The Impactful Engineer - Mentorship, Career Growth, and Personal & Professional Excellence for Aspiring Engineers

Steve & Jake Maxey - The Impactful Engineers
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Spreading awareness, success, and accessibility to the world of engineering to aspiring and early career engineers.

  1. 2d ago

    Episode 177 - Nobody Needs the Whole Story. Give Them the Punchline.

    Technical expertise gets you into the room. Your ability to communicate determines how much influence you have once you're there. Too many engineers bury their message under technical details, unnecessary context, and lengthy explanations. They know their subject, but struggle to make their point. The result? Wasted time, lost attention, and decisions that go nowhere. In this episode, Steve and Jake break down why communication is one of the biggest differentiators in engineering careers. From interviews and executive presentations to leading meetings and influencing stakeholders, they discuss how to command a room, deliver information with purpose, and stop overwhelming people with details they never asked for. Not theory. Practical, tactical advice for engineers who want to lead. Key Topics Covered: Why technical expertise alone won't accelerate your career.How communication separates engineers competing for leadership opportunities.Why your presence and delivery matter in engineering interviews.How to command a room without being naturally outgoing.Why every meeting needs a clear purpose, leader, and desired outcome.The importance of adapting technical explanations to your audience.Why leading with the conclusion improves understanding and decision-making.How excessive detail creates distractions and unnecessary questions.Why concise communication establishes credibility and authority.How to structure conversations that actually move work forward.Actionable Steps: Lead with your conclusion before explaining the supporting details.Identify the decision or outcome you need before starting a conversation.Open meetings by establishing the purpose, expectations, and desired result.Define who is leading and how participants should raise questions.Tailor your message to the technical understanding of your audience.Practice explaining complex engineering problems in plain language.Remove information that doesn't help the conversation move forward.Prepare presentations around outcomes, challenges, and solutions.Ask whether additional detail is necessary before providing it.Develop your presentation skills deliberately, regardless of personality type.Who This Episode Is For: Engineers who are technically strong but struggle to gain influence.Individual contributors pursuing management or leadership roles.Engineers preparing for interviews, presentations, or executive reviews.Introverted professionals who want to develop stronger presence.Engineering leaders frustrated by meetings that waste time and energy.Why It Matters: Your technical knowledge has limited impact if people can't understand or act on it. Every unnecessary explanation costs attention, energy, and credibility. Engineers who communicate with clarity make decisions easier, build trust faster, and become the people others rely on to move work forward. If you want more responsibility, influence, and career growth, learn to deliver the message that matters. Where to Listen: SpotifyApple PodcastsWherever you get your podcastsShare: If this episode hit home, send it to someone. The Impactful Engineer grows by word of mouth, just like the best careers do.

  2. Oct 12

    Episode 176 - You Can’t Lead Everyone the Way You Want to Be Led, With Jeremy Doran

    Jeremy Doran, author and host of Neuroconversant Leadership, joins Steve and Jake to break down why strong engineers still struggle to communicate, influence, delegate, and lead people who think differently than they do. This episode covers communication styles, feedback, personality differences, delegation, trust, and the difficult shift from technical expert to leader. Not theory, practical, tactical advice you can use with your team immediately. Key Topics Covered: • Why DISC and Myers-Briggs can help you recognize how differently people process information • Why quiet or emotionally flat engineers are often misread as disengaged, arrogant, or unprepared • How better meeting preparation gets stronger input from both introverts and extroverts • Why communication problems are often system problems, not people problems • How to determine whether someone needs detailed direction or autonomy • Why "Do you have any questions?" often fails • How defensive reactions destroy the value of good feedback • Why new managers must stop treating technical work as their primary product • How leadership skills help individual contributors influence teams they do not manage • Jeremy's four C's of leadership: command, currency, competence, and culture Actionable Steps: • Tell people what feedback or decisions you need before the meeting • Ask teammates how much direction they need instead of assuming • Replace "Any questions?" with "Ask me two questions" • Change communication methods when email, calls, or meetings are not producing results • When feedback triggers you, acknowledge it, reflect, and respond later • Ask for specific examples when feedback feels too broad to act on • Turn technical explanations into stories tied to a shared problem • Stop assuming what someone meant and ask clarifying questions • Build teams with people who think differently and strengthen skills you lack • Find the person you struggle to communicate with most and learn why they see the problem differently Who This Episode Is For: • Engineers preparing for their first leadership role • New managers struggling to delegate technical work • Strong individual contributors who want more influence without formal authority • Leaders frustrated by teammates who communicate differently • Engineers whose technical ability is strong but whose communication is limiting their impact Why It Matters: Technical skill can make you valuable. It does not automatically make you influential. As your career grows, your results depend more on how well you communicate, earn trust, handle feedback, align different personalities, and enable other people to succeed. You cannot scale your impact if everyone has to think and work exactly like you. Where to Listen: Spotify Apple Podcasts YouTube Or wherever you get your podcasts Find Jeremy Doran: Website: neuroconversantleadership.com Book: Neuroconversant Leadership, available on Amazon Podcast: Neuroconversant Leadership on YouTube, his website, and podcast platforms LinkedIn: Jeremy Doran Speaks Share: If this episode hit home, send it to someone. The Impactful Engineer grows by word of mouth, just like the best careers do.

