Leadership Launchpad

Matt Gjertsen - Better Every Day Studios
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Welcome to the Leadership Launchpad where we help technical managers improve themselves, their teams, and their organizations. Host Matt Gjertsen — former Air Force instructor pilot and head of training and development at SpaceX — brings hard-won lessons from the world's most demanding organizations to help new managers lead with clarity and confidence. Each episode cuts through the noise with practical frameworks, real stories, and straight talk on what it actually takes to build high-performing teams in aerospace, defense, and beyond. Whether you're managing engineers, navigating organizational chaos, or just trying not to let your team down, Leadership Launchpad gives you the tools to get better every day.

  1. 4 hr ago

    Mastering Organizational Development w/ Gabrielle Rufrano

    In this episode, Gabrielle Rufrano, a doctoral candidate in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Clemson University, shares insights from her experiences in both large organizations like NASA and fast-paced startups in the energy sector. She discusses the fundamentals of industrial and organizational psychology, emphasizing the importance of evidence-based practices and organizational culture. Gabrielle compares the structured, mission-driven culture at NASA with the more flexible but less unified environment of a startup, highlighting how organizational maturity and resources impact the implementation of research-backed development practices. She also explores the gap between academic research and practical application in industry, and how both sides can improve collaboration for better workplace outcomes. Timestamps 00:00 – Introduction to Gabrielle Rufrano and discussion of organizational culture02:17 – Explanation of industrial and organizational psychology03:17 – How research is conducted and validated in the field06:08 – Example of experimental research with workplace bias10:14 – Comparison of NASA and startup cultures14:21 – Details of organizational development work at NASA19:54 – The value of organizational culture and its real-world impact22:25 – Challenges in applying research in fast-moving industries27:02 – Key lessons for bridging academia and industry

  2. 1 Sept

    Empowering Teams in Fast-Growing Startups w/ Shan Mohta

    In this episode, Shan Mohta, co-founder and CEO of Vendra, discusses his journey building a manufacturing platform aimed at streamlining the process of ordering custom parts in the US, with a focus on aerospace and defense. Shan Mohta shares how Vendra leverages software to match customer designs with the best-fit suppliers, improving supply chain resilience and reducing lead times. He provides insights into his leadership style, shaped by experiences at major tech companies and startups, emphasizing accessibility and decision-making empowerment for his team. The discussion also covers the early pivots in Vendra’s product direction, the value of direct and constructive feedback, and lessons learned from collaborating with both large and small manufacturing customers. Important Timestamps 00:00: Shan Mohta shares how brutal early feedback shaped Vendra.00:45: Introduction to Vendra’s mission and customer base.03:00: How Vendra streamlines custom parts manufacturing.04:19: The importance of supply chain resilience.06:16: How Vendra scales from prototypes to large production runs.10:24: Lessons from large companies vs. startups and impact on Vendra’s culture.13:32: Empowering teams to make decisions and developing a coaching mindset.18:30: Creating clear decision-making constraints for team members.23:33: What inspired Shan to found Vendra.25:50: The importance of honest feedback and Vendra’s pivotal moments.30:00: Building a culture of customer feedback and continuous improvement.

  3. 25 Aug

    Navigating Career Paths as a Team Leader w/ Rich Phipps

    In this episode, Rich Phipps, former manager of technicians and development tests at SpaceX’s McGregor test facility and a veteran submariner, shares his leadership journey from the Navy to SpaceX. He discusses transitioning from a technician to a leadership role, the differences and similarities between leading in the military and in a high-tech environment, and the importance of influence, communication, and trust. Rich outlines how his teams tackled challenges such as team integration, career progression, and minimizing workplace distractions. He also provides a definition of leadership that has guided his approach, emphasizing aligning diverse skills towards a shared mission. Listeners gain practical insights into fostering collaboration between engineers and technicians, building meaningful workplace relationships, and creating clear career development paths in dynamic, fast-paced organizations. Important Timestamps [00:00:00] Introduction to influence as the essence of leadership[00:02:08] Rich Phipps describes his career path and experiences at SpaceX[00:04:00] Transitioning from technical expert to formal people leader in the Navy[00:08:42] Challenges moving from military leadership to entry-level technician at SpaceX[00:12:13] Comparing leadership and management: skills versus position[00:16:31] Strategies for bridging the engineer-technician gap[00:21:12] Addressing career progression as a workplace distraction[00:25:08] Developing clear technician career paths at SpaceX[00:29:04] Rich’s guiding definition of leadership and five key leadership concepts

