The Engineering Leadership Podcast

The hardest business problem has a soft solution. Scientists and engineers display a (well-deserved) skepticism toward touchy-feely ideas such as leadership. Fred shows there's a very technical way to understand why most organizations, from couples to multinational corporations, die a premature death... and what can be done to extend their lifespan. FRED KOFMAN - Advisor, VP of Leadership Development @ Google (@fredkofman)“No gun in the world can get your best. No incentive can get your best. You can only give your best because you want to. It’s not contractible. And that’s the difference between leadership and management for me. Leadership is about eliciting internal commitment. You do it because it comes from the inside.” - Fred KofmanFred Kofman earned his PhD. in Economics from the UC Berkeley, is Google’s Vice President and advisor of leadership, a director of the Conscious Leadership Center at the Monterrey Institute of Technology, & a founder and president of the Conscious Business Center International. Previously, he was a VP of Executive Development at LinkedIn & a co-founder of Axialent, a global consulting company that has delivered leadership programs to more than 15,000 executives around the world.Fred is the author of the trilogy Metamanagement ('01), Conscious Business ('06) and The Meaning Revolution: The Power of Transcendent Leadership ('18). Since 1990, Fred has designed and facilitated programs on leadership, personal mastery, team learning, organizational effectiveness and coaching for thousands of executives, and consultants worldwide. His book, Conscious Business, has been translated to more than ten languages, received numerous awards and was recently named by Sheryl Sandberg in her New York Times interview as "the business book every executive should read" RESOURCESMeaning RevolutionConscious Business SHOW NOTESYou don’t know your job. (2:52)Why you’re wrong, how this organizational disease works and kills your organization (8:19).Looking at the whole organizational system vs. the parts. (10:24)The problem you can not avoid. (13:25)Why doing your job may be hazardous to your career. (15:38)Why we’re screwed - the two issues in economics of information. (18:28)Issues with decentralization vs centralization of the system. (27:27)So we’re screwed... but here’s the solution. (33:56)The assumptions you need to change. (36:27)What makes you give your best effort. (37:21)The two tools incentivizing people’s best. (41:33)The absolute human need. (43:36)Q & A. (48:14) Want to get involved with our community of engineering leaders? Check us out at sfelc.com.We're working on a number of interesting projects to continue to empower engineering leaders. Join us at sfelc.com to be included in updates with our content, events, and all other new opportunities we’re creating!Learned something impactful? Have an idea to improve our show? We'd love to hear your insights and feedback! ... Send us a message at hello@sfelc.comIf you enjoyed this or found it impactful, share the episode with someone who might find it meaningful! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In an interview between Reid Hoffman and Sarah Guo, they discuss “Blitzscaling” and how companies achieve massive scale at incredible speed. Reid shares insights and lessons on how to prioritize speed and efficiency in an environment of uncertainty, the benefits of intense collaboration found in Silicon Valley, and non-obvious rules needed to succeed. REID HOFFMAN - Co-Founder of LinkedIn, Partner @ Greylock Partners (@reidhoffman)“Part of the secret and the thing that’s great about Silicon Valley is that, while we compete intensely, we also collaborate intensely.” - Reid HoffmanAn accomplished entrepreneur, executive, and investor, Reid Hoffman has played an integral role in building many of today’s leading consumer technology businesses including co-founding PayPal & LinkedIn.In '09 he joined Greylock Partners where he serves on the boards of Airbnb, Apollo Fusion, Aurora, Coda, Convoy, Entrepreneur First, Gixo, Microsoft, Nauto, Xapo. In addition, he serves on a number of not-for-profit boards, including Kiva, Endeavor, CZI Biohub, & Do Something. He is the host of the podcast Masters of Scale, co-author of two New York Times best-selling books: The Start-Up of You & The Alliance. His new book is Blitzscaling, based on his Stanford course. SARAH GUO - General Partner @ Greylock Partners (@saranormous)Sarah joined Greylock Partners as an investor in '13 and focused on B2B apps & infrastructure.Prior, she was at Goldman Sachs, where she invested in growth-stage tech startups like Dropbox & advised pre-IPO tech companies like Workday as well as public clients like Zynga, Netflix & Nvidia. RESOURCESGreylockBlitzscaling: The Lightning Fast Path to Creating Massively Valuable CompaniesMasters of Scale Podcast SHOW NOTESDiscovering the “secret sauce” to Silicon Valley and discovering “Blitzscaling” (3:50)Defining the framework of “Blitzscaling.” (7:01)The OODA Loop. (7:21)Reid’s first insight to Blitzscaling at PayPal when they were compounding at 2-5% daily user growth. (8:28)Do rapidly scaling companies ever stop Blitzscaling? (11:39)The dynamics of prioritizing speed over efficiency in the face of uncertainty. (13:25)Why Reid chose collaboration and to publicly share the “secret sauce” to Silicon Valley. (15:45)What Reid’s learned about rapid scaling from his portfolio at Greylock. (17:45)How Blitzscaling applies to different company scales. (20:10)Where Blitzscaling goes bad. (21:48)How Blitzscaling applies to technical leaders. (23:25)Facebook’s example emphasizing speed at different scales. (26:18)How to make decisions when you don’t have full data or an opinionated team. (29:26)Reid’s three non-obvious rules of management. (32:02)How to be comfortable “embracing chaos.” (33:55)How do you think about product development when scaling fast? (37:03)How Blitzscaling accounts for the “tech-lash,” the changing cultural perception of Silicon Valley, and perceived obsession with speed over accountability. (38:42)How Blitzscaling applies to deeply technical problems with a long time-horizon. (40:45)Get involved at sfelc.com!