v0.4 Lead with Generosity

This isn’t the newsletter I sat down to compose, but it is the one I needed to write. I’ve had two very important articles on the docket for patchNotes about wayfinding and goal setting. Both are critical to managing a successful career pivot and are coming soon™️ but today I wanted to introduce two important prerequisites – generosity and gratitude. Tis the season. 🎄

🎁 Generosity

Some of my fondest memories are of Christmas Eve at my grandmother’s house. Christmas Eve is special for our family because it is my grandmother’s birthday. When our large family gathered, there was always someone new at our dining table – sometimes, it was a coworker new in town or a neighbor far from home. The food was never on time, and the company was loud and chaotic, but my grandmother’s warmth and humor instantly made people feel welcome and at home.

That dining table, now in my own home, reminds me daily that small generous acts have a ripple effect.

Now you might be wondering: What does this have to do with making a career change?

In a very real sense, organizations are just groups of people. The company you work for, or may hope to work for in the future, is just a collection of people who have banded together to serve a common goal. We are all individually capable of doing incredible things, but together, we can do so much more. Working together and working effectively requires generosity. 

Reflecting on my first career as an accountant, I realized that my successes and failures were highly reliant on others. My first job was a lead from a coworker’s aunt. Every promotion I’ve ever received was rooted in the relationships and patronage of others. Now, in the present day, nearly everything I’ve learned about software engineering is from random people on the internet, authors and creators. Each of these is an example of how I benefitted from the generosity of others. Over the years, it’s led me to become a passionate advocate for networking from a place of generosity.

When you try to help others in whatever small way you can, people seem to find ways to help you in return. But truly networking with generosity means expecting nothing in return. So, during this time of year, I think it’s important that we pause to ask ourselves a simple question:

What are you giving back?

🤗 Generous Action

If you feel too new or early in the career transition to lead with generosity, I want to challenge you to dig deeper. We all have something to offer the people around us. All career changers bring skills and connections from our prior careers. Generosity can be as simple as a sympathetic ear. A word of encouragement. Every small act has a chance to trigger another.

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted".
- Aesop

Here are a few acts of generosity you might consider:

• Reach out to connections to offer help, share resources, or make introductions
• Organize a meetup or virtual event in around your area of interest
• Share what you’ve learned on social media, with coworkers, or in a blog post
• Offer to review someone's resume or do a mock interview
• Gift or recommend a book that had an impact on you
• Mentor someone just behind you on their career journey
• Send someone a note of gratitude or encouragement
• Write a thoughtful recommendation for a connection on LinkedIn
• Share a lesson you learned the hard way

What small act of generosity can you offer someone in your network?

🐛 Bug Fixes: Gratitude as Self-Generosity

Bug Report: “I feel stuck in my career pivot”.

Feeling stuck happens to all of us. Today the focus was generosity, but I didn’t mention one person who needs it most – you. A career pivot is challenging, often maddening, and it’s easy to expect more from ourselves than we can reasonably give. Being generous to yourself means embracing imperfection, extending patience and celebrating progress however small.

Gratitude can help you see the road you’ve already traveled. When you’re focused on what’s next, it’s easy to overlook how far you’ve come. It’s easy to think of what you haven’t done yet. But the important word there is yet.

Some people get lucky, and their career pivot is smooth. For most of us, though, the road winds and takes longer than we’d like. That isn’t what you want to hear. But it is the truth. Gratitude keeps us grounded for the long haul. It’s what keeps us showing up for as long as it takes. Let's put a little self-gratitude into practice:

A one-minute gratitude practice
Each evening, write down one thing you’re grateful for in your career pivot. Be as detailed as possible.

Aim to add one new thing every day without repeating yourself. Over time, you’ll find yourself noticing smaller, often overlooked signs of progress. Like an encouraging comment someone made, a concept finally clicking, or a small personal milestone.

These small wins and acts of generosity from others add up. They shift your perspective from one of scarcity to one of abundance. This reminds us that progress is happening constantly, however slow.

Use this gratitude to keep you centered and fuel your forward progress. Start today:

What’s one thing you are grateful for in your pivot?

⚡️ Quick Bytes: 6 resources I’m grateful for (and you might be too)

1. 100Devs – A community of learners and builders. A free bootcamp full of motivation to keep you moving forward.
2. The Practice by Seth Godin – A book that taught me to show up creatively as I am right now.
3. Field Notes: National Park Series – Beautifully designed notebooks that I can’t help but fill up with notes and ideas.
4. Learn Go with Tests – A must read for anyone learning Go and a gentle introduction to Test Driven Development (TDD).
5. The Code Report by Fireship – Tech news with a humorous spin – stay updated and entertained.
6. Hard Fork podcast – The New York Times tech reporting with copious humor and puns, keeping me informed on tech’s biggest headlines.

These resources have continuously taught, inspired, and motivated me this year. I hope they do the same for you!

📝 Final Notes

No matter where you are in your journey, generosity can fuel your pivot, and gratitude will sustain it. The path might be long, but it doesn’t have to be lonely. When we lean into our communities and lift others up through generosity, the road feels lighter and more effortless.

Over the next few weeks, I hope you’ll join me in weaving this generosity and gratitude into our wayfinding and goalsetting for 2025.

Cheers,

Ian 

P.S. I’m grateful you’re here, reading this.