Following “Radical Candor,” Kim Scott is Back with Another Incredible Framework for “Just Work”

“If you write a book about feedback, you’re going to get 

For Review readers, this name likely sounds familiar — when it comes to company culture and advice for being a better manager, Scott is something of a legend. Several years ago now she 

stepped onto the First Round CEO Summit stage

 to give a talk about her signature concept of Radical Candor — and she didn't expect both the video of her keynote and the 

 It racked up millions of views and quickly shot to the top of our all-time most popular pieces list. This deceptively simple yet incredibly powerful framework is still oft-cited in leadership circles and has become shorthand for 

In 2017, she followed up the Review piece with a New York Times bestselling book, “

Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity

.” Afterward, she started a successful business, also named 

. The duo teamed up to offer coaching and interactive workshops chock-full of practical frameworks for embedding Radical Candor within all sorts of companies — from young upstarts to massive enterprises. 

It was at one such workshop that Scott got her own dose of Radical Candor. “Shortly after I had launched ‘Radical Candor’ I was giving a workshop at a tech company in S.F. The CEO was an old colleague of mine, and one of too few Black women in tech leadership. Afterward, she pulled me aside and said, ‘I really like Radical Candor and this idea of care personally, challenge directly. But I gotta tell you, Kim, it’s much harder for me to put Radical Candor into practice than it is for you, and it’s 

probably harder for you to put it into practice than it is for the men you work with

. As soon as I give someone the most compassionate and gentle criticism, I get the ‘angry Black woman’ stereotype.’” 

As Scott puts it, she had several different realizations at the same time. “The first was that I had not been the kind of colleague and the kind of upstander that I wanted to be for her because I had never noticed that burden for her. It had never occurred to me the toll that must take,” says Scott. “Second, it made me realize that not only had I been in denial about the things that were happening to her, but I was also in denial about the things that were happening to me. Denial is a hard thing for the author of Radical Candor to admit to. Third, it made me realize the number of times that I had failed as a leader and as the CEO and founder of my own companies. I had failed to create the kind of work environment that was maximally productive and also fair — 

It was a lightbulb moment — she could be on the receiving end of workplace injustice 

, a bystander to other victims, and even a leader failing to right the ship when it was thrown off course. “I never wanted to see myself as a victim, but even less did I want to see myself as a perpetrator,” says Scott. The process of grappling with these realizations sent her on a path to write her latest book, “

Before “Just Work” hit the shelves, we got a sneak peek at its contents when Scott stopped by our (virtual) roundtable for a frank discussion. She was joined by 

, which aims to help companies put the principles of the book into practice, just as Radical Candor the company did for the frameworks in the book “Radical Candor.” Bryant’s got a stacked resume of her own, holding leadership roles at Goldman Sachs, Twitter, Astra, founding her own DEI consulting firm, and serving in the United States Air Force as a Captain.

When it comes to DEI in the workplace, people often say, “This is a marathon, not a sprint.” But a marathon has a destination, then it’s over. This work is not that — this is work we need to be committed to for a lifetime. 

hot off the press, we share five lessons from its impactful pages and weave in additional insights from Scott and Bryant in our exclusive interview with the duo. While many column inches have been devoted to tackling the DEI challenges that plague every workplace, Scott’s superpower is giving us simple tactics and straightforward frameworks to put big, amorphous ideas like “inclusion” and “feedback” into practice. She also is willing to tell plenty of stories about times when she’s gotten it wrong. What follows is an essential guide that leaders and their employees need to create a more just workplace and transform careers for the better. Let’s dive in.

“One of my favorite leaders in Silicon Valley, 

, once stood up in front of his team, which was hundreds of people, and said, ‘If you are underrepresented and you’ve experienced bias or prejudice or bullying, just in the last week, I want you to raise your hand.’ It seemed like almost all the underrepresented folks in the room raised their hand,” says Scott. “Next he said, ‘If you’re not underrepresented and you’ve expressed bias or prejudice or bullying in the last week, raise your hand.’ Of course, nobody raised their hand. The issue is, 

we can’t fix problems that we refuse to notice

Despite the fact that DEI in the workplace has become an often-discussed topic, these conversations too rarely result in true impact. Why? In her long career working for companies like Google, Apple, and Dropbox, Scott says it often boils down to denial. “

No leader I’ve ever talked to has said, ‘I want to create the kind of environment where I can coerce everyone.’ I’ve also never met a single leader who says, ‘I want to 

create an organization that demands conformity

.’ We know that’s not going to create good results or produce innovation. And yet too often, that’s exactly what happens,” says Scott. There’s a reticence to examine our own roles. “How many times had I hired an entire team of all white men? More times than I’d care to admit,” she says. 

