Jason Shields

Look, if you had told me as a teen how much of a visceral thrill I would get out of writing a complex SQL query/Excel function as an adult I would have laughed you out of existence. I think a lot about the possibility of truly knowing one's self, and this idea always reminds me that there's only so much you can know. Encourage the people who look up to you, report to you, enjoy your mentorship, or who you in any other way lead to try things (especially new things and those things outside of their comfort zone). You never know what's going to ignite a spark in them that will lead them to their next big thing. #leadership #mentorship #datadriven

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Hey rockstars, finding a balance between planning and doing is a unique talent. More people should talk this up in interviews. One of the worst regrets in hiring is finding Sr level people who cant execute without orders. As a leader, I really get disappointed if I have to tell people what they should be doing all the time. Id rather someone who takes calculated chances based on business value and provide guidance and feedback. If you are hiring: Ask a candidate how they balance planning and executing. If you are a job seeker: Give the interviewer examples of how you can plan enough to get a project off the ground, getting feedback from the actual work to achieve the outcomes faster. #data #analytics #rockstars

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When I first saw this video, several questions came to mind: 1. Is there even such a thing as static objects? 2. Does the classification as a static object carry more weight than the object's dynamics and would it be the same if the object is moving towards us? 3. Does this situation even count as an edge case? 4. How would vision-language-action models, such as Wave's LINGO-1, evaluate this scenario? What do you think? #wayve #waymo #sotif #adas #autonomous

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A friend shared with me that their company announced 20% layoffs. When adding up the absence of names on the internal intranet, it ended up being over 40%+. Tech companies have gotten into the habit of cyclical layoffs, and finally, some companies, after hiring employees for fully remote positions, have threatened layoffs if employees do not relocate to be closer to an office. Never and at no time have I seen a discussion of the long-term costs to companies in terms of knowledge management, employee experience, morale, and productivity. According to this article, it takes "...12–18 months for engagement to rebound after layoffs. And for 2023 layoffs, the recovery is looking even longer, at 18–24 months, and that’s only if you hire new employees to backfill essential roles." The solutions in this article are a clarion call for the use of change management in these processes to reduce the impact and return companies to productivity faster.

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Where You Start Is Not Always Where You End—and That's More Than Okay I didn’t start my career thinking I’d end up in procurement, contract negotiations, or leading teams—but here I am, and I’m thriving. My journey began in a lab, knee-deep in data as a research scientist. But something inside me wanted more than the cold monotony of the lab. So, I took the plunge: working full-time while pursuing my MBA at night. It was tough, but I knew I needed to expand my horizons and get out of the lab. That decision changed everything. I pivoted to learning how to negotiate subcontract terms, a world away from the meticulous experiments I was used to. This new skill set didn’t just open doors—it blew them wide open. I found myself drawn into procurement, where I could combine my analytical skills with newfound negotiation prowess. It wasn’t just a job—it was the beginning of a passion I never expected. Every pivot, every hard-earned lesson, was a step toward something bigger. And here’s the thing: where you start doesn’t dictate where you’ll end up. It’s not about sticking to the plan—it’s about embracing the journey, with all its unexpected twists and turns. Don’t be afraid to pivot. Don’t be afraid to leap. You never know where it might take you. If you’re thinking about changing direction or pursuing something new, know that it’s all part of your growth. Don't let fear stop you. Follow me for more insights on embracing change, learning continuously, and building a career that excites you. #CareerGrowth #EmbraceChange #ContinuousLearning #Leadership #ProfessionalDevelopment #CareerJourney #GrowthMindset

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Thinking of the 17,000 employees impacted at Boeing this week. Here’s my helpful offer to those hit by the RIF ↓ Boeing gave me my big break when I had 0 years of experience, and nothing to offer but work ethic. I wouldn’t be coaching without the skills and experiences they equipped with me with. So here’s what I’m doing: 1. I’m offering a FREE (no strings attached) resume review for the first 25 Boeing employees that send me a DM. - I’ll do my best to kick out reviews sometime this week or next. 2. I’m making my 10-Step guide for navigating layoffs available through my website - I’ll drop the link in the comments. - This is a 6 page guide with links and resources to help you strategize before you act. Today is a day for helping. Please reshare this post for others who might be impacted by a RIF or layoff ♻️

