40% Better - Engineering Leadership

Bill
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Every week, we invite 1 expert on employee engagement and deep-dive into unlocking previously unheard of performance levels in teams and leaders. 40 Percent Better https://40pb.com

  1. 3D AGO

    The Art of Managing Diverse Personalities | Oscar Hedaya

    Serial entrepreneur Oscar Hedaya, founder of SPACE and The Space Safe, joins Bill Lennan on the 40% Better podcast for a wide-ranging conversation on what real leadership looks like across industries. Oscar's career has taken him from visual merchandising in New York to touch-screen gloves, electric mobility, and now the world's first smart safe with a built-in camera, touchscreen, tamper sensors, and app connectivity. Along the way, he's built and led teams of 25+ people across hardware, software, firmware, and design, and he shares the hard-won lessons that came from managing very different personalities under one roof. The conversation digs into the messy, human side of leadership: how to handle conflict without letting it fester, why getting quiet team members to speak up can completely transform a team's output, and how psychological safety and employee happiness aren't soft extras but core performance drivers. Oscar and Bill also unpack the challenge of getting cross-functional teams speaking the same language, the power of extreme ownership when things go wrong, and why small gestures like better coffee or Friday pizza often matter more than a pay rise. Key TakeawaysLeaders who come from under-resourced backgrounds often develop stronger creative problem-solving instincts early onManaging larger teams means spending significant time on interpersonal issues, not just the work itselfBringing clashing team members together socially is often the most effective way to defuse conflictGetting promoted doesn't mean doing more of the same job; the role fundamentally changesQuiet, high-performing team members need time and consistent encouragement before they'll speak up in group settings, but it's worth the investmentCross-functional teams (hardware, firmware, software, design) each speak a different language; a good leader bridges that gapWhen something goes wrong, blame-minimising and accountability-taking from the top changes the entire team cultureEmployee happiness is a business metric: appreciated employees go beyond their job description, stay longer, and produce better workSmall perks (better coffee, free lunch, a nearby hotel room for late nights) create disproportionate goodwill and loyaltyUpgrading team equipment is one of the highest-ROI investments a leader can makeConnect with Oscar Hedaya: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscar-hedaya-b1a76b3/ Website: https://www.thespacesafe.com If you found this episode useful, hit subscribe and leave a review. It really helps the show reach more leaders who want to build better teams. I hope you enjoy this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Bill and the 40 % Better podcast team Connect with Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wblennan/  Visit the 40 Percent Better website here: https://40pb.com/ Listen to 40 % Better on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qkqdMPkR9BqYPM7UPa4P0 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/40%25-better---engineering-leadership/id1709546347  Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/01ad162e-7a33-4df4-8c29-04c4af0405fc/40-better---engineering-leadership #40PercentBetter #BillLennan #Leadership #TeamPerformance #EmployeeEngagement #PsychologicalSafety #BusinessGrowth #Kaizen #EngineeringLeadership #Coaching The 40% Better podcast with Bill Lennan unlocks previously unheard-of performance levels in teams and leaders. Bill Lennan, founder of 40 Percent Better, interviews experts on employee engagement, psychological safety, engineering leadership, and actionable mental models. Learn how to foster high-performing teams, improve team productivity, and achieve sustainable success in business through a focus on human-centered systems.  #technologyleadership #productmanagement #engineeringleadership #leadershipdevelopment #careergrowth #podcast