The problem is not a lack of good intentions. The problem is that we often don’t want to notice the problem because it’s not clear to us what we are supposed to do to fix it. Once we clarify what our role and responsibility are, fixing the problem becomes more straightforward.

All of us want the kind of work environment where we can do the best work of our lives, and yet something gets in the way. 

Here’s how Scott further explains these roles and responsibilities in “Just Work,” which we’ve summarized below.

In any instance of injustice you encounter at work, you will play at least one of four different roles: person harmed, upstander, person who caused harm, or leader. Each of these roles has its own responsibilities. As you consider these roles, recognize that they are not fixed identities. Instead, they are temporary parts you play. You may at different moments play all the roles. And sometimes, confusingly, you may even find yourself in two or more roles at once

•Person harmed — choose your response:

 If you’re on the receiving end of workplace injustice, your responsibility is first and foremost to yourself. This means remembering that you get to choose your response, even when your choices are hard or limited. Recognizing those choices, evaluating their costs and benefits, and choosing one of them can help to restore your sense of agency. 

: The word “observer” suggests passivity. If you witness injustice and want to help fight it, you need to be an upstander who proactively finds a way to support people harmed, not a passive bystander who simply watches harm being done, perhaps feeling bad about it but not doing anything about it.

•Person who caused harm — listen and address: 

It doesn’t feel good when someone tells you you’ve harmed them, particularly when that wasn’t your intention. But as with critical feedback of any kind, consider it a gift. Feedback can help you learn to be more considerate, avoid harming other people, and (at minimum) correct your behavior before it escalates and causes greater harm and/or gets you into serious trouble. Listen to what you’re being told and address it.

Creating a just working environment is about eliminating bad behavior and reinforcing collaborative, respectful behavior. That means teaching people not to allow bias to cloud judgment, not to allow people to impose their prejudices on others; it means creating consequences for bullying and preventing discrimination, harassment, and physical violations from occurring on your team. Workplace injustice is not inevitable. 

For more on tackling bias, prejudice and bullying in the workplace, watch Scott and Bryant’s talk here and read on for more of our takeaways.

LESSON #2: WE NEED A FRAMEWORK TO GO DEEPER THAN UNCONSCIOUS BIAS. 

Unconscious bias has become a buzzword — almost certain to come up in any surface-level discussion about DEI in the workplace — and plenty of well-meaning companies rolled out training. But Scott and Bryant have seen far too many companies consider unconscious bias training the finish line, 

“Bias awareness training can be helpful in rooting out unconscious bias when it’s done well by people who understand the issues deeply. But in practice, it often feels like a sort of ‘check the box, cover your a**, protect the company from legal liability, but don’t actually try to address the underlying problem’ exercise,” says Scott. 

Simply requiring everyone to go to unconscious bias training, even a great one, won’t be enough. No training can possibly change deeply ingrained patterns of thought. Disrupting the bias is key.

Scott believes we’re also missing out on critical conversations by slapping everything with the “bias” label, rather than face some harsh truths. 

Discrimination in the workplace can stem from bias that creeps up, but it can also be prejudice, or even escalate to bullying

. “This was my aha moment when I was reading the book, and what made me really excited to join Kim to build this company. Far too often we try to lump all three of these together as if they’re the same, but they’re really not,” says Just Work co-founder and CEO Trier Bryant. 

There’s a clear throughline between “Just Work” and Scott’s previous work with Radical Candor, which gave us a vocabulary to discuss the spectrum of feedback with terms like Obnoxious Aggression and Ruinous Empathy. “‘Just Work’ became a tool to name my different experiences. More importantly, it outlined actionable tactics on what I could do as an individual and a leader,” says Bryant. “

. So step one is how do you name these workplace injustices and the root causes so we can identify the solutions?”

Returning to the pages of “Just Work,” here’s how Scott further sketches out the root causes of workplace injustice.

 Bias, often called unconscious bias, comes from the part of our mind that jumps to conclusions, usually without our even being aware of it. These conclusions and assumptions aren’t always wrong, but they often are, especially when they reflect stereotypes. We do not have to be the helpless victims of our brains. We can learn to slow down and question our biases.

Unfortunately, when we stop to think, we don’t always come up with the best answer, either. Sometimes we rationalize our biases and they harden into prejudices. In other words, we justify our biases rather than challenging their flawed assumptions and stereotypes.

