Communities and You - @eMalaGupta
Community is at the heart of those that work in the open and are truly collaboration driven. Community has a sense of appreciation, people give a lot of time and effort for people they do not know. We can learn from each other and identify our own failings, start to accept them and improve.
People make genuine friends and connections in the community, when did you last make friends? @eMalaGupta is sharing the friends she has made along the way and guidance they have given them. This is such a personal and reflective account of true friends and relationships made in the Java Community.
Community gives you the opportunity to establish a sense of your own values. It is OK to be an individual contributor, a leader and also to work on those skills within the community. It is OK to fail and have the fear of failure, it helps us to improve.
This is slide is such an important factor of community, it’s the centre of diversity, transparency, safety and the basis for us to all improve together.
Be the Leader of Your Developer Career - @brjavaman
How can you be a leader of your career? A leader is someone who inspires people without the authority to do so, it is not a boss. A leader is someone who take responsibility for any aspect of what they are doing, you need to own you career.
Stop blaming others!
It is important to build skills and the only way you get those skills is by doing. You tend not to pick up skills from theory, you have to do something. It is your responsibility to make time, which can be really hard.
Trust is an important aspect of being responsible, you have to be able to say no - that’s important because your yes should be a yes. Trust is something that you build, people call you and not someone else. How do you build trust? You build trust by sharing. Sharing knowledge allows you to become a trusted advisor. Sharing creates collaboration, collaboration is one of the most important skills that we have as a developer.
Software Development is one of the most people/collaboration intensive professions
A leader does not have a team, a community leader does not have a team. The most important skill of a leader is to take the responsibility to listen, which helps to build trust.
How do you deal with politics? Politics is all about negotiation and having a relationship with people and working with people you don’t like. The most important skill you need when trying to negotiate is to listen. You have to build an understanding to be able to take an action that is the best decision.