    1h 4m

  2. FEB 20

    Why Belonging Is a Performance Metric, Not a Feeling | with Andrea D. Carter

    Most organizations measure engagement. But engagement only tells you who's busy, not who's going to stay. Andrea D. Carter, organizational scientist and creator of the Belonging First methodology, joins the 40% Better podcast to share why belonging is measurable performance infrastructure and what technical leaders need to build it on purpose. Andrea is CEO and Founder of Andrea Carter Consulting and creator of the Belonging First Methodology. Andrea developed the first scientifically validated framework for measuring workplace belonging, starting with a two-year study across 3,500+ employees in Canada's mining sector. The findings were clear: belonging gaps aren't primarily a diversity issue, they're a positional power issue. And when those gaps close, organizations see a 24% reduction in belonging gaps, a 28% increase in performance, an 18% increase in engagement, and a 16% reduction in turnover. In this conversation, Andrea walks through the five conditions that must be present for belonging to exist: comfort, connection, contribution, psychological safety, and well-being. She translates each into practical, behavioral actions leaders can take immediately, from how to open a meeting to how to rotate facilitation to how to name the impact of someone's work, not just the task they completed. Bill and Andrea also dig into why brilliant technical work dies in silos when connection is low, why resilience training alone sets people up to fail, and how belonging is fundamentally interdependent, not something one person figures out alone. Key Takeaways Belonging is not a feeling. It is measurable performance infrastructure with direct impact on speed, quality, retention, and engagement. The five indicators of belonging are comfort, connection, contribution, psychological safety, and well-being. Each one has specific behaviors attached to it that leaders can implement immediately. Comfort is about cognitive load management. When roles, expectations, and decision processes are predictable, people's brains stop scanning for threats and free up capacity for complex problem-solving. Connection is your information transfer protocol. When trust is high and information flows without verification overhead, cross-functional collaboration accelerates and quality goes up. Contribution requires making impact visible, not just task completion. Acknowledge specifically how someone's work moved things forward and create visibility for your B and C contributors, not just your A players. Psychological safety is your early warning system. It only functions well when comfort is already present. Without it, people silence themselves before errors reach a point where they're catastrophic to fix. Well-being is infrastructure, not a perk. Resilience is not a solo sport. Organizations that treat it as an individual responsibility burn out their best people first. 80% of managers never receive training on how to lead people. The performance gaps this creates are measurable and preventable. Belonging is interdependent. It requires both parties to actively give and receive the five conditions. When it's 100% on one person to figure out, that's a fitting-in environment, and it will eventually break people. Connect with Andrea D. Carter: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreadcarter/ Website: https://belongingfirst.com/ Company: Andrea Carter Consulting If this episode made you think differently about your team, subscribe to the 40% Better podcast for more conversations at the intersection of leadership and technology. Share it with a leader who's still measuring engagement and wondering why people keep leaving. I hope you enjoy this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Bill and the 40 % Better podcast team Connect with Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wblennan/  Visit the 40 Percent Better website here: https://40pb.com/ Listen to 40 % Better on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qkqdMPkR9BqYPM7UPa4P0 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/40%25-better---engineering-leadership/id1709546347  Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/01ad162e-7a33-4df4-8c29-04c4af0405fc/40-better---engineering-leadership #40PercentBetter #BillLennan #Leadership #TeamPerformance #EmployeeEngagement #PsychologicalSafety #BusinessGrowth #Kaizen #EngineeringLeadership #Coaching The 40% Better podcast with Bill Lennan unlocks previously unheard-of performance levels in teams and leaders. Bill Lennan, founder of 40 Percent Better, interviews experts on employee engagement, psychological safety, engineering leadership, and actionable mental models. Learn how to foster high-performing teams, improve team productivity, and achieve sustainable success in business through a focus on human-centered systems.  #technologyleadership #productmanagement #engineeringleadership #leadershipdevelopment #careergrowth #podcast