 The intentional, repeated use of in-group status or power to harm or humiliate others. Sometimes bullying comes with prejudice, but often it’s a more instinctive behavior. There may be no thought or ideology at all behind it. It can be a plan or just an animal instinct to dominate, to coerce.

LESSON #3: HOLD UP A MIRROR TO BIAS WITH “I” STATEMENTS AND BIAS INTERRUPTERS. 

Building more diverse and inclusive teams is (rightfully) top of mind for plenty of companies — particularly in tech. But 

hiring a bunch of talented folks from other backgrounds

 is just the first step. “As you start having more diverse teams, your proximity to working with people that have different identities and different intersections than you is going to increase the amount of bias that can creep up in those situations,” says Bryant. 

Tips for individuals: The “I” statement.

To confront bias in the moment (we’ll get into other types of workplace injustice later on), “Just Work” recommends leaning on “I” statements for productive conversations. Here’s why, via an excerpt from the book: 

If it's bias you’re confronting, whether you are the person harmed or the upstander, your goal is to invite the person in to understand your perspective. Easier said than done. Quick rule of thumb: even if you don’t know what to say, start with the word “I.” Starting with the word “I” invites the person to consider things from your point of view — why what they said or did seemed biased to you.

The easiest “I” statement is the simple factual correction. An “I” statement can also let a colleague know you have been harmed without being antagonistic or judgmental. For example, “I don’t think you meant to imply what I heard; I’d like to tell you how it sounded to me...” An “I” statement can be clear about the harm done while also inviting your colleague to perceive things the way you do or to realize that an incorrect assumption was made.

Below are more examples of the sorts of “I” statements you can use when confronting common experiences of bias. Note that these are not meant to be used verbatim, like scripts. They will be more effective if delivered in language that seems like it’s you talking, not me.

You, a woman, are negotiating a deal with Wilson, and you have brought along your summer intern, Jack, to take notes. But Wilson directs his comments to Jack.

You’re assuming Jack is the boss because he has a dick. Typical.

Wilson, I am the person you are negotiating with. This is Jack, my summer intern.

You get asked to take the notes in every meeting.

 Because I’m a woman, you assholes always ask me to take notes.

I can’t contribute substantively to the conversation if I always have to take notes. Can someone else take notes this week?

Ignoring one person’s idea, then celebrating the exact same idea from a different person moments later. 

Every time you offer a recommendation you get ignored, but when a man says the same thing five minutes later, it’s a “great idea.”

Why are you hailing him as a genius when he is simply repeating what I just said two minutes ago?

Yes, I STILL think that’s a great idea. (N.B.: You don’t have to do this for yourself; you can ask upstanders on your team to notice when an underrepresented person makes a key point but someone from the majority later repeats it and gets credit for it; ask the upstanders not only to notice but to chime in and say, “Great idea, it sounds a lot like what X said a few minutes ago.”)

Conflating people of the same race or gender when they are the minority in a group. 

You are one of two people of your ethnicity and/or gender on your team of thirty people. Multiple people keep confusing the two of you.

Leaders cannot pass the buck here — it’s essential to carefully create the conditions where upstanders feel an obligation to call out bias when it happens, people harmed by bias feel they won’t be further punished for pointing it out, and people who demonstrated the bias don’t feel attacked when it gets pointed out. Consider the steps your organization has taken to

 create an environment where folks can test out new ideas and make mistakes

To build the foundation atop which folks can feel comfortable standing up when they spot bias, the Just Work team advises creating a shared vocabulary they call 

. “It could be a phrase or a word that your team or organization uses to identify bias in the moment — like ‘purple flag,’” says Bryant. “So if you’re sitting in a meeting and someone says ‘Hey, I’m throwing a purple flag,’ everyone knows that there was some bias that cropped up.” 

But what happens next? “The norm that we recommend is if you're the person that might be being flagged or the person who is exhibiting that biased behavior, say, ‘Hey, thank you for pointing that out. I apologize.’ You note it and then you can correct that moving forward,” says Bryant. “But a lot of times we actually may not understand it. So then the norm should be, "Hey, thank you for pointing that out. I'm not quite sure I'm understanding what you're flagging, but let's talk about it after the meeting and keep going.”

Interrupting bias is not something leaders can simply outsource. 

If each meeting grinds to a halt every time someone throws the purple flag, you’re going to slow down the pace of business, which is critical to any startup’s trajectory. If you want people to actually 

the shared bias interrupter vocabulary, you’ve got to strike the balance between interrupting bias in the moment, while leaving space to unpack those missteps later.

