Macromo

Technical Lead

Outreach

Senior Software Engineer

STRV

Frontend Developer

Dorsia.io

Frontend Consultant

Full Stack Developer

Web Bespokers

🚀 Technical Lead at Macromo - Leading innovations in the fascinating intersection of software and biotech.

💼 With years of experience as a Software Engineer, I've worn many hats – from coding to leading dynamic teams. At Macromo, we're pushing boundaries with DNA and Blood tests, and I'm at the forefront of that revolution.

🎙 Passionate about bridging the gap between IT, DNA, and career development. Through my posts, I aim to shed light on the latest tech.

🌱 Personal Growth Advocate - I believe in continuous learning. Over the years, I've seen how personal branding can redefine careers. Now, I'm on a journey to grow mine while helping others do the same.

Kornel Dubieniecki

I haven’t been active on LinkedIn for over 𝟵 months.

Since I started posting again 2 weeks ago, I felt very lost.

My feed looks different,
old formats don’t work anymore,
and everyone is complaining about low reach.

Then I found the new 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗺 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 by AuthoredUp and it all started to make sense.

(thanks Ivana Todorovic, it's pure gold! 🤩)

Here are the 4 biggest shifts you need to know:

1️⃣. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲

→ Median reach dropped ~47% in a year.
→ Video collapsed the most. Images, documents, and even text posts lost reach too.

In 2024 the median LinkedIn post was ~1,211 people, in 2025 it collapsed to ~636.

2️⃣. 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹

→ One save = as much reach as five likes.
→ Saved posts grow creators 3× faster.

Readers save content that feels like a resource - guides, templates, checklists, deep insights.

3️⃣. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

→ Posts that are easy to scan get 27% more reach.
→ Short paragraphs, simple flow, clean formatting. 

If your post feels like homework, people keep scrolling.

4️⃣. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗵𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸

→ In 2021 the sweet spot was 1,200–1,300 characters.
→ In 2025 it’s 800–1,200.

Shorter posts with sharp 1–3 line paragraphs keep people reading.

So what does this all mean?

You’re not doing anything wrong.
The feed is simply more competitive and stricter.

You win by being clear, useful, and worth saving.

Did you notice the algorithm changes?
How did they affect your content?

Let me know in the comments below! 💬

P.S.
Don't forget to follow 👉 Kornel Dubieniecki

Technical Lead & Software Engineer | I’ll show you how to make money in tech! 👨‍💻🤝💰

How is 𝗣𝗲𝘄𝗗𝗶𝗲𝗣𝗶𝗲 better at AI than 99% of the LinkedIn AI experts?

(including me)

While most of us talk about "AI", Felix actually built one.

He spent last few months turning his ridiculous $20k PC into a fully self-hosted AI lab.

➜ No cloud credits.

➜ No "add your API key".

Just open-source models running locally on a raw hardware machine w/ 8 x Nvidia RTX 4090 GPUs.

Here’s what he figured out:

(lessons even non-technical people can use)

1️⃣. 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗜 = 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗯𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗮𝘂𝗹𝘁

Cloud AI remembers everything. Local AI remembers only what you give it, and it never leaves your machine.

2️⃣. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀

He ran a 120B+ model for fun... then discovered that tiny 2B models (which you can run on a laptop) can become really powerful when paired with search and memory.

3️⃣. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝘆𝗽𝗲

He created his own AI interface, added audio, search, citations, memory, and even a council of AIs that debate and vote. Zero vendor lock-in.

4️⃣. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹

Your hardware, your data, your rules. He can extend or break the system down however he wants.

5️⃣. 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴

Instead of relying on paid tools, he learned how GPUs, quantization, memory limits, and model configs work. He stopped being a prompt user and truly learned the tech behind AI.

His final realization?

Most people don't need massive AI models, they need small, fast ones connected to the right tools. And you can run those on almost any computer.

That’s why he’s ahead of the "experts" - he actually uses AI instead of just talking about it.

