no one works for you). * Even managers still have to influence people who report to them and get the people to take action and make progress in different areas.