“Pretty much any tech leader will tell you that they’re data-driven and make decisions rooted in the data. Yet leaders are often very reluctant to actually quantify and measure their bias,” says Bryant. 

If an employee missed a sales quota or wrote buggy code, management would never accept “Well, I tried” as an excuse. They’d say, “Results matter.” 

There’s plenty of areas to get started digging into the data and treat your 

DEI work just like any other critical number on your bottom line

. We’ll summarize just a few that the Just Work team outlined: 

•Percentage of resumes reviewed from underrepresented folks.

•What are the backgrounds of the people who made it to the interview process? 

•Of the teammates getting promoted on the team, how many are underrepresented?

•Are men and women being paid the same for equal work? 

LESSON #4: CONFRONT PREJUDICE WITH “IT” STATEMENTS AND CLEAR STANDARDS FOR CONDUCT.

While prejudice and bias may be used interchangeably, “Just Work” irons out the nuance between the two that often gets lost — biases are unconscious assumptions that we don’t really believe or mean if we stop to think, while prejudices are beliefs we consciously accept. It’s the difference between quickly assuming the only woman in the meeting is someone’s assistant, versus believing women should only be in support roles rather than leadership seats. “Leaders are not the thought police. People can 

 their prejudiced beliefs on others,” says Bryant.

Tips for upstanders and people harmed: The “It” Statement.

Before you return to your trusty “I” statement, “Just Work” advises a different approach when confronting prejudice. Here’s why: “The “I” statement invites someone in to understand things the way 

understand them. It holds up a mirror. The problem with prejudice is when you hold up a mirror, the person’s going to smile and say, ‘Yeah — I like what I see!’” says Scott. 

Instead, tweak the formula slightly, via this excerpt from “Just Work.” 

What do you say when people consciously believe that the stereotypes they are spouting off about are true — when you are confronting active prejudice rather than unconscious bias?

People won’t apologize for their prejudiced beliefs just because you point them out; they know what they think. So why bother discussing it? The reason to confront prejudice is to draw a bright line between that person’s right to believe whatever they want and your right not to have that belief imposed upon you.

Using an “It” statement is an effective way to demarcate this boundary. One type of “It” statement appeals to human decency: “It is disrespectful/cruel/et cetera to...” For example, “It is disrespectful to call a grown woman a girl.” Another references the policies or a code of conduct at your company: For example, “It is a violation of our company policy to hang a Confederate flag above your desk. It invokes slavery and will harm our team’s ability to collaborate.” The third invokes the law: For example, “It is illegal to refuse to hire women.”

Maybe you’re a startup leader in the earliest stages of building a company and haven’t felt the need to write a code of conduct for the small team. Or perhaps you have an early version that was drafted long ago, which most folks forgot about after their first day of onboarding. Either way — that’s a mistake. 

setting and communicating clear expectations about the boundaries of acceptable behavior

. A code of conduct is one of the best tools for ensuring expectations are clear and fair. A code of conduct does not tell people what to believe but instead what they can and cannot do,” says Scott. “Writing a code of conduct takes time, but it will push you as a leader to think as clearly about behavior as you do about performance. It forces you to articulate what is OK and not OK to say and do in your workplace, and to decide what the consequences ought to be for violating the standards you are setting forth. When do people get a warning, and what are grounds for immediate dismissal?”

Too many leaders act as if creating fair and equitable working environments is somehow separate from their core job.

To help get you started here’s an early draft of Radical Candor’s code of conduct: 

LESSON #5: DON’T MAKE EXCEPTIONS FOR THE “BRILLIANT JERK” — CONFRONT BULLYING WITH “YOU” STATEMENTS & CLEAR CONSEQUENCES. 

When we hear the word ‘bully,’ most are probably transported back to the schoolyard — not the meeting room. And that was certainly Bryant’s reaction when she first read Scott’s book. “If you would have asked me, ‘Trier, have you ever been bullied in your career?’ I’d say, ‘No way. Have you met me? If you come for me, I’m going to come right back for you,’” she says. “Then you look at the simple definition of bullying as being mean, and we can all probably look at our workplace experiences and think of something that resonates.” 

Tips for upstanders and people harmed: “You” statements.

When you’re faced with a workplace bully, whether it’s a nagging issue or a one-off uncomfortable moment, “Just Work” prescribes a “You” statement. Scott first stumbled on the impact of the “You” statement from an unlikely source — her young daughter. 

