The 5 Minute Tech Break : Mar 8

That friday feeling again and, another "5 Minute Tech Break".

This week we focus on how to deal with the isolation and stress of being a senior tech leader.

Some of our thoughts on how to create more space for you, particularly when absorbing the pressures of leadership and responsibility.

Jason & Andrew
https://cto.academy

Article of Our Week :
"No-one told me, It's lonely at the top"

Whilst the public perception of business leaders and entrepreneurs is often about being ... Confident. Knowledgeable. Charismatic. Good orator. Natural Leaders. Ready Made ... the truth is that many also suffer from a sense of isolation and loneliness.

We wrote an article this week that looked into these issues ... 

Find another passion ... pass on your knowledge


Other than tech, my passion in life is sailing.

I've sailed many types of boat, from big yachts down to small dinghies and completed hundreds of races ... some success, many failures!

Sailing is a technical and unforgiving sport. If you are not "on it", you will not perform. Therefore it's always been a great place for me to immerse myself in something else (however short term) and shift my focus away from work. 

More recently, I've moved into instructing and helping the next generation learn a new skill and (hopefully) spread the passion of sailing. It's been a fantastic extension of my original passion and I cannot tell you how much it enables me to de-stress and re-focus.

Picture shows 12 youngsters flying spinnakers for only the second time, and all with huge smiles!



Indulge in your other passions.  Find other tasks you can immerse yourself with and from experience, the pleasure is heightened even further if you can pass them on.   It helps highlight what is important in life, and puts you day job into perspective. [JN]

Those Who Want To Lead, Read

We've mentioned this before but, it's so important to take a step back from leadership roles, create some "me" time and most definitely, make sure you're creating space for "reading" time.  

There is always too much to do.  There is always a "to do" list the length of Chile.  But there is no excuse for you not to build some slack and some space into your schedule, to take stock and follow what else is being said and done in the world.

If you're going to retain an edge, you must do this.

What's more, many of the most successful entrepreneurs ever, have it as an absolute priority.

Apparently these guys, read this much; 

  • Warren Buffet reads 500 pages a day
  • Mark Cuban reads 3 hours a day
  • Bill Gates reads 50 books a year

Couple of interesting articles for you to consider around this subject ... HBR published an article called "Those Who Want To Lead, Read" and another looks at, "Reading habits of successful people

Book of the week :
The Narrow Road to the Deep North

For some downtime (non-tech) reading, how about the 2014 Man Booker Prize fiction - The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan.

It's about Australian prisoners of war in south east Asia.

Touching and harrowing but again, takes you away from current worries and provides some perspective, to say the least.

Quote of the Week

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” — Oscar Wilde

Ok folks.  Key tasks ...

1.  Go build yourself a reading list
2.  Go find yourself a mentor
3.  Go have a fabulous weekend.
4.  For those insatiable types amongst you, go visit our 'tech break' archives.

Stay happy, heathy and have a super weekend.

Watch this space .... CTO Academy is building the next phase of our platform.  

Content. Coaching. Career. Community.