    1h 12m

  3. FEB 17

    Why Employee Loyalty Has Nothing to Do With Salary | Ian Watts

    In two decades of coaching leaders across startups to multi-billion dollar corporations, Ian Watts discovered that companies lose talented people not because of compensation, but because they treat employees like replaceable widgets instead of human beings with aspirations beyond their job description. As founder of Employee Success Company, Ian developed the ACTS Method after reverse-engineering what allowed him to build teams with minimal turnover across 60 locations nationwide, recruiting over 400 loyal team members who knew exactly how much he cared about their personal success. Ian shares why the best leaders work themselves out of a job by making themselves unnecessary, why vulnerability combined with security creates magnetic leadership people want to follow, and how systematic support during critical life moments builds loyalty that salary alone can never buy. Discover why doing hard things literally grows your brain's capacity for more challenges, how treating people as individuals rather than production machines transforms retention, and why the secret to employee engagement isn't complicated—it's just caring about their personhood, not just their productivity. Key Topics: The ACTS Method: Aspirations, Calling, Transformation, and Support as the framework for employee retention Why companies that invest 3% of annual revenue into their people dramatically outperform competitors How creating deep reciprocity through systematic care during life moments (college, home purchases, loss) builds unshakeable loyalty Why vulnerability and security in leadership creates cultures where people don't want to leave The cost of treating people like widgets: $50,000+ per hire and 1-4x salary to replace employees Why most HR departments lack capacity to execute retention strategies even when they have the desire How doing hard things (cold showers, polar plunges) trains your mid anterior cingulate cortex to embrace discomfort Why knowing when to be tough versus tender separates good managers from transformational leaders The power of helping employees achieve personal goals unrelated to their job performance Why modeling uncomfortable behavior yourself is the only way to credibly ask your team to grow Connect with Ian Watts LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianmwatts/ Website: https://employeesuccesscompany.com/ Book a complimentary strategy session to discuss employee engagement, performance, and retention challenges Subscribe for conversations with leaders who understand that your greatest competitive advantage isn't technology or strategy—it's how well you invest in the humans who make everything else possible. I hope you enjoy this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Bill and the 40 % Better podcast team Connect with Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wblennan/  Visit the 40 Percent Better website here: https://40pb.com/ Listen to 40 % Better on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qkqdMPkR9BqYPM7UPa4P0 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/40%25-better---engineering-leadership/id1709546347  Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/01ad162e-7a33-4df4-8c29-04c4af0405fc/40-better---engineering-leadership #40PercentBetter #BillLennan #Leadership #TeamPerformance #EmployeeEngagement #PsychologicalSafety #BusinessGrowth #Kaizen #EngineeringLeadership #Coaching The 40% Better podcast with Bill Lennan unlocks previously unheard-of performance levels in teams and leaders. Bill Lennan, founder of 40 Percent Better, interviews experts on employee engagement, psychological safety, engineering leadership, and actionable mental models. Learn how to foster high-performing teams, improve team productivity, and achieve sustainable success in business through a focus on human-centered systems.  #technologyleadership #productmanagement #engineeringleadership #leadershipdevelopment #careergrowth #podcast