And what about you?
Have you tried running AI locally yet?

Let me know in the comments below! 💬

P.S.
Don’t forget to follow 👉 Kornel Dubieniecki

We might soon witness the biggest secret reveal in human history. 👽

And most people have 𝗡𝗢 idea.

For decades:

• Navy pilots reported objects defying physics.
• Intelligence officials collected classified evidence.
• Nuclear bases were shut down by unknown craft.
• Congress was kept in the dark.
• And even Presidents were denied access.

Now those same insiders are publicly saying:
 
→ “UFOs are real.”
→ “We are not alone.”
→ “They are not human.”
→ “We have retrieved both craft and bodies.”

This is no longer just a tin foil hat theory - the former 🇺🇸 U.S. military members and government officials have finally started speaking out.

Including Marco Rubio who's the current Secretary of State and National Security Adviser.

If you want to see for yourself...

I recommend you watch "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲" that came out last week and which is probably the best documentary on the topic ever made.

I've seen the director Dan Farah talk about it on Joe Rogan experience and after watching the movie myself on Saturday - my jaw has dropped.

Not because of the aliens - as I've always been a believer, but because of the multi-layered cover-up.

The wild part?

The biggest concern isn’t UFOs…

It’s that secret contractor groups have allegedly been reverse-engineering this tech since 1947, outside government oversight, and have full control over it.

If one nation or corporation cracks this first?

That’s game over for global power balance.

Space, air, oceans, energy, weapons, transportation - everything changes.

We’re entering a new era.

Are we ready for it?

What do you think happens first when this becomes official news?

Let me know in the comments below! 💬

P.S.
Don’t forget to follow 👉 Kornel Dubieniecki

It’s Friday which means that most of the software engineers will soon stop working and…

start working on their personal projects instead :D

For all the hustlers - here’s a list of the 5 most popular tools and categories from my directory website that lists open-source tools 👇

𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 / 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀:

1️⃣ • n8n – workflow automation platform 
↳ https://lnkd.in/dxJN_Ku8

2️⃣ • Secret Knowledge – library of high-value resources 
↳ https://lnkd.in/dbFpzcZd

3️⃣ • Awesome Self-Hosted – self-hosted collection
↳ https://lnkd.in/d9xdtFuC

4️⃣ • Build Your Own X – tutorials for building products
↳ https://lnkd.in/dCtmjNhu

5️⃣ • Tech Interview Handbook – interview resources 
↳ https://lnkd.in/dXJkda6m

𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀:

1️⃣ • Development – tools for building software
↳ https://lnkd.in/d4Z-An88

2️⃣ • API – frameworks for designing and managing APIs 
↳ https://lnkd.in/djyaq9Rg

3️⃣ • DevOps – automation, deployment, and infra tools
↳ https://lnkd.in/dfufntxU

4️⃣ • Analytics – platforms for tracking data 
↳ https://lnkd.in/dSzvSyPp

5️⃣ • CMS – systems for content management
↳ https://lnkd.in/d4Bf8wER

I hope it gives you some ideas or saves a few hours!

If you need even more inspiration make sure to check the whole list here:

→ https://lnkd.in/d_Y5UN4m

It includes over 900 different open-source tools and resources.

So what are you working on this time?

Let me know in the comments below! 💬

P.S.
Don't forget to follow 👉 Kornel Dubieniecki

AI will 𝗡𝗢𝗧 replace mid-level engineers.
 
But mid-level engineers who ignore AI will get replaced by the ones who don’t.

The truth is: AI isn’t taking engineering jobs yet.
  
It’s just widening the gap between engineers who adapt and engineers who stay “good enough”.

And mid-level is exactly where this gap becomes dangerous.

Here’s what I keep seeing:

• Juniors are learning AI from day one.
• Seniors already know how to use it as leverage.
• Mid-levels? They’re stuck in the middle - scared to fall behind, unsure where to start.

If that’s you - hear this:

AI isn’t here to 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 your skills.  
It’s here to 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝘆 them.