“She came home one day from school upset that a kid was giving her a hard time on the playground. I did what lots of parents do, and advised her to use an ‘I’ statement: ‘When you knock my lunch off the table, I feel sad.’ That got a big eye roll — her teacher had made the same suggestion,” says Scott. “She finally said, ‘Mom, he’s 

to make me sad. If I tell him he hurt my feelings, it’s like saying “Mission accomplished!” Why would I do that?’ She was absolutely correct — and gave me some wisdom I could bring into the workplace.” 

Here’s an excerpt from “Just Work” that further unpacks the impact of “You” statements: 

One way to push back is to confront the person with a “You” statement, as in “What’s going on for you here?” or “You need to stop talking to me that way.” A “You” statement is a decisive action, and it can be surprisingly effective in changing the dynamic. That’s because the bully is trying to put you in a submissive role, to demand that you answer the questions to shine a scrutinizing spotlight on you. When you reply with a “You” statement, you are now taking a more active role, asking them to answer the questions, shining a scrutinizing spotlight on them.

Tips for leaders: Create three consequences for bullying behavior. 

“Plenty of organizations have what people may call ‘

.’ We know that they’re high impact and critical to the business, so we turn the other way when they mistreat others,” says Bryant. And while their work outputs may be quantifiable — deals closed, commits in GitHub, or marketing pipeline — how that toxicity permeates throughout a team’s DNA is harder to measure but no less critical. 

To tackle workplace bullies, companies must commit to doing the work, rather than putting on blinders and hoping the problem works itself out. Here are the three types of consequences outlined by “Just Work.” 

As a leader, your first response to bullying should be to pull the bully aside and give clear feedback. Outline what you noticed and how it negatively affects the team. Then explain that if the behavior continues, it will be noted in their performance review and may affect compensation and even their future at your company.

Compensation shows what a leader values. Never, ever give a raise or bonus to people who bully their peers or employees. 

Atlassian, an Australian enterprise software company

, provides a great example of a performance management system that actively punishes bullying. Managers rate employees along three different dimensions: how they demonstrate company values, how they deliver on expectations of their role, and the contribution they make to the team. Employees get a separate rating for each of those areas, not just an average rating.

Do not promote bullies. It’s that simple. Give them feedback, encouragement, goals. If the behavior does not change, fire them. The long-term damage these people cause is not worth any quarterly result they may be delivering. As many leaders have observed, it’s better to have a hole than an asshole on your team.

WRAPPING UP: STARTUP LEADERS CAN’T COMPLETELY GIVE AWAY THIS LEGO. 

Kim Scott is Back with Another Incredible Framework for “Just Work”

"Radical Candor" bestselling author Kim Scott's superpower is outlining simple tactics and straightforward frameworks to put big amorphous ideas into practice. In her latest book, "Just Work," she applies that tactical lens to workplace injustice. 

"Radical Candor" author Kim Scott tackles DEI challenges in the workplace with a tactical lens in her new book "Just Work."

5 Lessons From "Just Work" — the New Book from "Radical Candor" Author Kim Scott

The Engineering Leader’s Guide to Crafting a Personal Brand that Stands Out From the Crowd

’ engineering career, you need to go back to an unlikely source — “

.” “Geordi La Forge, played by the incomparable LeVar Burton, was the Chief Engineer of the Starship Enterprise. Even though it’s science fiction, seeing a Black man responsible for the technology on that ship inspired me. I began to think, ‘Maybe I can be an engineer,’” says Simmons. “It’s partly why I eventually studied electrical engineering and went into software development —  representation matters.”

Simmons did take that path, starting out at consulting firms like Accenture and Deloitte before making his way into the world of startups. And even though he has his hands full in his current role as an engineering leader at 

he’s taken that early lesson about representation to heart.

Over the years, Simmons has managed to carve out a robust side hustle as an oft-booked public speaker, while also writing about engineering and leadership concepts 

. He covers topics from sleep hacks and the future of VR, to managing for neurodiversity — and he’s not afraid to get vulnerable.

Last year, in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests across the country, his 

Twitter thread about being a Black tech leader

 struck a chord. “I often quote Sally Ride, who said, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see.’ Since there aren’t a lot of Black people in technology and we’re not often seen on the cover of tech magazines or interviewed on CNBC, that lack of representation can cause us to question, ‘Do I really have a place here?’” he says. 

