I've Started Offering Live Coaching.
For over a decade students have asked me if I offer mentoring or live coaching. The answer has always been no. This year, in the age of LLMs, I made a decision: the answer is now yes.
I was uncertain if there would be a response to the offer of live one-on-one and team coaching. I was shocked when people immediately grabbed slots. What's more, it's been a fantastic experience so far.
Lessons Learned
As I've talked to developers of all ages and from all walks of life, many who have been taking my courses for years (and I've never met or talked to), I was struck by one simple fact: human connection is more important than ever.
In a time where many devs feel threatened by the guessing machines (LLMs), your humanity is the key to your success. Whether that's as a good worker, dev lead, or manager.
I've talked to those who are transitioning roles in some way, who are struggling to get the promised speed-up of AI (when the internet tells them they should be a 10x agentic dev), who feel unprepared for job interviews, or who simply aren't sure how to start their next project.
LLMs don't solve these problems. Humans do.
Feedback
I asked for feedback from some students after sessions, and I found the results personally quite touching. In the end, what they needed wasn't a code review or a technical recommendation, but a framework for thinking and existing as a dev in the age of AI.
They needed encouragement and validation. They needed their assumptions challenged. They needed a balance of reasonableness and practicality. They needed to overcome the emotional effects of marketing hype, and see their true value.
“I was paying for industry expertise and an outside opinion, but I also got your ability to empathize. Within minutes of listening to my situation and frustrations, you drilled down to the core issues which I needed to address in order to get unstuck... the session also surfaced some assumptions in other areas that I didn’t even realize I’d held.” — Zandra
Teams need to understand that clarity is more important than speed, and communication is the lifeblood of success. They need to understand how to solve the right problems, and mitigate the realities of AI risk.
For myself personally, I've also rediscovered my own value. I've been in dev and UX for 25 years. An online educator for over a decade. My experiences as a team and product lead, educator, and human dev have value. It's been so gratifying to share and see that experience help others.
“I booked a session to prep for an interview. He gave me a solid framework for how to approach the interview and helped me work through some technical areas I wanted to strengthen. What really stuck with me was how much more confident I felt afterward, I went in feeling ready.” — Helios
I've decided to continue to offer coaching into the foreseeable future. Happy to say multiple people have already booked a second session! You all have been students for so long. I'm so happy to hear your voices and see your faces. Times are changing and things are tough, and I'm so happy to help however I can.
Let's Talk
Slots for coaching sessions are open. You'll get a recording of the Zoom meeting and a copy of the whiteboard that we'll fill up during the session.
How can I help you?