The engineers who win in the next 2–5 years will be the ones who can:

→ ship faster without burning out
→ automate the boring 40% of their work
→ think at a higher level than “task executors”
→ solve problems instead of just writing code

AI gives you all of that 𝗶𝗳 you learn to use it properly.

And no, “using ChatGPT to debug” isn’t enough.

Your real edge will come from learning how to:
 
• iterate faster
• design better solutions
• understand systems, not just syntax
• free up time to learn the skills that actually move your career forward

☒ AI won’t make you irrelevant.
☑ Staying stagnant will.

How are you currently using AI in your work (if at all)?
 
I’m curious to hear what’s working for you, or what you’re struggling with.

Let me know in the comments below! 💬

P.S.
Don’t forget to follow 👉 Kornel Dubieniecki

#ai #tech #jobs #engineering

I’m not trying to be a doomer, but a HUGE shift is coming because of AI.

And it has already started. 🥶

Big companies are continuing their layoffs while making record profits.

And if you think it’ll affect just the entry-level and low performers - think again.

Microsoft has just laid off one of their top engineers who’s been there for 18 years and has worked on TypeScript for over a decade.

I’m sure he’s gonna be fine, but what about you?

In the US alone there were already millions of layoffs in 2025. No, it’s not normal - stats are record high.

And if you thought that you can always just work as a DPD driver I have bad news.

They also recently started heavily replacing people with robots and AI.

How to work against it?

Build 👏 your 👏 own 👏 shit 👏

You need to have something to your name the moment it hits you and that's not "if", but "when".

Whether it’s a personal brand, profitable side-project or a small product.

It’s never been easier to build things with AI and you don’t need to be a techie to do it anymore.

Are you working on something cool right now?
What is it about?

Let me know in the comments below! 💬

P.S.
Don’t forget to follow 👉 Kornel Dubieniecki

#kd
#ai
#tech
#jobs

Quick recap of my last 𝟭𝟰 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 posting on LinkedIn.

(after being inactive for >𝟵 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 💀)

I honestly expected my account to be completely dead…
but the results weren't that bad, which surprised me.

(of course there were a few flops too)

In the last 2 weeks I posted 6 times.

That resulted in:

~15k views,
~30 new followers,
and 4 valuable DMs.

My top 3 posts from the last 2 weeks:

🥇 Post #1 - 6,3k views  
↳ https://lnkd.in/dhT4vDT2

🥈 Post #2 - 5,1k views  
↳ https://lnkd.in/dsXhKEdp

🥉 Post #3 - 1,2k views  
↳ https://lnkd.in/duuJW3Pr

For context, here are my top 3 posts from the whole year:

🥇 Post #1 - 117k views  
↳ https://lnkd.in/dQHZr7Pg

🥈 Post #2 - 30k views  
↳ https://lnkd.in/dGSGX8UZ

🥉 Post #3 - 8k views
↳ https://lnkd.in/dWmdZKZ2

A few insights:

- Engagements =/= Views
Post #1 got 3x less engagements, but 6x more views than post #3.

- Organic reach > Forced engagements
Post #3 had a bunch of early engagements including 2 reposts from pretty big accounts, but that didn't translate to a lot of views.

- Views =/= Leads
It was the less successful posts with <1k views aimed specifically at my niche (Tech & AI) that started meaningful conversations for me.

Summary:

When building your brand always be authentic and post about the things that interest you. (like aliens 👽)

If you haven't been active for a very long time, don't worry - just get back to it and the results might surprise you.

Even if your posts don't get that many views they still might get you valuable connections.

And how’s your personal brand building going?
Is LinkedIn treating you well?

Let me know in the comments below! 💬

P.S.  
Don't forget to follow 👉 Kornel Dubieniecki

Most people think AI knows everything.

It doesn’t.  

It only knows what it was trained on and that training ended long time ago.

Which means it has no idea about your files, your notes, your processes.

So how do you make AI actually useful?