When I present at a conference, I’m usually the only Black man on the list of speakers, and sometimes the only Black man at the event. I’ve gotten on stage all over the world to represent that you 

Simmons made the leap from the page to the stage back in 2016 at the open source conference 

. His first talk was just five minutes long, but he was hooked. He’s since taken center stage all over the world, from Budapest to Bogota, at conferences such as 

Simmons isn’t the only engineering leader with ambitions to take on writing and speaking. Across different roles and career stages, plenty of folks have lofty goals to build up their personal brand — and opportunities are more accessible than ever. Whether it’s joining virtual conference panels or hopping on the more casual Clubhouse stage, public speaking is becoming more commonplace these days. Creators are launching Substack newsletters left and right, and even 

Twitter is getting into the content monetization game

But there’s a wide gulf between getting started and stepping onstage. Speaking off the cuff or crafting content that brings something new to the table is tricky. There’s an engineer’s skeptical eye questioning if they have something new to say, and there may also be a hearty dose of guilt. Is it worth carving out the time to commit to these side projects? Is it adding a new dimension to your career, or are you better off learning new frameworks, catching up on Jira tickets, or 

? We’ve had our eye on this topic for a while now, but have found it difficult to share concrete advice. Simmons expertly threads the needle between relatable, approachable advice, paired with tested tactics to get you started. 

After more than five years as a public speaker (and longer as a blogger), Simmons has picked up plenty of tips and put together a playbook for those looking to dip their toe into the crowded pool of “thought leadership” and make a splash. In this exclusive interview, he gives us a crash course in starting from the ground-up — from finding unique topics, to crafting your talk track, plus his hard-won lessons on fitting this crucial work into an already jam-packed eng leader schedule. Along the way, he busts some of the most common myths about personal branding, and the potholes that can throw you off course. While most of his tactics center around public speaking, Simmons also dives into developing your blogging and social brand — there’s plenty of savvy tips to take notes on. Let’s dive in.

MYTH #1: PERSONAL BRANDING IS DISTINCT FROM YOUR DAY JOB.

When folks come to Simmons for advice about building up their personal brand — whether through writing, speaking, or both — he’s got a simple nugget of wisdom: You’re probably doing this already. “I write volumes every day — it’s just all in Slack and email. As part of your job, you have to communicate,” he says.

Early in his career, he started to reframe his perception of public speaking. “My first job out of college was at Accenture, and I eventually got promoted to a manager role. By communicating priorities and leading the team through deliverables, I began to understand how critical communication really is on a professional level,” he says. 

He was an early Twitter user, spinning up his account in 2007. But when the character limits felt too restrictive, he launched his personal blog. “I didn’t start blogging expecting anyone else to read what I wrote. I started blogging as my backup brain — whether it’s writing about processes that I’ve found useful or remembering events in my life. There have been several times when I’ve gone to do something and realized I’ve already written a blog post about it, rather than starting from scratch,” says Simmons. 

“If there’s one question I get asked the most, it’s how I fit public speaking or personal writing into my day job. But I don’t see them as completely separate,” he says. Adding onto his deep commitment to representing Black leaders in tech, Simmons has seen firsthand plenty of other career boosts that are often overlooked. “I’m often asked about the key decisions that guided my career.

 In my 25 years in software development, deciding to become a writer and speaker is probably the single decision that’s provided outsized benefits

, Simmons notes that he does his work with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. “I try to be impeccable in how I present myself. Being late to a meeting? No way. Producing sloppy work? Can't have that. However, carrying this chip is a burden on top of what is already a really hard job,” he says.

One reason I started speaking at tech conferences was to “show my work” and portray the thoughtfulness and deep understanding I have about working in software development as a Black man. 

As you look to shift gears in your career, consider how writing or public speaking can help show, not just tell. “You can craft a resume to present almost any story that you want to tell. Speaking at tech events, writing for tech publications, writing from my own personal site — that goes beyond a resume,” says Simmons. 

There’s a lot of ground to cover in job interviews

 — and the clock is ticking. He thinks back on several times where he’s prepped for an interview — researched the company and the panel, and crafted his key stories — only to sit down with an interviewer who’s seen one of his talks. 

“Any interviewer who reads my blog or checks out a video of my talks gets a really solid look at what I do and what I’m really passionate about. We can mostly skip over that discovery piece and just get into the real meat of the interview,” says Simmons. “Does that help me get the job? No one’s ever said that explicitly. I’m sure public speaking isn’t enough by itself, but it helps. What better testimony for my fitness to fulfill a role than demonstrating communication skills and talking about technical topics and engineering leadership onstage?” he says. 