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**Support for those impacted by Boeing Layoff** Hello, I'm coach Jen. First let me say I'm so sorry you've been adversely impacted by the recent Boeing Layoffs. Though we all might be feeling emotions around this impact differently, we are all here working through it. I've been a career and leadership coach for 13 years. Both as a small business owner, working with a coaching firm and as a manager and leader at Boeing. I actually took my first coaching class at Boeing. As a Boeing peer, leader and coach, I am here to support those impacted in these tough times. Should you like to leverage the support of a career and leadership coach, please complete the google form below to give me an indication of the level of support you need. Within 48 business hours I will follow up with a simple recommended plan for your situation and I will provide as many helpful resources as I can. Because I don't know how many people will opt into this support I will do my best to respond quickly to all of those in need and request your patience with my follow up. https://lnkd.in/gXX6zuK9 Please feel free to share with your peers adversely impacted and practice patience as I follow up with all of those looking for support. 

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I’m thrilled that three people have already taken me up on this offer, gaining support and a solid starting point as they move forward in their careers. This is still an open offer with no end date. If you’d like help or support, feel free to reach out or send me a direct message. While updating your resume or LinkedIn profile is important, I want to highlight something even more impactful in today’s job market: networking. Your professional network is one of your most valuable tools. Reach out to former colleagues, mentors, and industry contacts, not just to ask for opportunities, but to share your career goals and seek advice. Often, these conversations lead to unexpected opportunities. Here’s how it works: You talk to one person, ask if they can connect you to someone else, and so on. Before you know it, you’ve built a web of connections, and one of those conversations may lead to your next great opportunity. Networking is how jobs are found today. 💡 If you’re job searching, network. 💡 If you’re an ally, offer to have these conversations, you’ll provide value too, I promise. Let’s keep building connections and supporting one another.

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I’ll let you in on a secret: bad data isn't the IT team's fault. It's a leadership problem. Bad data stems from a lack of prioritization. If someone tells me "our data is just crappy," I don't buy it. I question why it hasn't been on the strategic roadmap. How are you supposed to keep IT assets efficient and make data-driven decisions with incomplete, old, hard-to-find data? You can’t. That’s why clean, well-maintained data is essential and should be on every leadership team’s strategic roadmap. If this isn’t the case at your company, you’ll have to get leadership buy-in. Without it, you're facing an uphill battle in managing IT assets. So, how do you get buy-in? Here's the 5-step playbook: 1. Build a business case Show how clean data drives business outcomes and bad data holds the company back in essential processes. 2. Tie it to organizational goals What are your company’s top priorities for the year? Demonstrate how having clean, up-to-date IT data can help your company achieve those goals. 3. Formalize data management for enterprise, with clarity of ownership, policies and processes. 4. Treat data as strategic to revenue generation, with ownership, accountability and incentive through key leaders across the company. 5. Use experts if needed I’m a big fan of bringing in external help for a specific project. If you don't have the right staff, skills, or resources, bring in the pros! Clean data starts at the top. 

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To my former Tesla colleagues who have been impacted by the layoffs. . . After 6 years with the company, and from my personal experience of being let go over 6 months ago via phone call on my day off with absolutely no warning whatsoever, I can imagine many of you feel like you’ve just gone through a breakup. It’s tough, and it hurts. I remember being numb, shocked, and frozen. I went about my day in a fog, not truly processing that something I had worked so hard on and had so much passion for was just taken away from me with little more than a “we wish you the best in the future” from someone who did not truly mean that or care about me. A few hours later, I panicked. I rushed to my LinkedIn which I hadn’t touched in years. I changed my about section. I made a post saying I was excited and ready for what came next (although I was not ready at that moment at all), and I started scouring for jobs that I thought I would be interested in. All of sudden, I was faced with an overwhelming sense of inadequacy, frustration, powerlessness, and uncertainty. Everyone is different, and no one will process this the same way. Nor will your actions be the same in the coming days and weeks, but if I may provide some advice that I wish I could have followed myself in retrospect. . . *Whatever you do during this difficult time in your lives, PLEASE prioritize your mental health, and do what you can be kind and gentle with yourselves* The decisions that were made by the company and/or your manager are not a reflection of who you are or what you’ve accomplished. This was something I struggled with immensely in the months following my termination, and I ended up in the darkest mental battle I’ve ever encountered. Since then, I have prioritized my mental health which has done wonders. People work their asses off at Tesla, and before you know it, you’ve worked for 6 years and have taken maybe two or three weeks off in total. Tesla demands a lot of their employees in not only performance metrics, but in passion for the goals and mission of the company. This isn’t written or technically required anywhere, but it is a byproduct of the work culture. It’s rewarding, but absolutely exhausting. The people I met and worked with at Tesla were tireless, but it felt like you had to be to succeed. You’ve done incredible work that has truly made a difference. Whether or not you feel that has been recognized, know that I, and your peers know how much of yourself you poured into your work. You’re all badasses, take care of yourselves ❤️