You give it RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation)

Here’s the simple version:

┌📁 You store your documents privately  
├🔍 AI searches them when you ask something  
└🧠 It answers using your real data

RAG is basically a supercharged Ctrl + F that can also write full sentences.

Example:  

1. You ask: What is our refund policy?  
2. RAG finds the exact paragraph in your PDF.
3. AI rewrites it into a clean, accurate answer you can send immediately.

✨ No hallucinations  
✨ No guessing  
✨ No made-up facts

Why RAG matters:

• Customer support gets instant accurate replies  
• Teams stop digging through endless docs  
• Your notes become a personal knowledge engine  
• Leaders get clarity without hunting for info  
• Even tiny local models become incredibly powerful

And yes, this works on normal hardware.  
You do not need huge GPUs.  
You just need your own data.

Have you tried adding RAG to your workflows yet?

Let me know in the comments below! 💬

P.S.
Don’t forget to follow 👉 Kornel Dubieniecki

The No. 1 reason you’re failing your tech job interviews

(no, it’s not your experience)

Every time I have a tech job interview I try to teach my interviewer something new.

And I don’t mean like a new algorithm or data structure or design pattern.

None of the hardcore nerd stuff.

I’m thinking more like that cool niche open-source library I found last weekend

or a piece of software I started using some time ago.

The last time I was actively interviewing was a little over a year ago and the things that worked well for me back then were:

- Arc (The Browser Company) - a browser that is simply much better than Chrome and its alternatives.

- Raycast - nice little replacement for Spotlight, but can be very powerful with its many existing extensions.

- Cursor - it might seem everyone is using it by now, but in reality they’re not or at least they don’t know how to do it efficiently.

- Personal projects including the libraries I chose to use and why.

Whether I’m being interviewed or I’m the interviewer, I try my best to share or learn something new.

If you can find a solution to their existing problem - that’s even better, because they might actually use it right away and be grateful to you.

Next time you come to an interview and you start chatting, try to drop in a few gems so that when the interview is over they’ll think:

“Wow, what this guy showed me is actually pretty cool.”

or

“Nice, I could really use that thing to solve the task I have now in progress.”

And what is your approach to the tech interviews? Did you face some different challenges?

Let me know in the comments below! 💬

P.S.
Don’t forget to follow 👉 Kornel Dubieniecki

#kd 
#tech
#interview

You've probably seen this chart multiple times already…

But do you know what it actually shows?

It’s called the 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗔𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲 or 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲.

It describes how new technology spreads in few different cycles.

This curve also explains why AI is creating huge opportunities for some engineers…

While others feel like they’re about to get replaced.

And it can tell you exactly where you stand in the AI shift happening right now:

👨‍🔬 | Innovators – building AI tools, experimenting daily
🚀 | Early adopters – using AI to boost productivity
🌊 | Early majority – “I should probably start using this…”
🏢 | Late majority – forced to adapt by their employers
🐢 | Laggards – still pretending AI is just a buzzword

Here’s the harsh truth:

→ Most mid-level engineers are stuck in the early majority.

They wait for:

- the “best AI course”  
- stable company adoption  
- clear guidelines  
- perfect tools

Meanwhile early adopters are:

✅ - shipping faster
✅ - automating tasks
✅ - building side projects
✅ - becoming the AI person on their team

Same job.
Same skills.
Different outcome.

☒ | AI alone won’t replace engineers.
☑ | But engineers who ignore AI will be replaced by the ones who master it.

In 2–3 years, the market will look VERY different.

So ask yourself:

Are you learning AI now, while the advantage is big?

Or will you wait until it’s mandatory and the opportunity is gone?

Let me know in the comments below! 💬

P.S.
Don't forget to follow 👉 Kornel Dubieniecki

#ai #tech #jobs #engineering

webbar GmbH

Bitsinmotion GmbH

writing about Culture in Tech | Mentor | CTO | Dad 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Be honest now. The world of work in tech-land looks a little more difficult than the positive world we perceive on social media.