“Just like my personal blog is my backup brain, it’s also a good automatic responder. As an engineering leader, I often get requests from people to help them understand some concept. I used to write a fresh response to each question, but I soon realized that this didn’t scale very well,” he says. “Now when I get a request for something, if I haven’t already written about it, I’ll spin something up and send it to the requestor — and even better, I can then re-share that blog post for any subsequent requests.”

A lot of folks have plans to attend conferences every year, but calendars fill up and some never get around to blocking the time on the calendar. When Simmons signs on to join a conference, most come with a free ticket to the event — and time permitting, he makes the most of it. “By signing up as a speaker, I’ve attended some incredible events that I otherwise would have missed out on. I get to learn about technologies from the people who either wrote the technology or the people who are using it well, then I can take that back to my team — I've gotten so many ideas that I can bring back to my boss,” he says. “For example, I attended a conference where an engineer at Yelp discussed how they use a sponsorship spreadsheet to document the ways each engineer is supported at their company. I loved the idea and presented it to my boss, and she empowered me to implement the same at Help Scout.” 

Like most leaders, one of Simmons’ most critical directives is 

. But standing out amidst an endless scroll of job postings can seem like you’re stuck on a treadmill without an off switch. “When I’m at a conference, I’ve always got my hiring manager hat on. I get to meet all sorts of people who are looking for new opportunities, and I’ve placed roles based on people I’ve met. It’s increased my pipeline tremendously,” he says. In today’s virtual conference world, he leans on digital tools — plenty of conferences have spun up Slack channels (and even have channels dedicated to job seekers) so attendees can communicate without face-to-face meet-ups.

My writing and public speaking have made me a better leader because it holds me accountable. I’m on the record saying “This is what I care about.” 

MYTH #2: THE BEST SPEAKERS ARE MASTERS OF SEVERAL DOMAINS. 

Simmons is a prolific tech speaker, but what most stands out about his side hustle isn’t just the volume of events, but the creative spin he brings to the stage whenever he queues up his slides. He’s connected the dots between 

technical leadership and the Underground Railroad

There’s an endless sea of topics that you can cover when you step into the spotlight and start clicking through your slides — finding the right one can feel like plucking a particular grain of sand from the beach. One area Simmons has seen rookie speakers get stuck is the pressure to cover a whole slew of topics — which seems especially overwhelming when you’re just getting started building a personal brand. His advice? Keep polishing your best idea, don’t continue trying to mine for brand-new gems. “I’m a firm believer in recycling talks. One of my most popular talks is called 

, and I’ve given it countless times,” he says. 

Think of your favorite song. Do you ever get tired of hearing that song? It’s the same with a strong talk. 

When it comes to pinning down your signature topic, Simmons walks us through a couple of key questions to find your sweet spot: 

•When you were starting your career, what were the things that you struggled the most to understand? 

“Basically any answer to this question is a great talk, because every day someone is entering this industry just like you, and they’re struggling with the exact same things. What slowed you down? Some of my early technical talks were about setting up a stable development environment, ways to solve or debug common development problems, or how to write pull requests. These are nuts and bolts topics, but they’re still incredibly powerful, especially for people newer to software development.”

•Are there speakers in your field who you look up to? What do you think makes this speaker so great? 

“My goal here is not to have them copy/paste that person, but to deconstruct the core elements and then bake those elements into their own style. Some of the speakers I look up to are 

 (just to name a few) because they talk about problems that I encounter every day and can clearly (and often cleverly) explain actionable solutions that I can implement right away.”

Developing a talk: Make it Factual, Make it Friendly, Make it Funny (and repeat). 

But narrowing in on a topic, whether you’re delivering a 10-minute breakout session or an hour-long keynote, is just the tip of the iceberg. To combat the intimidating challenge of filling an empty Keynote deck, Simmons tweaks a simple engineering motto and applies it to crafting a sharp talk track.

Make it work, make it right, make it fast’ is a maxim for building software

). It basically says that software development should focus on a working implementation of each feature (without worrying about elegance), then improving the code (refactor, eliminate code smells, etc.), then making the code performant. It’s meant to reduce the delays caused by spending too much time upfront thinking through all the ways the feature can be implemented,” says Simmons.

Here’s how he applies a similar ethos to crafting a new presentation: 

Make it factual, make it friendly, make it funny

. He further sketches out each step in the trio.

“First, I start with the facts of the talk. What are the objectives that I need to convey to the audience? Of course, every talk needs to be based on facts, with sufficient supporting material and not just anecdotes or Wikipedia research,” says Simmons. But of equal importance is tailoring the talk to the facts that concern your particular audience. “You should always touch base with conference organizers — they should be able to tell you the profile of the audience. Another source for research is trade associations. Visit their websites and subscribe to their newsletters to better understand the topics that are top-of-mind for event attendees,” says Simmons. 

