Build Your Edge

Jeremy Burns
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Build Your Edge is for ambitious people in tech who want to keep growing in how they think, lead, and deliver. Each week, Jeremy Burns talks with people who’ve built their edge: leaders, founders, creators, and coaches who’ve done the work, learned the hard lessons, and come away sharper. Every episode delivers something you can use straight away; a mindset shift, a proven strategy, or a practical tool to help you lead better, move faster, and make an impact. The show runs on three simple principles: • Audience first – every guest brings real value, not self-promotion. • Clarity and focus – one clear topic, explored in depth. • Action over talk – every episode comes with a free digital download so you can put what you’ve learned into practice. If you’re serious about levelling up in your work and career, Build Your Edge will show you how.

  1. How to Have Difficult Conversations Before They Blow Up

    1d ago

    How to Have Difficult Conversations Before They Blow Up

    How do you have difficult conversations without damaging relationships? In this episode of Build Your Edge, Jeremy sits down with Tom Day, Partner at PA Consulting, to explore how leaders, managers, and team members can tackle difficult conversations with confidence, empathy, and clarity. Whether you’re giving difficult feedback, addressing poor performance, resolving workplace conflict, speaking to a client, or handling challenging conversations at home, Tom shares a practical framework for knowing when to speak up, how to prepare, and why waiting almost always makes things worse. Tom explains why he believes all conflict starts with a lack of communication, how honesty builds trust rather than destroys it, and why the best leaders don’t avoid uncomfortable conversations. They prepare for them. You’ll also discover Tom’s Manual of Me and Manual of Us frameworks, simple tools that help teams understand each other’s working styles, reduce misunderstandings, and prevent conflict before it starts. In this episode you’ll learn: • How to have difficult conversations at work • Why people avoid conflict and difficult feedback • How to prepare before an important conversation • How to give honest feedback without damaging trust • Why clarity creates stronger teams and better leaders • How to build psychological safety through communication How the Manual of Me and Manual of Us frameworks help create high-performing teamsDownload Tom’s Manual of Me and Manual of Us templates at: https://buildyouredge.org/downloads #Leadership #Management #Communication #DifficultConversations #ConflictResolution #LeadershipSkills #PeopleManagement #Teamwork #PsychologicalSafety #BuildYourEdge #TomDay

    55 min
  2. Where Did My Day Go?

    Jun 9

    Where Did My Day Go?

    Most of us end the day feeling busy but not accomplished. The meetings happened. The emails got answered. The messages were dealt with. Yet the work that really mattered somehow never got done. In this episode, mindset and leadership coach Zahra Saleh explains why that happens and why it’s not a personal failing. Drawing on neuroscience, psychology, and her own experience leading complex technology programmes, Zahra reveals how our brains struggle to cope with the constant interruptions, notifications, and competing demands of modern work. You’ll learn how to stop reacting to everything around you and start taking control of your day. Zahra shares practical tools from her MindTactics framework, including the Mental Stage concept, focus blocks, habit loops, boundary setting, and simple planning techniques that can help you create more calm, clarity, and productivity. If you’ve ever reached the end of the day wondering where the time went, this episode will help you reclaim your focus, one small shift at a time.

    1h 16m
  3. Engineers Who Communicate, Win

    May 26

    Engineers Who Communicate, Win

    Technical people are often brilliant at solving problems, but not always at explaining them. In this episode, Jeremy sits down with Ben Pearce, a former Microsoft leader, founder of Elevated You, and host of the Tech World Human Skills podcast, to explore why communication has become one of the most important skills in modern technical careers. Ben spent more than a decade leading technical teams at Microsoft before realising that many engineers, architects, and technical leaders were being held back by one thing: their ability to communicate ideas clearly to other people. Together, Jeremy and Ben unpack: Why technical teams struggle to influence stakeholdersThe common communication mistakes engineers makeHow to explain complex ideas without dumbing them downWhy emotion and storytelling matter in technical conversationsHow communication impacts promotions, leadership, and career growthBen’s AOREN framework for structuring clearer, more persuasive communicationThis isn’t about becoming a motivational speaker or “salesperson”. It’s about learning how to communicate technical ideas in a way that people understand, remember, and act on. Whether you are explaining architecture decisions, presenting to leadership, working with customers, or trying to get buy-in from your team, this episode is packed with practical advice you can apply immediately. If you have ever felt frustrated that your ideas are not landing the way they should, this episode is for you.

    58 min
  4. Hiring Masterclass Part 2: The Debrief

    May 12

    Hiring Masterclass Part 2: The Debrief

    In Part 2 of this Hiring Masterclass, former Amazon Bar Raiser Sean O’Neill explains how great hiring teams compare evidence, challenge assumptions, and make confident decisions about who joins the team. The interview only gathers the evidence. The real hiring decision happens in the debrief. Sean shares the debrief practices he learned and refined across thousands of interviews, including blind voting, structured scoring, re-voting, candidate ranking, and how to avoid bias, groupthink, and the loudest voice in the room. You’ll learn how to run a focused debrief, when to challenge the panel, how to handle split decisions, why “on the fence” is a weak vote, and how to decide whether a candidate truly raises the bar. If you hire people, manage teams, or want to understand what happens after the interview, this episode is for you. Find details of Part 1: The Craft of Interviewing, here: https://www.buildyouredge.org/community/podcasts/episodes/the-hiring-masterclass-part-1-the-craft-of-interviewing