  3. Oct 5

    Episode 175 - Your Attitude Is Telling Everyone Whether You're Ready to Lead

    Intro: Technical skill gets you in the room. Your attitude under pressure determines whether people trust you with more. In this episode, Steve and Jake break down how engineers signal leadership readiness through the way they respond when projects go sideways, pressure climbs, and the path forward is unclear. Not theory, practical, tactical advice for staying calm, creating confidence, and becoming the person others trust when the stakes are high. Key Topics Covered: • Why attitude can shape your career from your first interview to your final leadership role • How your response under pressure changes how peers and leaders see you • Why negativity spreads quickly through teams • How positive, solution-focused energy creates confidence • Why acknowledging difficulty is better than pretending everything is fine • How to pivot from an emotional reaction into problem solving • Why leaders need to become the calm in the storm • How your boss evaluates whether a difficult problem is safe in your hands • Why trust grows when you pair confidence with follow-through Actionable Steps: • Catch your first emotional reaction before it becomes your final response • Acknowledge when a problem is hard, then immediately pivot toward solutions • Ask what resources, people, or perspectives could change the situation • Replace complaining with a clear next action • When you do not know the answer, communicate confidence in finding it • Show your team that pressure does not change your commitment • Use your words and energy to create stability around you • Follow through after projecting confidence so trust compounds • Treat every hard moment as a chance to demonstrate leadership readiness Who This Episode Is For: • Engineers who want to move into leadership • New managers learning how to lead through pressure • High performers who react quickly when things go wrong • Engineers who feel overloaded, stretched, or close to burnout • Individual contributors who want to earn more trust and responsibility Why It Matters: People remember how you show up when things are hard. Your energy affects the room, your response shapes trust, and your ability to stay engaged under pressure tells people whether you are ready for more. Leadership is not pretending problems are easy. It is helping people believe the problem can be solved. Where to Listen: Spotify Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcasts Share: If this episode hit home, send it to someone. The Impactful Engineer grows by word of mouth, just like the best careers do.

  4. Sep 28

    Episode 174 - Before You Quit Your Job, Figure Out What You’re Actually Running From, w/ Ben Fox

    Burned out, frustrated, or convinced your job is the problem? Before you quit, get clear on what is actually broken. In this episode, Steve and Jake sit down with career coach Ben Fox, who helps burned-out software engineers figure out what is next. They break down bad managers, weak boundaries, AI-driven change, career uncertainty, networking, and how to know when to fix the situation versus leave it. Not theory. Practical, tactical advice for engineers who want more control over their careers. Key Topics Covered: • How to tell whether the job is the problem or your own boundaries are making it worse • Why high-achieving engineers often overwork, people-please, and carry those habits into the next job • The “Goldilocks quit date” for turning an emotional exit into a deliberate decision • How AI is changing engineering work without eliminating the value of judgment, creativity, and problem-solving • Why a bad manager can make you question an entire career you may still love • How to manage upward before deciding the situation is hopeless • Why career experiments beat making huge decisions based on fear • How cold outreach and relationship-building can uncover better opportunities • Why more education can become a way to delay a decision instead of make one • How thinking like a business owner removes ego and creates better career decisions Actionable Steps: • Audit your last week and list what energized you versus what drained you • Set a clear stopping time for work and protect nights and weekends • Identify what you are contributing to the situation before blaming the environment • Ask your manager directly for the support, clarity, or changes you need • Talk to people already doing the work before changing roles, companies, or industries • Run small career experiments before committing to a major move • Reconnect with people in your network without overthinking the ask • Use AI to remove repetitive work so you can spend more time on judgment and creative problem-solving • Define a realistic quit date if staying indefinitely is no longer acceptable • Ask what would need to change for you to genuinely enjoy the role again Who This Episode Is For: • Engineers who are burned out but unsure whether quitting is the answer • High performers working nights and weekends with weak boundaries • Engineers dealing with micromanagement or poor leadership • ICs questioning their future as AI changes how engineering work gets done • Anyone who feels stuck but has not yet tested another path Why It Matters: Career growth is not just about working harder. Your energy, boundaries, visibility, relationships, and willingness to speak up all shape your performance. If you never identify what is actually draining you, you can leave one job and recreate the same problem somewhere else. Own what you can change, test what you cannot, then make the decision with clarity. Where to Listen: Spotify Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcasts Find Ben Fox: Visit benfoxcoaching.com to learn more about Ben’s coaching and sign up for a free 45-minute diagnostic call. Connect with Ben on LinkedIn, where he regularly shares career insights, lessons from his client work, and practical ideas for engineers navigating change.  Share: If this episode hit home, send it to someone. The Impactful Engineer grows by word of mouth, just like the best careers do.