“One of my most popular talks, Lending Privilege, centers around inclusion and diversity. I cover some heavy topics in the talk like detailed examples of how certain identities have been historically denied access to careers in software development. Some events are ready for a deep examination of this history, while others are not. One way I find out is by doing my research. I then add or remove detail based on what I find,” he says. 

“With the facts in place, what can I do to make it approachable to folks? That’s where you’ll see me bring in analogies like the Underground Railroad — it’s a thing most people already understand and can connect with. Most conference attendees already have a full-time job — I don’t want my talk to feel like a part-time job for them,” says Simmons. When it comes to constructing the session for easy consumption, he relies heavily on images to make up his slides — because we’ve all felt our eyes glaze over at the first sight of a text-heavy presentation. 

“Software engineers love deeply technical presentations, but every developer is also a human, and humans have a 

. I usually weave two or three stories through my talks. Bonus points if I can use stories from my life to connect with audiences — especially when I’ve made mistakes and learned from them,” says Simmons. 

“For example, in my Leadership Lessons from the Agile Manifesto, I share how I initially brushed off a Muslim member of my team who was offended when someone on the leadership team made an off-color joke about a pig in a Slack channel. But upon reflection, I realized that I needed to reinforce a culture of respect in every form of communication at the company, including Slack,” says Simmons. “I pinned a message to that channel that referenced the company’s values around respect and inclusion. I wish I had acted sooner, but that small action moved the needle to make the work environment psychologically safer for everyone.” 

By the very nature of stepping on the stage, you may feel you need to have all the answers. But according to Simmons, you’re missing an opportunity to connect on a deeper level with the audience. “People are attracted to vulnerability because we all have weaknesses, but 

. I know I’ve been successful in addressing the attendees’ pain points when I see folks in the audience vigorously nodding their heads. That’s the key to getting them to accept my solutions as viable answers to their problems,” he says.  

The final ingredient to an approachable talk? Passion. “No matter what the topic is, if the speaker isn’t excited about the conversation, the audience won’t care about the topic. By showing my own passion, the audience can relax and at least watch 

“Finally, I always add in the humor last because this takes the most work. As I’m rehearsing I’ll try to find opportunities where I can sprinkle in some laughs — often it takes several rehearsals,” says Simmons. “The whole talk shouldn’t be a comedy set, but humor keeps the audience engaged. I try to catch them off guard with a joke at the beginning and inject some energy in the room.”

He borrows a few pointers from the stand-up world: 

“I often find the best opportunities for humor are in the situations from my life that I use to illustrate points and get vulnerable. You’ve got to be able to laugh at yourself. For example, I often give my 

 talk with my wife who has a Ph.D. in business. When I’m done with the intro, I hand it off to my wife to present the next section, and I let the audience know that they’re about to hear from a 

 instead of someone like me who just gets information from Wikipedia.” 

“I’ve learned that jokes may work with some audiences but fail with others. I have a slide in my 

Leadership Lessons from the Agile Manifesto

 that shows the people who wrote the Agile Manifesto back in 

 at a ski resort, and it’s a picture of all white men. I say that they gathered at the lodge to have fun, relax and obviously talk about diversity and inclusion. This joke prompts rapturous laughter from most audiences — but it’s also been met with crickets. Just because a joke falls flat once doesn’t mean you should remove it from your talk entirely.” 

This process isn’t one-and-done — it’s an ongoing routine. “Remember that no talk is really finished. Lending Privilege is my most popular presentation, and almost every time I get onstage I end up tweaking something,” says Simmons. “Since it discusses diversity and inclusion as justice work, I often include a recent example of injustice in the news. Whether it’s an unarmed person being killed or the revelation of harassment by a powerful person, unfortunately, I never lack a new illustration of how certain identities are marginalized and oppressed. After George Floyd was killed in May 2020, I often referred to his death when delivering Lending Privilege in the following months.” 

It all goes back to putting your stake in the ground with a few cornerstone topics, rather than trying to cover a wide berth. Not only do you focus your attention on your best ideas, but as an added bonus, you’re more likely to get booked. “There are few things more compelling to event organizers than a battle-tested talk. This is especially true if you can show positive feedback from the attendees on Twitter,” he says. 

MYTH #3: GREAT SPEAKERS ARE EFFORTLESS. 

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