Join Kevin Stewart, an engineering executive with a knack for building robust remote teams, as he shares insights on transforming leadership and empowering teams. He discusses the critical difference between perceived and actual issues, emphasizing root cause analysis for effective decision-making. Kevin also outlines strategies for fostering autonomy, overcoming learned helplessness, and ensuring a customer-centric vision. His journey at Splice reveals the emotional impact of products on customers and the importance of aligning team values with organizational goals.
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Splice Transformation Story
Kevin Stewart improved engineering at Splice by focusing on leadership and cultural issues, not just individual engineers.
By changing decision-making processes and team structures, features shipped faster, proving leadership was key.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Demonstrate, Don't Just Tell
Show, don't just tell, when convincing stakeholders about solutions. Demonstrate progress quickly to gain buy-in.
insights INSIGHT
Fear-Based Helplessness
Learned helplessness is often rooted in fear of past punitive actions. This fear creates a debilitating cycle in organizations.
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The Nvidia Way is a riveting history of Nvidia’s unexpected ascent to the top of the tech sector. It provides an authoritative, myth-busting account of Nvidia’s founding, its early missteps, and how the company overcame them. The book emphasizes the benefits of Nvidia’s flat organizational structure, Jensen Huang’s obsession with solving the Innovator’s Dilemma, and how Nvidia anticipated and bet on the AI wave. It offers enduring lessons for entrepreneurs and managers, showcasing Nvidia’s distinct culture and Jensen Huang’s management principles.
Kevin Stewart is an engineering executive focused on building teams to build products. He has helped shape the engineering culture at a number of startups, digital agencies and cloud companies. Kevin is particularly experienced in leading remote and distributed teams to consistently deliver quality products. Although he currently resides in Seattle, Kevin is a lifelong New Yorker with dreams of relocating to a sunny island in the Caribbean.
SHOW NOTES:
Determining what you think is broken vs. what is actually broken (2:57)
Focusing on the root issues around leadership & decision-making (4:46)
Strategies for identifying the root cause of what is broken (9:08)
A framework for diagnosing issues, making a compelling case to stakeholders, and driving high-impact change (10:59)
Factors that impact decision making authority on your teams (13:53)
Signals that your org faces learned helplessness & how to override it (16:13)
Kevin’s advice for leaders who realize they contribute to a fearful environment (18:26)
Kevin’s journey @ Splice and aligning personal values with the company mission (21:02)
Challenges behind new strategy rollouts and the need for a customer-centric “north star” (26:26)
Witnessing the emotional impact of your product on customers (29:44)
Repetition is key when it comes to reinforcing your org’s vision (30:48)
Prioritizing your time & resources between strategic and tactical work (32:32)
Frameworks for aggressively auditing your calendar (35:47)
How to empower your team and delegate. so they can operate autonomously and you can shift your focus to strategy and business objectives (37:37)
Rapid fire questions (41:38)
LINKS AND RESOURCES
The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant - Tae Kim’s deeply reported business history of the chip-designer Nvidia—from its founding in 1993 to its recent emergence as one of the most valuable corporations in the world—explaining how the company’s culture, overseen by cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang, has powered its incredible success.
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The Engineering Leadership Podcast 