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Facebook’s James Everingham shares about his early leadership and management experiences and the secrets he learned from quantum mechanics to manage creative teams. You’ll hear insights about how to unleash creativity by focusing on outcomes and environments instead of process and key differences between optimizing for efficiency and invention. James Everingham - Head of Engineering, Calibra @ Facebook (@jevering)“His approach was just to start collecting, recruiting, the smartest scientists he could find, and tell them what the end result needed to be. He trusted them to just go figure it out.” -James EveringhamJames is an engineering leader at Facebook. Previously, James was the Head of Engineering at Instagram. Throughout his 35-year career as a manager, entrepreneur and technology developer, James has led many world-class engineering teams. At Yahoo he was Vice President of Engineering for Yahoo media properties after the company acquired Luminate, an interactive image technology company which he founded.Some of his other previous roles include CTO and founding team member of LiveOps, Senior Director of Engineering at Tellme (acquired by Microsoft) and Senior Director of Engineering at Netscape Communications where he was responsible for the flagship Netscape browser. Before joining Netscape, James held engineering and management positions at Oracle and Borland International. SHOW NOTESJames’ early introduction to management at Penn State & Borland. (3:30)What managing creative teams and quantum mechanics have in common. (7:56)A simple explanation of Classical physics and quantum mechanics. (8:40)Henry Ford and classical management. (9:35)Robert J. Oppenheimer and “quantum management.” (10:24)The distinction between classical and quantum managers. (12:41)Other examples of quantum managers. (14:16)The observer effect. (17:00)Translating the principle of “superposition” into management. (18:16)Quantum entanglement, “spooky action at a distance”. (23:15)Creating positive “entanglements” and “spooky management at a distance” in your teams using reciprocity, empathy, and camaraderie. (23:39)How to get better results for yourself using feedback. (26:06) Want to get involved with our community of engineering leaders? Check us out at sfelc.com. We’re working on a number of interesting projects to continue to empower engineering leaders. Join us at sfelc.com to be included in updates with our content, events, and all other new opportunities we’re creating!Learned something impactful? Have an idea to improve our show? We’d love to hear your insights and feedback! … Send us a message at hello@sfelc.com!If you enjoyed this or found it impactful, share the episode with someone who might find it meaningful! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Difficult conversations for engineering leaders range from telling someone they have lettuce in their teeth to delivering life-changing bad news. Learn to level-up your ability to handle difficult conversations with a few techniques, practice and hopefully a little humor from Sarah Clatterbuck's personal experiences. SARAH CLATTERBUCK - Director of Engineering, YouTube @ Google (@girodchatterbox)"Your discomfort is less important than your colleague's embarrassment" - Sarah ClatterbuckSarah Clatterbuck joined Google in 2018. She currently leads four teams focused on Alternative Monetization for YouTube Creators. Prior to joining Google, she was a Sr. Director of Engineering at Linkedin focused on Application Infrastructure. She previously held roles at Yahoo! and Apple while progressing in leadership ranks. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of San Francisco and her graduate degree from San Jose State University. She is passionate about getting girls interested in technology and from 2013 until 2018, she served on the board of Girl Scouts of Northern California, leading the board STEM task group. SHOW NOTESWhere engineering leaders are woefully ill-prepared. (2:48)Level One: Awkward conversations. (4:58)The self-talk, script & power-up tips. (6:32)Level Two: Addressing Misalignment. (7:54)Level Three: The Apology… (10:49)Next Level: Delivering Feedback - Sarah’s most effective 3-part script. (15:10)The Last Level: The Agonizing Conversation - delivering news with a significant negative impact. (18:06)Suggestions to get team members to express themselves when uncomfortable. (22:10)How to talk to someone who doesn’t admit to faults, performance problems or passes blame. (23:21)Want to get involved with our community of engineering leaders? Check us out at sfelc.com. We’re working on a number of interesting projects to continue to empower engineering leaders. Join us at sfelc.com to be included in updates with our content, events, and all other new opportunities we’re creating!Learned something impactful? Have an idea to improve our show? We’d love to hear your insights and feedback! … Send us a message at hello@sfelc.com!If you enjoyed this or found it impactful, share the episode with someone who might find it meaningful! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.