SWS #013: Focus-Enhancing Tools, Docker Fundamentals, and Steve Jobs' Leadership Legacy

A carefully curated collection of fascinating discoveries, thought-provoking ideas, and hidden gems from around the web.

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Once again, a week has passed. Somehow it seems that my read-later section in raindrop.io does grow faster week by week. I save so many great articles from around the web. Since I started to write (and thus to scroll through) Substack, the amount of awesome reads has grown significantly.

For me to force myself to read these articles and not let them sit in my read-later list, I write an episode of Stuff Worth Sharing every week to share with you my favourite reads this week.

So sit back, get a cup of coffee and click through the following links!

Cafe Restaurant Background Noise Generator

This week’s list starts with quite an unusual pick. Working in a large office space, I often have to put headphones on to stop the chatter around me from turning my focus off from programming.

While I also like to listen to music, I cannot always do that. If I want to be in deep focus, I turn on the Cafe Restaurant Background Noise Generator and enjoy the subtle audio which lets me believe I sit inside a coffee shop.

Introduction to Docker: Core Concepts by Ravin Rau

If you ever need to get a quick overview over Docker or need a resource to explain Docker to others, this post is excellent in doing so.

It shows up which advantages Docker offers, how it is different from bare metal deployment or virtual machines and explains specific terms like image, Dockerfile or registry.

Websitevice - Website design inspirations

Being a programmer, I particularly enjoy creating frontends. These are the parts which end users interact with a most often decide if a user likes or dislikes a certain website or application.

Especially in web design, your layout has to be great to get a visitor to notice your page. For this to work, you have to focus on UI and UX to reach your goal. For both areas, Websitevice offers many links to great websites where you can enjoy modern looking UIs as well as often great UX. From typography over colours up to animations, there are resources for all needs.

‘I worked with Steve Jobs. Here’s what he’d say about today’s leadership style’ by Shalini Govil-Pai

In this commentary, Shalini Govil-Pai shares her thoughts about what Steve Jobs would say about today’s leadership style. As technical director at Pixar, she worked together with Steve Jobs.

Today’s leaders often get inspired by Steve Jobs’ leadership style. But Shalini Govil-Pai is “concerned that many of them seem to have embraced the more dangerous traits of Steve Jobs without balancing them with his better qualities.” To tackle this, she shares some of the lessons she learned from Steve Jobs’ leadership style.

For one, a leader has to listen intently. Everyone should have the feeling to be heard and that his or her opinions matter.

You also have to inspire teamwork.

No matter how much a leader believes in their vision, they must motivate others to get on board with it and feel passionate about working toward it. It’s not enough to simply force a vision on your team—you’ve got to get them to believe in it as well.

A good working team always tops single individual contributors, so you have to make sure that well-working teams can emerge.

A leader has to be of service.

Steve Jobs understood that he alone did not have the talent, insight, or abilities to bring his vision(s) to market.

Even though Steve Jobs was one of the most talented founders ever, he also knew very well that he alone did not have the power to reach the big goals he set. For this to work out, he held up “topical experts as the true leaders”.

Last but not least, a leader has to focus on what he or she can control and concentrate on the greater good.

To those leaders who think they can do everything, he’d tell them to focus their attention on the issues and decisions they can truly influence and let the team handle what it’s better equipped to handle.

He also empowered his employees to become better contributors by providing them tools to reach this goal.

All in all this was an interesting read on today’s leadership viewed through the perspective of Steve Jobs’ leadership principles. I think that every leader can learn something from Jobs’ principles and I try to embed them in my day-to-day work life.

Thanks for joining me on this week's journey of Stuff Worth Sharing! I hope you found something intriguing to explore further.

Want more curated content like this? You can find me on Substack, Medium, Bluesky or Mastodon.

Feel free to share with others who might enjoy these weekly finds.

Until next week,
Flo

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