    48 min
  5. Hiring Masterclass Part 1: The Craft of Interviewing

    Apr 21

    Hiring Masterclass Part 1: The Craft of Interviewing

    Hiring is the highest-leverage decision a leader makes. Choose the wrong person and they can drain energy, slow the team down, and create problems for months. Choose well and you strengthen the entire organisation. In this episode, former Amazon Bar Raiser Sean O’Neill shares the interviewing techniques he developed after conducting thousands of interviews and hiring hundreds of people across Amazon, Tesco, and global technology organisations. Sean explains how great interviewers uncover real evidence of ability using experiential questions, the STAR method, and what he calls the investigative journalist approach to interviewing. You’ll learn how to probe beyond polished answers, distinguish drivers from passengers, and spot candidates who can talk a great game but lack real depth, skills that matter even more in a world of AI-assisted candidates and increasingly rehearsed interviews. Whether you hire people, manage teams, or want to perform better in interviews yourself, this episode will help you understand what great interviewing actually looks like. This is Part 1 of a two-part Hiring Masterclass. In Part 2, we go inside the hiring debrief, where the real decision gets made. Sean also shares the interview and hiring debrief template he has used for years to help teams run structured hiring discussions and make confident decisions.

    1h 29m
  6. The Hidden Costs of AI

    Mar 24

    The Hidden Costs of AI

    AI is moving fast. Faster than most of us can fully process. It promises efficiency, creativity, and progress. But what might we be losing along the way? In this episode, Eloisa Tovee explores the hidden costs of AI, from the impact on jobs, critical thinking, and creativity to deeper concerns around bias, online harm, misinformation, and the erosion of human connection. As a UN Delegate for Women in the UK and a writer working at the centre of this shift, Eloisa brings a clear, grounded perspective on how AI is shaping society, and who is most affected. This conversation goes beyond the hype to ask better questions: what are we trading off, who is being left behind, and how do we stay human in an AI-driven world?

    1h 34m
  7. Burnout Happens Gradually... Then Suddenly

    Mar 10

    Burnout Happens Gradually... Then Suddenly

    Burnout rarely arrives overnight. For many leaders, it builds quietly over time, until one day it suddenly becomes impossible to ignore. In this episode, Jeremy speaks with Andy Skipper, CEO and Founder of CTO Craft, about why burnout is so common among CTOs and senior technology leaders, how it develops gradually, and what happens when leaders finally hit the wall. Andy shares his own experience of burning out early in his CTO career and the PTSD-like symptoms that followed after leaving the role. Together, they explore how the pressure of startup environments, unclear expectations, and the transition from engineer to leader can slowly push people toward exhaustion, self-doubt, and cynicism. They discuss how to recognise the warning signs in yourself and others, why burnout can spread through teams and organisations if left unchecked, and what practical steps leaders and companies can take to prevent it. Andy also introduces a simple four-stage approach to dealing with burnout: recognising it earlytaking immediate actionchanging the conditions that caused itbuilding a healthier long-term environmentIf you’re a CTO, engineering leader, founder, or ambitious technologist who feels close to the edge — or you simply want to build a sustainable career without sacrificing your health — this episode offers practical insight and reassurance from someone who has been through it and now helps thousands of leaders find their way back.

    59 min
  8. The Career Advice That's Ruining Your Future

    Feb 17

    The Career Advice That's Ruining Your Future

    We were all given the same advice. Pick a lane. Specialise. Stick to the plan. Work hard. Climb steadily. For decades, that approach made sense. In a stable world, depth and certainty were safe bets. But the world of work isn’t stable anymore. In this episode, Jeremy sits down with Kieran Cornwall to challenge the very foundation of modern career advice. Together, they explore why rigid career paths can quietly limit your potential, and why a fundamental shift in mindset may be the difference between stagnating and thriving. This isn’t an argument against specialisation. It’s an argument against rigidity. Kieran shares the perspective he’s built across banking, media, software engineering and consulting and explains why careers built on direction rather than fixed plans are better equipped for uncertainty. You’ll hear: Why following a predefined “career map” can box you inThe difference between certainty and directionWhy adaptability is becoming a defining advantageHow to think beyond the lane you were trained to stay inWhat it really means to build range without driftingIf you’ve ever felt stuck, boxed in, or unsure whether the path you’re on still fits this conversation will challenge how you think about progress, growth and long-term success. Because the safest career strategy may no longer be playing it safe.

    57 min
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About

Build Your Edge is for ambitious people in tech who want to keep growing in how they think, lead, and deliver. Each week, Jeremy Burns talks with people who’ve built their edge: leaders, founders, creators, and coaches who’ve done the work, learned the hard lessons, and come away sharper. Every episode delivers something you can use straight away; a mindset shift, a proven strategy, or a practical tool to help you lead better, move faster, and make an impact. The show runs on three simple principles: • Audience first – every guest brings real value, not self-promotion. • Clarity and focus – one clear topic, explored in depth. • Action over talk – every episode comes with a free digital download so you can put what you’ve learned into practice. If you’re serious about levelling up in your work and career, Build Your Edge will show you how.

Information

  • Creator
    Jeremy Burns
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    32
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Jeremy Burns
  • Show Website
    Build Your Edge