Steve Heyes
I believe that technologies purpose is to improve peoples’ lives, be that of an individual, a society or a business. The way I do that currently is by building teams that solve users problems which then moves the needle for businesses. I focus on outcomes over outputs, and I am an advocate for good DevEx and going slow to go smooth which then enables us to go fast.
I live in Birmingham with my wife, 3 kids and a dog. I've been actively part of the Birmingham Tech scene for 20 years and, along with some other great folks, I run ManageOps which is a community for technical leaders and engineering managers.
Team Lead @ GoGlobal
How to lead with hope when it all feels hopeless
Session Type: Talk
It's all gone a bit pear shaped. What it means to be a software engineer has fundamentally changed forever. Jobs are being replaced with a genie in a box. The promise of the Internet solving all our problems has been shattered. And yet we have a job to do. We have real problems to solve for real people. We need a salary to pay the bills. In this talk, Steve will look at hope; moving from a fluffy abstract term to a concrete example on why it is important, how we can apply to our careers and what we can do to instil it in our teams. This will look at how to lead a team, but also yourself, to create a vision, build trust and create agency for change.
It's all a bit rubbish right now. No one knows what software engineering is going to look like in a years time, or even if they will have a job. AI is writing all our code now. The very thing that we built our identity around.
And yet, we have a job to do. We have teams to lead. We have OKRs and goals. How can we do all that we need to do in age of uncertainty. According to research, Hope is the single biggest thing a follower wants from a leader. Which makes sense. It's a bit hopeless.
But what even is hope? A feeling? Is it subjective? Or is it only really for children's wish lists for their birthdays?
It turns out that it's not. Hope is having a vision for a better future while having some agency to make that future come about.
In this talk I will unpack the current state of the industry. I will paint as honest picture as I can on what is happening and how it's all change. I will then explore hope; what it is, what it isn't. My aim is that people will come away from this with an idea of how they can improve their teams (and their own lives) by instilling some hope.
Headline Sponsor
We are looking for sponsors!
Sponsors make this conference possible, we're actively looking for people to support!