    52 min

  4. FEB 13

    From Dial-Up Belarus to 350 Engineers | Andrei Yurkevich

    In 2002, a 25-year-old Andrei Yurkevich started a software outstaffing business in Belarus with internet speeds under 100 kilobits per second for the entire country—slower than a dial-up modem. Twenty-two years later, he's President and CTO of Altoros with 350+ engineers across 25 countries, plus multiple spin-off companies including Protofire, a Web3-focused venture. Andrei shares why he spent two years answering seven questions that should have taken two hours, why distribution must always come before delivery, and how giving everyone equity ownership creates the type of organization where people leave, gain experience, and choose to return. Discover why Andrei's biggest hiring mistake was starting initiatives without a "single thread leader," why he motivates leaders with revenue shares but learned that scaling teams before having solid sales pipelines is fatal, and how following the Scaling Up methodology's "7 Strata" document became their most powerful alignment tool. Learn why Altoros operates as a venture studio with each business having separate leadership, cap tables, and P&Ls, why they explored but ultimately didn't fully implement DAO principles, and how their back-office shared services model enables spin-offs to focus purely on delivery and customer acquisition while finance, legal, marketing, and HR serve everyone. **Key Topics:** - Starting a software business in 2002 Belarus with dial-up internet speeds and no venture capital - The "7 Strata" strategy: why answering seven questions took two years instead of two hours - Distribution first, delivery second: why you can't scale teams without solid sales pipelines - Why single thread leaders are non-negotiable before starting any new initiative - Building a venture studio: separate P&Ls, cap tables, and equity ownership for every business unit - How giving everyone shareholder stakes (from 0.5% to 25%) creates retention and commitment - Why people leave, gain experience elsewhere, and choose to return years later - The pivot from serving startups at $50/hour to Fortune 500 clients at $150-200/hour - Exploring DAO principles in Web3: what worked, what didn't, and the governance challenges - Managing 300+ people across 25 countries with no physical offices post-COVID - Why Scaling Up by Vern Harnish became their foundational methodology across all businesses - Selling imaginary products first: never build before you verify someone will buy it Connect with Andrei Yurkevich: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreiyurkevich/ Title: President and CTO Companies: Altoros (https://www.altoroslabs.com/) | Protofire (Co-Founder, Web3/Blockchain) Subscribe for conversations with technology leaders who've built organizations from Soviet-era constraints to global venture studios, and understand that trust, autonomy, and shared ownership create the conditions where talent chooses to return. I hope you enjoy this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Bill and the 40 % Better podcast team Connect with Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wblennan/  Visit the 40 Percent Better website here: https://40pb.com/ Listen to 40 % Better on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qkqdMPkR9BqYPM7UPa4P0 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/40%25-better---engineering-leadership/id1709546347  Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/01ad162e-7a33-4df4-8c29-04c4af0405fc/40-better---engineering-leadership #40PercentBetter #BillLennan #Leadership #TeamPerformance #EmployeeEngagement #PsychologicalSafety #BusinessGrowth #Kaizen #EngineeringLeadership #Coaching The 40% Better podcast with Bill Lennan unlocks previously unheard-of performance levels in teams and leaders. Bill Lennan, founder of 40 Percent Better, interviews experts on employee engagement, psychological safety, engineering leadership, and actionable mental models. Learn how to foster high-performing teams, improve team productivity, and achieve sustainable success in business through a focus on human-centered systems.  #technologyleadership #productmanagement #engineeringleadership #leadershipdevelopment #careergrowth #podcast

    53 min

  5. FEB 13

    SE1E94 - From Dial-Up Belarus to 350 Engineers | Andrei Yurkevich

    In 2002, a 25-year-old Andrei Yurkevich started a software outstaffing business in Belarus with internet speeds under 100 kilobits per second for the entire country—slower than a dial-up modem. Twenty-two years later, he's President and CTO of Altoros with 350+ engineers across 25 countries, plus multiple spin-off companies including Protofire, a Web3-focused venture. Andrei shares why he spent two years answering seven questions that should have taken two hours, why distribution must always come before delivery, and how giving everyone equity ownership creates the type of organization where people leave, gain experience, and choose to return. Discover why Andrei's biggest hiring mistake was starting initiatives without a "single thread leader," why he motivates leaders with revenue shares but learned that scaling teams before having solid sales pipelines is fatal, and how following the Scaling Up methodology's "7 Strata" document became their most powerful alignment tool. Learn why Altoros operates as a venture studio with each business having separate leadership, cap tables, and P&Ls, why they explored but ultimately didn't fully implement DAO principles, and how their back-office shared services model enables spin-offs to focus purely on delivery and customer acquisition while finance, legal, marketing, and HR serve everyone. Key Topics: - Starting a software business in 2002 Belarus with dial-up internet speeds and no venture capital - The "7 Strata" strategy: why answering seven questions took two years instead of two hours - Distribution first, delivery second: why you can't scale teams without solid sales pipelines - Why single thread leaders are non-negotiable before starting any new initiative - Building a venture studio: separate P&Ls, cap tables, and equity ownership for every business unit - How giving everyone shareholder stakes (from 0.5% to 25%) creates retention and commitment - Why people leave, gain experience elsewhere, and choose to return years later - The pivot from serving startups at $50/hour to Fortune 500 clients at $150-200/hour - Exploring DAO principles in Web3: what worked, what didn't, and the governance challenges - Managing 300+ people across 25 countries with no physical offices post-COVID - Why Scaling Up by Vern Harnish became their foundational methodology across all businesses - Selling imaginary products first: never build before you verify someone will buy it Connect with Andrei Yurkevich: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreiyurkevich/ Title: President and CTO Companies: Altoros (https://www.altoroslabs.com/) | Protofire (Co-Founder, Web3/Blockchain) Subscribe for conversations with technology leaders who've built organizations from Soviet-era constraints to global venture studios, and understand that trust, autonomy, and shared ownership create the conditions where talent chooses to return. I hope you enjoy this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Bill and the 40 % Better podcast team Connect with Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wblennan/  Visit the 40 Percent Better website here: https://40pb.com/ Listen to 40 % Better on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qkqdMPkR9BqYPM7UPa4P0 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/40%25-better---engineering-leadership/id1709546347  Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/01ad162e-7a33-4df4-8c29-04c4af0405fc/40-better---engineering-leadership #40PercentBetter #BillLennan #Leadership #TeamPerformance #EmployeeEngagement #PsychologicalSafety #BusinessGrowth #Kaizen #EngineeringLeadership #Coaching The 40% Better podcast with Bill Lennan unlocks previously unheard-of performance levels in teams and leaders. Bill Lennan, founder of 40 Percent Better, interviews experts on employee engagement, psychological safety, engineering leadership, and actionable mental models. Learn how to foster high-performing teams, improve team productivity, and achieve sustainable success in business through a focus on human-centered systems.  #technologyleadership #productmanagement #engineeringleadership #leadershipdevelopment #careergrowth #podcast This episode includes AI-generated content.