I talk about my experiences, my mistakes and what I've learnt the hard way here on LinkedIn in videos and posts. 

You can benefit and learn from it. 

I'm Adrian Stanek, I've been in the field for 24 years and have been an independent CTO for more than a year.

Adrian Stanek

If you want ownership in your team, stop talking about it and change how you ship.

Most leaders say they want “more ownership” and “senior behaviour” – and then run a release process that requires three approvals, a hero deployment and a bit of hope every month. 

That’s not a tooling problem, that’s a leadership choice – or the absence of it?

Continuous Delivery is, in my opinion, one of the most honest leadership practices we have in tech.

It forces you to show whether you really trust your team, your process and yourself, or whether you’re still hiding risk at the end of the quarter.

👉 Nothing forges a mature team as good as staying in motion together as a unit working together on a mission by a vision.

This morning’s article is about CD as a leadership and self-leadership discipline: credibility, role model, vision, challenge.

... and the courage to keep it boring and ship small batches every day.

If you’re a Tech Lead, Staff, or CTO and you feel your team is stuck in “we’ll release when it’s ready” mode, this one is for you.

—Adrian

Stoic Tech Leadership for Tech Leads & CTOs | Clarity, courage & coaching skills under pressure | Worth Following Podcast & The Stoic Leader Blog

View newsletter: Adrian Stanek | Tech Mentor

Why CD is a great practice for high-performing teams and daily improvement. If you want ownership and maturity in your team, stop talking about it and

Open article: Continuous Delivery: The Leader’s Choice by Adrian Stanek • 8 min read

Continuous Delivery: The Leader’s Choice

“We won’t work like this anymore.”

This is what we should say more often.
As an individual and as a team.

Why is that so common, not to do this?
Insecurity, indifference, or maybe fear?

A bit of everything, as long as we aren't confident as #developers. 

Confidence stems from self-worth and the credibility you know you have.

For example, in Continuous Delivery (CD), we aim to be confident in deploying regularly. We can do that because we are convinced that the deployment will very, very likely go live without issues. And if we face a problem, we will discover it early and fix it quickly. We can do that.

That was a practical example, but how do we translate that confidence as a team of developers into confidence towards people who want to control us via JIRA tickets? Towards people who simply see devs as a department, a feature factory.

It always starts and depends on the credibility. We need to speak up, of course, but the possible result of a bottom-up change heavily depends on how other people see us as individuals or teams.

𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲?
Are we living up to the standards we tell everybody?
How do we act and react in case of issues we have caused?
Are we joining the blame games quickly, or can we stay calm and professional?

In recent years I worked with a lot of developer teams and most of these teams lacked solid credibility. Most of them knew their craft, but were lacking the necessary self-leadership skills to actually perform outside of their IDE and Pull Requests well as humans; as team players in the bigger picture of the company.

Which was often the case, higher tech leads or business people told me behind the curtain things like:
"It's always like that."
"I can't rely on them."
"You always need to shepherd them; you cannot look away if you want to have it done right"

Well, in most, if not all, cases, it wasn't fair and ok to say that, because the leadership wasn't really one either. 


𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 – 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗱𝗮𝘆.

The point is, you need to be able to communicate clearly what you think is best for the process and the higher good of the company. For that, you need to work constantly on your credibility, because otherwise, no one will listen to your words. 

And the more often you do that, the more credible you become. Why?
Because you show that you care and that you want to protect the company, the product, and the process.

It is still possible that the "other side" is rigid and doesn't care after all, but that is rare, and if you work on yourself, you have done something for yourself, for your direct team.

And if this doesn't help you in this company, it will in the next one.

It always starts with you.
You define who you want to be.
You shape who you will become.

"𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘳."
𝘈 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘪𝘤 𝘞𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘈𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘶𝘴

—Adrian

“𝘐𝘧 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥?”
 
This sentence from Dr. Alexander Madaus hit when we recorded this episode.
Most leaders demand discipline, focus, and performance from their teams:
 
𝘉𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.