  5. Sep 21

    Episode 173 - Focus Isn’t Doing More. It’s Eliminating More.

    Most engineers try to improve focus by working harder, becoming more disciplined, or finding a better productivity system. That misses the real problem. You probably have too many things competing for your time, energy, and attention. In this episode, Steve and Jake break down why real focus starts with elimination. That means deciding what actually matters, accepting the tradeoffs, and removing the projects, commitments, distractions, and decisions that keep pulling you away from it. Not theory. Practical, tactical advice for engineers who want to execute at a higher level without constantly fighting themselves. Key Topics Covered: • Why willpower is a terrible long-term strategy for staying focused • The hidden cost of trying to maintain too many priorities at once • Why becoming great often requires deliberately becoming less involved elsewhere • How scattered technical interests can keep engineers from developing real expertise • Why specialists become the people others specifically request for important work • How saying yes to everything destroys execution and credibility • Why fewer priorities reduce decision fatigue and mental clutter • How simplifying routine decisions preserves energy for higher-value work • Why every meaningful goal requires a tradeoff • How focused seasons can accelerate career and personal progress Actionable Steps: • Write down the three to five things that matter most in your current season • Audit where your time and mental energy actually go each week • Identify commitments that do not support your highest priorities • Eliminate unnecessary activities instead of trying to manage them better • Choose which technical or professional skill you want to become known for • Stop accepting work that compromises execution on your highest-value projects • Create clear criteria for what deserves a yes and what automatically gets a no • Simplify repetitive decisions wherever possible • Write down what you are willing to trade to reach your current goal • Commit long enough for focused effort to compound into visible expertise Who This Episode Is For: • Engineers who constantly feel busy but are not making enough progress • High performers taking on too many projects and responsibilities • Engineers struggling to become known for a specific strength • Professionals who feel mentally overloaded by competing priorities • Anyone serious about accomplishing something that requires concentrated effort Why It Matters: Your time and energy are finite. Every unnecessary commitment takes resources away from something that could actually change your career. Focus gives you the bandwidth to execute better, build deeper expertise, become more valuable, and earn opportunities that average performance will never create. You do not need to become better at juggling everything. You need to decide what deserves your attention in the first place. Where to Listen: Spotify Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcasts Share: If this episode hit home, send it to someone. The Impactful Engineer grows by word of mouth, just like the best careers do.

  6. Sep 14

    Episode 172 - If No One Trusts You With Important Work, There’s a Reason

    How do you know when you are starting to lose trust at work? Sometimes the signs are obvious. Sometimes they look like fewer assignments, meaningless work, weak feedback, or people simply avoiding you. In this episode, Steve and Jake break down the warning signs that an engineer may be underperforming and, more importantly, how to turn it around. Not theory, practical, tactical advice for rebuilding trust, earning better work, and proving through execution that you deserve more responsibility. Key Topics Covered: • Why getting fewer meaningful assignments can be a warning sign • What it means when coworkers and managers stop engaging with you • Why meaningless work may signal a loss of confidence in your performance • The danger of receiving feedback and doing nothing with it • How defensiveness makes people stop giving you honest feedback • Why better feedback has to be earned over time • How small assignments can become opportunities to rebuild trust • Why excellence matters even when the work feels beneath you • How helping overloaded teammates can create your own opportunities • Why technical skill alone will not make people want to work with you Actionable Steps: • Pay attention if meaningful work starts disappearing • Ask directly for feedback instead of assuming everything is fine • Receive criticism without immediately explaining or defending yourself • Ask for specific examples when feedback is unclear • Take visible action on the feedback you receive • Follow up later and ask whether your changes are being noticed • Treat small assignments like they matter, because your execution does • Look for ways to take work off the plates of overloaded teammates • Deliver work at a level that makes your effort undeniable • Rebuild trust through repeated execution, not promises Who This Episode Is For: • Early-career engineers unsure whether they are performing well • Engineers who feel overlooked or underutilized • ICs who are frustrated by low-value assignments • Engineers who struggle with defensiveness or feedback • Anyone who needs to rebuild trust with a manager or team Why It Matters: Your career expands when people trust you with more. When that trust starts disappearing, so do meaningful assignments, visibility, responsibility, and growth. You do not rebuild it by demanding better opportunities. You rebuild it by taking ownership, acting on feedback, and demonstrating excellence with whatever is already in front of you. Where to Listen: • Spotify • Apple Podcasts • Google Podcasts • Or wherever you get your podcasts Share: If this episode hit home, send it to someone. The Impactful Engineer grows by word of mouth, just like the best careers do.