    53 min

  6. FEB 6

    Run to the Inevitable: High-Trust Engineering Teams | Josh Carroll

    When Josh Carroll tells his engineers not to bring him their hard problems, he's actually doing the opposite—he's making sure they feel resourced enough to tackle anything. As an engineering leader with 20+ years of experience who's scaled teams at agencies, startups, and now Skylight, Josh has learned that leadership is problem-solving with people, not code. He shares why his old boss told him to "run to the inevitable"—why waiting to have hard conversations makes everything worse—and how discovering he has ADHD transformed his listening skills after painful 360 feedback revealed he was making conversations about himself when trying to show empathy. Josh reveals Skylight's "say the thing" principle for psychological safety, why they measure velocity by setting aggressive roadmaps they can't hit and aiming for 80-90%, and why hiring engineers just to write code leaves half their value on the table. From understanding stakeholder success metrics to avoiding pet agendas, Josh shares battle-tested frameworks for creating environments where brilliant engineers with low egos ship customer-delighting products at high velocity. Key Topics: Why "run to the inevitable" means having hard conversations immediately, not later How 360 feedback and discovering ADHD transformed Josh's leadership approach Skylight's "say the thing" principle for creating psychological safety Why hiring engineers just to write code wastes half their problem-solving value The three-sprint maximum rule: forcing teams to ship iteratively and learn fast Measuring velocity without silly metrics: aggressive roadmaps at 80-90% completion How past company dysfunction creates self-fulfilling prophecies at new companies Why Josh rarely shares his solutions anymore, even when he's seen the problem before Building high-trust, low-ego teams: avoiding pet agendas and command-and-control baggage Connect with Josh Carroll: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-carroll-83637912/ Company: Skylight (MySkylight.com/careers - hiring 20+ engineering roles!) Skylight is actively hiring Ruby on Rails, TypeScript/React/React Native, and Android Kotlin engineers. Check out their careers page if you're looking for a high-trust, low-ego engineering culture that values autonomy, rigor, and care. Subscribe for more conversations with engineering leaders who understand that leadership is a series of humbling lessons, and growth means constantly discovering new mistakes to work on. I hope you enjoy this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Bill and the 40 % Better podcast team Connect with Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wblennan/  Visit the 40 Percent Better website here: https://40pb.com/ Listen to 40 % Better on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qkqdMPkR9BqYPM7UPa4P0 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/40%25-better---engineering-leadership/id1709546347  Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/01ad162e-7a33-4df4-8c29-04c4af0405fc/40-better---engineering-leadership #40PercentBetter #BillLennan #Leadership #TeamPerformance #EmployeeEngagement #PsychologicalSafety #BusinessGrowth #Kaizen #EngineeringLeadership #Coaching The 40% Better podcast with Bill Lennan unlocks previously unheard-of performance levels in teams and leaders. Bill Lennan, founder of 40 Percent Better, interviews experts on employee engagement, psychological safety, engineering leadership, and actionable mental models. Learn how to foster high-performing teams, improve team productivity, and achieve sustainable success in business through a focus on human-centered systems.  #technologyleadership #productmanagement #engineeringleadership #leadershipdevelopment #careergrowth #podcast