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Thanks to Jennifer George who wrote this in such detail and by using such apt examples. Observing Leadership in Action: Boeing and Starbucks It's fascinating to see how Kelly Ortberg at Boeing and Brian Niccol at Starbucks are navigating their respective turnarounds. Both are leveraging their company's heritage and engaging directly with front-line teams, which is a powerful approach. Key Takeaways: 1. Heritage as a Guiding Light: Embracing the company's roots to drive future success. 2. Engagement with Front-Line Teams: Real insights come from those on the ground. 3. Clear Problem Statements: Identifying and naming the core issues is crucial. 4. Structured Change Frameworks: Simplifying complex changes into actionable steps. 5. Managing Expectations: Acknowledging that meaningful change takes time. As rightly brought out by Jennifer George, it's inspiring to see how clear communication and respect for the company's legacy can pave the way for successful transformations. #changecommunications #leadership #ceotransition

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🚗 I feel like I am Mario Andretti in a Waymo 🚗 Sometimes, we’re all Mario Andretti, ready to hit the gas and take the lead—but stuck in the backseat of a self-driving car, watching the road pass by. That’s where I’m at today—driven, determined, and more than ready to take the wheel again. With years of experience steering complex projects and client relationships, I’m primed to jump into action, bringing my unique blend of tech know-how, customer success strategies, and leadership to the forefront. 🚦 It’s time to move forward, breakthrough, and DRIVE progress. Who’s ready to ride with me? Let's connect, collaborate, and create opportunities that move us all ahead! 🚀 Note: I appreciate all the wonderful services out there, but I’m only looking to connect with hiring managers for direct opportunities. #CustomerSuccess #Leadership #Opportunities #ReadyToDrive #TechLeadership #HiringNow #LetsCollaborate #CustomerExperience #GrowthMindset

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Nearly 20 years ago, going into the winter of 2006, my wife and I had a decision to make. We both worked at Ford Motor Company, and they were going through a tough time. To reduce payroll, they were offering a Voluntary Separation Package to salaried employees. Volunteer to leave, and you’ll get a small severance. Should we put our names in the hat? My wife and I would talk about it at length, but it was too complex to keep in my head. ▸ Where would we work? ▸ Should we move? ▸ Will Ford pay our tuition? ▸ How long will it take to get a job? ▸ What happens if we can’t find a job? It wasn’t clear what we should choose. I needed a way to organize it and get a little mathematical so I could make an effective decision. I chose to use a decision tree to help me. I wrote about how I did this in my newsletter this week. Check it out if you'd like to learn more. 🙋 - Have you ever used a decision tree to help you make sense of a complicated situation? -----   👀 Check out the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gKw7ACF5    💌 Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/ddWFBr5M

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I led a team to do release fulfillment and program management. The team worked on multiple projects and competing priorities. Often, my team would ask what to work on given everything was seemingly urgent. I took the following approach to answer - What should the team work on? Ruthlessly prioritize. My mentor, Céline Felan, would remind me. I used Eisenhower’s matrix to prioritize work. This gave me clarity on things that need immediate attention from me, things that I will schedule and complete at a later time, things to delegate and others that I will push back on. While both release work and company initiative work is important, understand how the work ties to business goals. In addition, I used a system to quantify the value of each project. Balance the needs of stakeholders. A stakeholder might ask for release progress and another might ask for pending tickets to be updated. Think about the outcome and prioritize its delivery. I was biased to prioritize tasks that are in critical path or tasks that will mitigate critical risks. If enablement sessions are planned with a customer, make sure all the tasks leading up to enablement are completed for a stellar session with the customer. Communicate about project progress, risks and dependencies to the stakeholders. If priority has changed or progress is not tracking to expectations, communicate with the stakeholders proactively so there are no surprises. Use project management tools like Gnatt charts to show progress. In this situation, the same resources worked on releases and programs. Careful planning of resource allocation had to be done. There was a constant need to monitor resource overallocation or burdening of resources. Conduct periodic reviews to reassess priorities. I led scrum-of-scrums every other day to know “things” that will become “risks” and used agile methodologies to adapt and adjust. #priority #programmanagement #leadership #projectmanagement #lessonslearnt

