In this conversation Chuck Weindorf shares insights and incidents from his long career as an IT software developer, guide and mentor, with Chitra from PM Power Consulting, around
- His interest and curiosity to learn about new technology, picking it up as a hobbyist in high school
- His drive to offer his services as a software developer when he was in high school
- Having the drive and focus to stay on the software development path and learn
- How he loves working with young people, encouraging more young women to take up software engineering, & how youngsters can prepare themselves for a career
- Sharing his learnings from his career, failures and experiences through his book Leaders & Software Engineers: Communicate and Motivate without speaking in Code
- How he developed the ability to “see code” starting playing chess moves in his mind and then visualizing code movement later
- What it takes to be a good trouble shooter, dont have the fear of breaking something, discovering variability and complexity
- Being experimental to understand complexity and gain confidence
- How new engineers can assimilate and understand existing code and systems and then build on them with newer tech and software
- What experienced engineers can do to enable fresh engineers understand pieces of the system and make the transition smooth
- Empathy, living a day in the life of your customer and continuous improvement takeaways, making personal connects to be successful software engineers
- Cultivating how to speak the language of business to get buy in for new features, technology
- Productivity through the value lens for software, individuals and the organization, building bridges between software and organization needs
- Two things to keep in mind for IT professionals
- Bring your best each day to work
- Embracing new technology, learning it and guiding the company through its adption
Charles Weindorf is a retired IT Director and Chief Engineer with nearly 40 years of experience in software engineering. At Erie Insurance, he served in every possible technical and supervisory role, where he encouraged software engineers to understand their responsibilities, see their value, adopt change, and focus on future direction. With stories, humor, and recollections of his roots as a young engineer, he influenced the next generation of software engineers to excel in their craft. Learn more at www.leadingsoftwareengineers.com
Charles attempts to learn a new skill or hobby each year—including creating a board game from one of his fiction works, leading a new spiritual retreat, leaning to fly in a simulator, and managing a political campaign. He is a lifelong resident of Erie, Pennsylvania, where he lives with his high school sweetheart and wife, Debra, his four kids, and seven grandkids.
He can be contacted via LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-weindorf-engineer/
In Leaders and Software Engineers:Communicate and Motivate without speaking in Code, Charles Weindorf provides the Rosetta Stone for communicating to engineers with stories, analogies, and humor to encourage excellence in your team