    53 min

  7. JAN 23

    How Failure Made Her a Better Engineer | Sairan Aqrawi

    When Sairan Aqrawi decided to become a swimming coach as a teenager in Iraq, she discovered something critical about leadership: passion alone isn't enough. You need skills, responsibility, and the willingness to take action. That early lesson would carry her through 30 years of engineering across the Middle East and United States, where she learned that failure isn't the end—it's where real growth begins. Sairan shares why she tells young engineers that no one will die from their mistakes, using this extreme framing to help them understand that taking risks is essential for growth. Discover why she believes the jobs you hate teach you the most, how aging actually made failure easier to handle, and why the most important question isn't whether you'll fail but what you'll learn when you do. Learn why Sairan refuses to respond immediately to harsh emails, understanding that pausing and replying professionally instead of reacting emotionally often means the problem resolves itself by noon. She reveals the critical difference between competence and confidence—you can't fake confidence, but when you're truly competent, your body language naturally communicates it without you having to perform. Sairan breaks down why having an impressive LinkedIn profile full of certifications means nothing if you can't communicate effectively in meetings, how she learned to be curious about her team members instead of assuming she knows everything, and why being a role model as a leader is exactly like parenting—your actions speak louder than your words. From working on multi-billion dollar transportation projects with Homeland Security and Boeing to mentoring the next generation of women in STEM, Sairan explains why innovation keeps you young, how taking scary risks in your 30s transforms you into a better version of yourself, and why the first time she spoke on stage about women's empowerment she literally forgot her name and started thinking about dinner. Discover why engineers who only know one discipline won't thrive in today's world, how Western engineering practices have evolved to require T-shaped knowledge, and why your degree is just a plus—not the pathway to success. Sairan reveals her three-step framework for becoming an effective leader, born from 35 years of experience across small companies, big corporations, county government, and international projects. Whether you're a young engineer afraid to take risks, a midlife professional looking to reignite your career, or a leader trying to build psychological safety on your team, this conversation offers hard-won wisdom from someone who's failed, learned, and succeeded across two continents and three decades. Connect with Sairan Aqrawi: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sairan-aqrawi-m-sc-993bb61a3/ Website: https://www.sairanaqrawi.com/ Download Sairan's free three-step checklist to becoming an effective leader—created from 35 years of engineering experience in the Middle East and United States.  https://pro.speakerhub.com/speaker-feedback/?qr=db5082b4-078d-41ee-b934-c4a961e8413c Subscribe for more conversations with leaders who understand that action breeds confidence, not the other way around. Share this with engineers who need permission to fail, learn, and grow into the leaders they're meant to become. I hope you enjoy this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Bill and the 40 % Better podcast team Connect with Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wblennan/  Visit the 40 Percent Better website here: https://40pb.com/ Listen to 40 % Better on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qkqdMPkR9BqYPM7UPa4P0 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/40%25-better---engineering-leadership/id1709546347  Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/01ad162e-7a33-4df4-8c29-04c4af0405fc/40-better---engineering-leadership #40PercentBetter #BillLennan #Leadership #TeamPerformance #EmployeeEngagement #PsychologicalSafety #BusinessGrowth #Kaizen #EngineeringLeadership #Coaching The 40% Better podcast with Bill Lennan unlocks previously unheard-of performance levels in teams and leaders. Bill Lennan, founder of 40 Percent Better, interviews experts on employee engagement, psychological safety, engineering leadership, and actionable mental models. Learn how to foster high-performing teams, improve team productivity, and achieve sustainable success in business through a focus on human-centered systems.  #technologyleadership #productmanagement #engineeringleadership #leadershipdevelopment #careergrowth #podcast