  4. 18 Aug

    Top Leadership Lessons for Technical Managers w/ Matt Gjertsen

    This episode of Leadership Launchpad celebrates a milestone: surpassing the 200th episode mark. The conversation features a recap of top insights and leadership lessons from previous standout guests, including Steph Bertmer (Pinterest), Megan Galloway (EverLeader), Matt Kuda (Voyager Technologies), Holly Betke (StockX), General John Teichert (Edwards Air Force Base), Jesse Kleekamp (K2 Space), Brian Manning (ZonaSpace), Ian Marrone (Apex), Paul Cotillion (Applied Atomics), and Casey Hanrahan (Terraform Industries). Key topics include leading through change, the importance of transparency, building influence, the challenges of management, hiring rigor, coaching conversations, and embracing autonomy as a leader. Important Timestamps00:00: Introduction and episode milestone02:02: Lessons from Steph Bertmer on leading through change and communicating with teams04:02: Megan Galloway on centers of influence in organizational change05:50: Matt Kuda's analogy on pushing limits and accepting mistakes in leadership08:45: Holly Betke on getting buy-in and identifying team misalignment10:45: General John Teichert on fostering innovation and closing the feedback loop12:29: Jesse Kleekamp’s approach to rigorous hiring at K2 Space14:17: Brian Manning’s advice on the transition from engineer to people manager15:36: Ian Marrone’s introduction to the GROW model for coaching conversations17:49: Paul Cotillion on transparency and financial reality in startups19:11: Casey Hanrahan on the core challenge of management and prioritizing team success21:57: Closing remarks and final thoughts on the new book

  5. 11 Aug

    Leading Without Authority in Tech Teams w/ Lindy Elkins-Tanton

    In this episode of Leadership Launchpad, Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Director of the Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory and Principal Investigator of NASA’s Psyche mission, shares insights on leading high-stakes, technical teams. She explains the objectives and significance of the Psyche mission—humanity’s first deep exploration of a metal-rich asteroid—and offers a detailed look at her role as principal investigator. The discussion covers leadership challenges, including leading with responsibility but limited authority, fostering open communication, and the value of surfacing problems early. Elkins-Tanton also addresses the unique pressures placed on teams during COVID-19 and strategies for maintaining effective collaboration across dispersed workforces. The episode concludes with reflections on the scientific mysteries of asteroid 16 Psyche and the excitement of pioneering new frontiers in space science. Timestamps for Key Moments: 02:34: Explanation of the Psyche mission’s goals and significance04:36: The principal investigator role defined07:00: Leading without formal authority10:24: Transition from technical work to leading teams14:42: The importance of surfacing bad news early17:45: Creating a culture where junior team members can speak up25:20: Leadership challenges during COVID-1931:16: Scientific questions guiding the Psyche mission32:33: Upcoming mission milestones

