I coach and mentor on two topics that I am particularly passionate about.

Wellness

I live with Bipolar Disorder, have had to deal with prolonged absences from work, several relocations, and making many changes to my lifestyle to manage health. I’ve done this in a fairly complex and demanding role, as a Partner at McKinsey & Company.

I have supported colleagues who have had questions such as:

  • Do I feel healthy and safe at work right now?
  • Is the trajectory for my health positive?
  • How will I return to work after being away for a long time?
  • How can I return to work in a way that protects my safety?
  • How can I build boundaries without reducing my opportunities?
  • Should I talk to people about my wellness needs, and if so, how?
  • How can I grow in this environment? Is this environment even the right fit?

Please do send me a message on LinkedIn if you would like to discuss this topic.

You can also see my recent conference presentation Bipolar Disorder, Dysregulation, and AI which touches on some of these topics.

I am not a medical professional. This coaching covers lifestyle, habits and adapting in your professional environment. I can only coach those who are already in a place where they are receiving appropriate medical care. If you are in crisis or acute distress, never hesitate to seek help from the emergency services or crisis groups like the Samaritans.

Growing as a Technologist

I started coding at 10 and have always loved building things. I worked as a software engineer, technical lead, and have led large-scale delivery projects, but have always been hands on building and learning. I’m a published author and do a lot of technical writing. Growing for 13 years in a management consultancy I had to manage the pressure to move into more managerial roles that pulled me away from technical work. I always wanted and needed to stay close to technology, as that is core to what I love and what I feel brings credibility to the additional advisory work I do.

This might be useful if you are asking questions such as:

  • How do I stay close to technology when I am being pulled into managerial roles?
  • How do I create time for learning when my time is fragmented across many topics?
  • Can I be a CTO? Should I be? What even is a CTO, and is it a technical role?
  • Is it wrong to work as an individual contributor when more junior colleagues could do the work as well?
  • How do I feel about stepping away from the low-level details of what we are building?
  • How can I speak with credibility if I don’t understand everything we are creating?
  • How do I find the right people during this transition?
  • Is there a world where I continue to grow but just get even deeper in tech?
  • How do I decide if these roles are for me? If they are not, how do I move to a role that gives me more fulfilment as a technologist?

Please do send me a message on LinkedIn if you would like to discuss this topic.

You can see my blog, newsletter, or most recent book to see some of my work in tech, as well as some of the more popular open source projects I run.