 𝗔𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆:
• don’t train their mind
• don’t protect their sleep
• don’t take care of their body
• don’t hold themselves to the same standard

 
Yes, you can be a “good enough” leader while being 20, 30, or 40 kilos overweight and living undisciplined. But you would be a 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 leader if you lived the discipline you expect from others.
  
Leadership is not a speech; it’s a lifestyle.
As Alexander calls it: the 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘪𝘵-𝘢𝘭𝘭 lifestyle – growth instead of slow decay.

Watch this short clip and ask yourself
👉 Where am I asking for discipline from others that I’m not living myself?
 
—Adrian

Most “alpha” leaders are not leaders.
 
They are just the loudest managers in the room.

You can push people with a title and pressure for a while, but you cannot hide a straightforward question forever:
 
❓𝗔𝗺 𝗜 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗼𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲?
  
Before you look for the next leadership framework, course, or CTO playbook, ask yourself:
 
• Do people trust my 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, or just my authority?
• Do I live as a 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹, or do I treat myself as the exception to every rule?
• Do I give a clear 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, or do I only move tickets and OKRs around?
• Do I create a 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 that grows people, or only stress that burns them out?

If one of these pillars is weak, no “system” will fix your leadership.
 
It starts with how you shape yourself, how you keep your baseline, how you turn habits into virtues.

That is exactly what I work on with my mentoring clients, and it is what this week’s Mentor’s Session is about: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟰 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴.

If you feel that tension between who you are today and the leader you want to be, watch the session and sit with these questions for a while.

I personally use this little framework daily, both in leadership and in self-leadership. 
I am surprised how often I lose it, and these simple aspects are pulling me back to my baseline.

—Adrian

♻️ Sharing is caring; If you find this helpful, please repost it.

--
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘞𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 4 𝘗𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱.

When things break, your real leadership shows up.
Not in the values slide, not in the retro, in that exact messy moment.

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀:
Do you own mistakes or start blaming?
Do you bring calm structure or add to the chaos?
Do you stay present with them or disappear into “important meetings”?

👉 𝗕𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱:
In the last really stressful moment … Would you want your whole team to copy your behaviour for the next five years?

If the answer is “mh… not really”, that’s not a shame moment – that’s your starting point.

In today’s mentoring article, I walk through my 𝟰 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽:
• Credibility
• Role Model
• Vision
• Challenge
           
It’s a small framework I use myself to check 𝘩𝘰𝘸 I show up in exactly those situations.
 
If you want to learn and apply it, read the article (link in the comments) or DM me “4 Pillars” and I’ll send it to you.

—Adrian

Most dev teams don’t have a “testing” problem.
They have a 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 problem.

In mentoring sessions I see the same pattern:
Developers ship features, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 someone says “we should add tests” or “QA will catch it”.

That’s not quality. That’s 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.

𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: a freelancer once told me in a call that he assigns his PRs only to colleagues who are on vacation,
so the review won’t come back and the ticket won’t bother him for a while.
That’s the exact opposite of ownership. 
𝘈 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘷 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.


𝗧𝗗𝗗 𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆:

• You design behaviour 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 you write code
• You prove it works as you build
• You keep ownership of quality in the team, not in a separate QA department
• In combination with Continuous Delievery it leads to a mature dev culture

👉 A hand-off is always a hand-off of responsibility.
The more you rely on “someone later” to catch issues, the less your team truly owns what it ships.

As a Tech Lead / EM, your job is to make this non-negotiable:

“We write tests 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 we code. That’s how we work here.”

--

I’m Adrian Stanek – I used to talk about tools & practises as snackableCTO,
now I mentor Tech Leads to build teams where maturity & ownershiop aren't just words on the floor wall,
and quality is a developer habit, not a post-processing step.


👉 Fellow devs:
What is your idea of testing? 
Do you prefer TDD? 
How do you cultivate maturity.

As a leader, you need to be able to be in the storm and still operate.
 