    57 min

  8. JAN 20

    How Clear Communication and Calculated Risk-Taking Built a Leadership Career | Sebastien Jean

    When Sebastien Jean was five years old, he organized all the neighborhood kids into a military parade after seeing his first air show. Kids much older than him willingly followed this little commander up and down the street for 20 minutes while parents watched from their porches. That early leadership moment would eventually lead him to become CTO of Fizon Electronics, a company that makes 20% of the planet's SSDs. Sebastien shares how his unconventional path through the Army Reserve Signal Corps taught him that to be a good leader, you first have to be a good follower. Discover why he believes the most important leadership skill is understanding that everybody has a boss, and if your ego is always involved, you'll never succeed in a larger organization. Learn why Sebastien deliberately adds extra words and pauses to his speech to avoid shutting down conversations, how he coaches his nine-year-old son that politeness requires longer explanations, and why saying "I don't know" creates psychological safety that unlocks better solutions from your team. He reveals the critical difference between over-specifying requirements and giving talented engineers ownership through clear objectives without prescribed implementation. Sebastien breaks down why the number 648.973256 and 650 convey the same thing in presentations but one creates unnecessary cognitive load, how forward framing gets people to care before you present technical details, and why you should round complex data to the nearest multiple of 50 unless you're building car motors. Discover how Sebastien helps risk-averse engineers get comfortable with uncertainty through strategic proof of concepts and staging devices, why he believes he's "at least as dumb as that other guy over there" to give himself permission to ask for help, and how creating safe spaces for incomplete answers leads to breakthrough innovations. From building enterprise SSDs to launching new product classes in 2026, Sebastien explains why the quiet people in meetings are his canary in the coal mine for team health, how he balances aggressive risk-taking with calculated experiments, and why great leaders focus on enabling their teams rather than micromanaging implementation details. Whether you're leading hardware teams, managing firmware development, or trying to build a culture where smart people feel comfortable being wrong, this conversation offers battle-tested frameworks from someone who's led technical teams for decades across continents. Connect with Sebastien Jean: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjean233/ Company: Fizon Electronics (Enterprise brand: Piscari) Subscribe for more conversations with technology leaders who understand that your job as a leader is to make your boss's life easier while simultaneously enabling your team to do their best work. Share this with leaders who need permission to say "I don't know" more often. I hope you enjoy this episode! Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Bill and the 40 % Better podcast team Connect with Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wblennan/  Visit the 40 Percent Better website here: https://40pb.com/ Listen to 40 % Better on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qkqdMPkR9BqYPM7UPa4P0 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/40%25-better---engineering-leadership/id1709546347  Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/01ad162e-7a33-4df4-8c29-04c4af0405fc/40-better---engineering-leadership #40PercentBetter #BillLennan #Leadership #TeamPerformance #EmployeeEngagement #PsychologicalSafety #BusinessGrowth #Kaizen #EngineeringLeadership #Coaching The 40% Better podcast with Bill Lennan unlocks previously unheard-of performance levels in teams and leaders. Bill Lennan, founder of 40 Percent Better, interviews experts on employee engagement, psychological safety, engineering leadership, and actionable mental models. Learn how to foster high-performing teams, improve team productivity, and achieve sustainable success in business through a focus on human-centered systems.  #technologyleadership #productmanagement #engineeringleadership #leadershipdevelopment #careergrowth #podcast

    1h 21m
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Every week, we invite 1 expert on employee engagement and deep-dive into unlocking previously unheard of performance levels in teams and leaders. 40 Percent Better https://40pb.com

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