  6. 4 Aug

    Why Ownership Is the Foundation of Great Engineering w/ Seth Kovnat

    Everyone talks about ownership. Very few people can actually explain what it looks like. Seth Kovnat spent six years at SpaceX helping scale Falcon launches from 24 to 148 missions a year before joining Impulse Space as Director of Vehicle Engineering. Along the way, he developed a way of thinking about engineering that goes far beyond technical ability. At the center of that mindset is the Responsible Engineer. Not someone who owns a part. Someone who owns the outcome. We get into why ownership isn't about protecting your work. It's about bringing in the right people, inviting criticism early, and doing whatever gives the mission the best chance of succeeding. That sounds simple, but it's a very different way of leading technical teams than most organizations practice. We also talk about what changes when engineers become leaders, why letting go of technical control is one of the hardest transitions to make, and how great engineering organizations create cultures where responsibility grows with every level of the organization instead of getting bottlenecked at the top. If you lead engineers, build products, or care about creating teams that move fast without sacrificing quality, this conversation is packed with practical lessons from someone who's helped build at the highest level. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS[00:00] Introduction[00:03:13] Why Seth wrote an engineering children's book[00:08:00] Building vehicles at Impulse Space[00:10:10] The responsible engineer mindset[00:12:18] What SpaceX got right about ownership[00:18:16] Building a culture of ownership[00:21:19] Why planning beats reacting[00:23:00] Failing smart instead of failing busy[00:26:20] The hardest transition from engineer to leader[00:27:28] Scaling ownership across an organization KEY TAKEAWAYSOwnership means owning outcomes, not just completing tasksGreat engineering requires collaboration, not individual heroicsThe best engineers actively seek feedback earlyStrong engineering cultures remove ego from decision-makingResponsible engineers orchestrate people as much as technical workBuilding without clear intent creates the illusion of progressAttack the biggest risks first, not the easiest problemsLeadership requires letting go of technical controlAccountability should grow as organizations scaleHigh-performing engineering teams succeed because ownership exists at every level If this episode resonates with you, subscribe to the show, share it with someone building engineering teams, and leave a review so more technical leaders can discover the conversation. Links & Resources Seth Kovnat LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethkovnat/Website: https://pragmatist.tech/ Matt Gjertsen Website: https://www.bettereverydaystudios.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewgjertsen/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BetterEveryDayStudios

  7. 28 Jul

    The Leadership Shift Every Engineer Has to Make w/ Ashley Chang

    Most engineers become leaders because they're great at solving problems. Then they get promoted... and suddenly the thing that made them successful starts getting in the way. If you've ever struggled to delegate, found yourself jumping in to fix everything, or wondered why your team keeps bringing every problem back to you, this conversation will probably hit close to home. Ashley Chang started her career as an engineer and now leads training and development at Anduril. She talks about what really changes when you move from individual contributor to leader, and why leading isn't about having all the answers anymore. It's about asking better questions, setting clear expectations, and creating an environment where your team can solve problems without depending on you. We also get into why so many companies confuse "don't micromanage" with "don't lead," why coaching is a skill that has to be developed, and why technical experts don't automatically become great teachers just because they're the best at the job. If you're leading engineers, manufacturing teams, or any technical organization, this episode is a practical conversation about what actually changes when your job shifts from doing the work to helping other people do it well. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS[00:00] Introduction[00:02:38] Why engineers struggle when they become managers[00:05:48] Finding the right balance between delegation and micromanagement[00:09:16] What makes technical training different[00:11:32] Breaking old habits and creating new standards[00:14:00] Why great performers don't always make great trainers[00:17:12] Asking better questions instead of giving answers[00:22:28] Why training should be treated like a product[00:25:57] Overcommunication beats undercommunication[00:26:56] Knowing what should and shouldn't be trained KEY TAKEAWAYSGreat engineers don't automatically become great leadersLeadership starts when you stop trying to solve every problem yourselfDelegation changes based on each person's experience and maturityClear expectations are different from micromanagementThe best coaches ask questions before offering solutionsTechnical experts need coaching skills to become effective trainersGood onboarding teaches both the work and the cultureTraining only works when leaders reinforce it every dayOvercommunication is usually better than undercommunicationTeach principles that stay the same, even when processes change If this episode resonated with you, subscribe to the show, share it with someone leading a technical team, and leave a review so more engineering leaders can find these conversations. Links & Resources Ashley Chang LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleylchang/ Matt Gjertsen Website: https://www.bettereverydaystudios.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewgjertsen/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BetterEveryDayStudios