  7. Sep 7

    Episode 171 - The Fastest-Growing Engineers Don’t Wait Until They’re Certain

    Engineers are trained to analyze, validate, and reduce uncertainty. That becomes a problem when analysis turns into an excuse to delay action. In this episode, Steve and Jake break down two career-defining skills: urgency and agency. For early-career engineers, the order matters. You may not have enough experience yet to make every call confidently, but you can learn to reach a good-enough decision point quickly. Not theory, practical, tactical advice for engineers who want more responsibility, better projects, and faster career growth. KEY TOPICS COVERED: • Why urgency and agency are different skills • Why early-career engineers should build urgency first • How excessive analysis disguises procrastination • Why working hard does not automatically mean you are moving fast • How to recognize when you have enough information to proceed • Why confidence comes after repeated decision-making experience • How urgency accelerates learning early in your career • Why high-agency engineers earn greater responsibility • How managers evaluate new engineers beyond technical skill • Why speed and judgment eventually have to work together ACTIONABLE STEPS: • Define what "good enough to decide" means before starting analysis • Ask experienced engineers what information actually matters • Set a limit on how long you will investigate before making a recommendation • Separate missing critical information from information that would simply make you more comfortable • Make a recommendation instead of only presenting data • Take action once the decision threshold has been reached • Review your decisions afterward to sharpen future judgment • Use experienced teammates to shorten your learning curve • Notice when "I need more information" is really fear of being wrong • Build urgency now so agency has something to grow from later WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR: • New graduates entering engineering roles • Early-career engineers who overanalyze decisions • Engineers frustrated by slow career progression • ICs who want larger projects and greater responsibility • Engineers trying to build confidence without pretending they know everything WHY IT MATTERS: The engineers who grow fastest are not the ones who somehow eliminate uncertainty. They learn how much certainty is actually necessary. Urgency creates more decisions, more feedback, and more opportunities to learn. Over time, that experience becomes agency. If you want more trust, visibility, and responsibility, you have to learn to move before everything feels perfectly clear. WHERE TO LISTEN: Spotify Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcasts SHARE: If this episode hit home, send it to someone. The Impactful Engineer grows by word of mouth, just like the best careers do.

  8. Aug 31

    Episode 170 - Every Excuse Is a Problem You Refused to Solve.

    It is easy to explain why you are stuck. A teammate is late. Your team lacks a skill. Someone assembled the product wrong. A competitor has a better network. You never had the internship. In this episode, Steve and Jake break down how engineers turn legitimate constraints into excuses, then show how to flip them into action. Not theory, practical, tactical advice for taking ownership when the obvious answer is to blame someone else. Key Topics Covered: • Why excuses feel good now but cost you later • How to separate a real constraint from surrendered ownership • What to do when your work depends on someone else delivering first • How to make progress without doing every task in sequence • Why poor assembly results may point back to design, training, or instructions • How leaders create systems that make mistakes harder to make • Turning skill gaps and resource limits into capacity-building plans • How to compete when someone else has a stronger network or built-in advantage • Why discipline can outperform natural talent over time • How to position nontraditional experience when your resume looks weaker on paper Actionable Steps: • Capture the excuse you are using instead of letting it pass unchallenged • Ask, “What part of this is still under my control?” • Check dependencies before the deadline, not after they fail • Ask what can be completed in parallel while you wait • Build instructions and systems that reduce reliance on perfect execution • Verify whether people actually have the skills you expect from them • Create capacity by systemizing work that does not require your direct involvement • Translate another person’s advantage into a behavior you can reproduce • Reframe missing experience around the value of what you did instead • Choose the harder action now when it creates the better outcome later Who This Episode Is For: • Engineers who keep getting blocked by other people • Early-career engineers worried they are already behind • Technical leaders frustrated by execution mistakes • Engineers comparing themselves to better-connected or more experienced peers • Anyone who knows their explanation is becoming an excuse Why It Matters: Your career does not move forward because your reasons are valid. It moves forward when you take responsibility for what happens next. The engineers who grow fastest learn to turn constraints into decisions, disadvantages into work, and frustration into action. That is how you build trust, visibility, performance, and leadership capacity. Where to Listen: Spotify Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcasts If this episode hit home, send it to someone. The Impactful Engineer grows by word of mouth, just like the best careers do.

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Spreading awareness, success, and accessibility to the world of engineering to aspiring and early career engineers.

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