Not hiding in a safe corner.
Not “recharging” far away from where things actually happen.

As Stoics, as leaders, we are supposed to live where the action is – where we can be harmed, where the stress is, where decisions really matter. That’s why I use the metaphor of 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘃𝘀. 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹.
 
A fortress is not a hideout in the mountains.
 
It’s a 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲.
 
You are on the front line, fully exposed to reality – but you have structure inside yourself that lets you stay calm, think clearly, and act with intent.
 
The walls of that fortress are your own strength: your ability to distinguish between what you can control and what you cannot; your willingness to challenge yourself and let others challenge you; your discipline to stay present when emotions and pressure hit you from all sides. You still see those emotions right in front of your walls, but they don’t dictate your next move.

The 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹 is the opposite.
 
It’s where you retreat so you don’t have to be challenged. You avoid hard conversations, real risk, and honest feedback. You protect your ego instead of the mission. You might look busy, but you’re no longer leading – you’re just surviving.
 
You can’t build 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 if you always run when it gets hard.
You can’t be a 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 if what you model is escape.
You can’t lead people toward a 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 if every storm blows you off course.
 
Leadership means staying at the front when everyone else wants to step back; holding your position so others can hold theirs; helping people build their own inner fortresses instead of joining them in their cells.

Become worth following and be the light until others can be the same, and no leaders are necessary anymore.
 
So the question for you and me is simple:
Are we confident leading at the front?
Are we an example, or do we lie to ourselves and others?

Keep asking yourself these questions, because they never become irrelevant.

—Adrian

Why every leader needs a Mirror Book – And why To-do lists fail.

Most leaders & tech leads don’t fail because they’re unskilled.
They fail because their 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮 before they even start.

One call.
One “urgent” request.
One fire.
One bug.

And suddenly you’re living someone else’s priorities instead of your own.

For years, I’ve used a simple tool to prevent that:
a small notebook and five quiet minutes every morning.

Not to “be productive.”
But to be 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁.

I write down:

• 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺
• The 𝟭–𝟯 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 that truly matter
• The commitments I cannot break
• And in the evening, what I can honestly 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁

It’s not a diary.
It’s a 𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿.
A daily check: am I drifting… or becoming who I said I wanted to be?

Most leaders I mentor struggle with this exact issue.
They know what matters — but noise wins.

Journaling, done right, gives you your clarity back.

Your agenda.
Your identity.

Tomorrow in my mentoring session, I’ll share the whole structure of the Self-Mirror Book – the method I teach to CTOs, founders, and tech leads to stay focused and grounded.

If your days often run you instead of the other way around…
This will help.

— Adrian

6 weeks left.
I bet 2026 still looks exactly like this year for most leaders.

We love the January fairytale: 
“Next year I’ll really lead, not just react. After the break, everything will change.”

But that’s not how it works. Homeostasis kicks in, your org returns to its baseline, and by week 3, you’re back in the same meetings, with the same excuses, fighting the same fires.

If you want 2026 to be different, you have to end 2025 differently.

"So let it be written; so let it be done:"

Write down the following and keep it where you see it every day:

1️⃣ What I will change in myself before the year ends.
2️⃣ What I will change in how my team works before the year ends.
3️⃣ How we will notice in January that this change is real.
❓ And if I don’t do it: what is the consequence for me and my team?

Then share it with your team on Monday and hold them accountable.


In short, you need to manifest a deliberate intention as a leader.
You need these questions in your mind every day:

- Who am I?
- What is my purpose?
- What is my goal?

Treat them as daily hypotheses and look for answers in the evening.



"You are both the marble and the sculptor"
Stoic Principle.

👉 Now read the article and decide who you want to be in 2026.

Be honest for a second: are you already lying to yourself about 2026 again? Telling yourself the same old story, making big promises you’ll “definitel

Open article: It’s November; are you prepared for 2026? by Adrian Stanek • 6 min read

It’s November; are you prepared for 2026?

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