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209 days ago I was laid off as part of a RIF while on FMLA after giving birth to our twin boys in November. This meant in addition to the normal gambit of postpartum feelings and adjustments, I also had to deal with the emotions of being let go, and the emotions and rejections of looking for new role. Well tldr- sad story, happy ending, tied into coffee creamer. I went through all phases of all the emotions. At first, we started to plan what we would do with the additional severance and I how I would sign and start work at the end of April when I was supposed to return to work. By the end of April, it was clear this wasn’t going to happen, and I decided I needed to work harder at applying, networking, getting myself out there. I decided that I needed to rid my life of frivolous things, to save money. So I stopped using coffee creamer in my coffee. I told myself coffee creamer is for closers. And I sure wasn’t a closer. Around this time, Target was selling a (delicious) Califa Chcolate Strawberry Creamer for the spring and it was the only creamer I would use. When I decided I was giving up on creamer, I had one bottle of this left in my fridge. I decided much like champagne, this ‘tired of the job market’ mama, would pop open her creamer when she landed somewhere. May. Nothing. June. Nothing. July was also looking bleak. And then one day it wasn’t and then one day I had a call that I had a verbal job offer. And the the next day I had a written job offer. And the next day I accepted that job offer. Which was a day that I never thought would come after searching for over six months. I went to go find my bottle of celebratory creamer and guess what? It was expired. But of all the days it could have decided to go to pasture, it expired on the day I received my written offer. How wild is that? Of all the days of the year, and mind you this is almond milk, it has a lifespan of like a billion, it ended on 7/17. Today I start my new role. I have no coffee creamer because I did open that expired bottled and it smelled funny. And also, one of things I discovered about myself during the long period of unemployment was that I don’t actually like coffee creamer. Go figure. To sum it up, life was hard, things got tough, my coffee creamer was a sign to that my new role was perfect for me, and I have a new job. Yay.

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I just read the article about the GM worker who was laid off - via email - after 38 years of loyal service. It got me thinking about all of my layoffs, I don't remember ever being laid off by email, but these are some of my layoff experiences: My favorite for timing: Boss, who had been a business partner with my Aunt at one point, called me into her office in tears to lay me off. I already knew it was coming and had taken a new job offer about 15 minutes before. Most common: last minute meetings in a big conference room with a lot of folks I don't normally meet with. Generally with checks right there, nice severance pay, with outsourcing support (resume/interview skills/job search support). Another common one: On a video call with a mix of folks reporting to some upper management person (largest was over 20), coupled with nice severance package, resume and job search support. Usually met back at our desks by security to pack up and then be escorted out. The one that pissed me off the most: an on-site conference call with the company execs and the CEO walked out refusing to tell us. so the board had to. We were met by outside security company folks at the door saying we had to leave everything there. They asked for my cell phone and laptop, neither of which were company property. I refused in a very "non-polite" manner. For those that know the Inacomp fiasco, this happened not long after and I had friends who were locked out of the building and lost personal equipment in the 10's of thousands of dollars. We got into the building a week later to retrieve our belongings (expedited by my lawyer calling theirs). Most interesting/favorite: I've had this happen several times. In person one-on-one conversation, very transparent on the why, very nice severance package, very respectful, very professional, and left to gather my things and say goodbye to folks before leaving without security present. I'm smart enough to know not to take what isn't mine and to exit with integrity - including making sure I provide someone with a hand off of what I had access to so it can be addressed appropriately. One thing that a lot of folks didn't know during many of my layoffs is that I already knew it was coming and I had volunteered to be laid off. For many years I was in a position where I had no rent or mortgage hanging over my head and I could handle the hit to my income. It also gave me some leverage to help direct where my workload should fall, ensuring the company would keep certain people on the payroll. It saddens me to see how impersonal companies are handling layoffs now. Word does get out, no matter what execs may think they have in place to prevent that. Companies can, and should, do better. That said, if you've had a rough layoff and are still struggling to land somewhere, keep trying. I'm proof that there is always a "next" gig. May not be the "dream", but it'll be something.

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