  8. 23 Jun

    Why Most Leadership Training Doesn’t Translate to the Floor w/ Craig Coyle

    Most companies say they’re developing leaders. But when you look at what actually happens on the floor, or inside a new manager’s first real team, it doesn’t line up. Craig Coyle spent years as an Army aviator and now works with frontline leaders in manufacturing and defense environments. What he saw in both worlds is the same gap, people are promoted into leadership, then left to figure it out in real time, without the structure they were used to as operators. In aviation, that doesn’t happen. You don’t just become a pilot in command and get told to figure it out. There’s progression, there’s repetition, there’s instructor pilots inside the mission, not outside of it. That contrast is what drives this conversation. We talk through what changes when leadership is treated like a skill that needs structured training instead of something people just “grow into.” And why most development programs fall short, not because the content is wrong, but because it’s removed from the environment where the work actually happens. There’s also a deeper problem underneath it all, most organizations don’t have a clear definition of what “good” looks like for a manager. So people default to whatever worked for them personally, or whatever their last boss did. That inconsistency is what creates the gap between intent and execution. Craig breaks down what he’s building now, a model that treats leadership development less like theory and more like progression inside a system, similar to how pilots are trained over time, not in isolated workshops. If you lead people, or you’re responsible for people who lead people, this episode is really about one thing, what it would take to make leadership actually show up on the floor, not just in training materials. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS[00:00] Introduction [00:01:00] Most people don’t know what training actually is [00:02:33] Military vs corporate leadership development gap [00:06:46] “Figure it out” leadership in the Army [00:09:35] Learning leadership the hard way after promotion [00:10:05] Why pilot training builds a different standard [00:15:28] Procedure vs technique in decision making [00:17:00] Science vs art of leadership [00:22:20] Why classroom training fails on the floor [00:29:00] The bandwidth problem in leadership roles [00:32:00] Why prioritization decides everything in leadership [00:35:03] Why most leadership training doesn’t move the needle [00:37:00] Closing the “back door” in workforce development [00:39:00] Minimum Viable Manager concept KEY TAKEAWAYSMost leadership training fails because it’s removed from the environment where work actually happens“Figure it out” is not a leadership system, it’s a gap in oneAviation builds leadership through progression, not one-off trainingGood management requires structure, not just experienceInstruction needs to exist inside operations, not outside themProcedure creates consistency, technique creates flexibilityMost organizations don’t define what “good manager” actually meansContext is what makes training stick, not content aloneBandwidth is one of the biggest hidden limits in leadershipYou don’t fix leadership by adding content, you fix it by changing the system If this episode resonates with you, subscribe to the show, share it with someone who leads a team, and leave a review so more people building in complex environments can find it. Links & Resources Craig Coyle LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-coyle/Website: https://operationlead.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@OperationLead Matt Gjertsen Website: https://www.bettereverydaystudios.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewgjertsen/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BetterEveryDayStudios

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About

Welcome to the Leadership Launchpad where we help technical managers improve themselves, their teams, and their organizations. Host Matt Gjertsen — former Air Force instructor pilot and head of training and development at SpaceX — brings hard-won lessons from the world's most demanding organizations to help new managers lead with clarity and confidence. Each episode cuts through the noise with practical frameworks, real stories, and straight talk on what it actually takes to build high-performing teams in aerospace, defense, and beyond. Whether you're managing engineers, navigating organizational chaos, or just trying not to let your team down, Leadership Launchpad gives you the tools to get better every day.

Information

  • Creator
    Matt Gjertsen - Better Every Day Studios
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    198
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Better Every Day Studios - Matthew Gjertsen
  • Show Website
    Leadership Launchpad

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