The CTO Playbook

Join The CTO Playbook Slack Community to learn more about how to be a leader!In this episode, Adam interviews Carol Palombini, a psychologist and leadership coach specializing in psychological safety. Carol offers insights on how fostering psychological safety can drive team innovation and what leaders can do to create safe, effective work environments.Carol Palombini is a seasoned Psychologist and Tech Leadership Coach. Her passion lies in being a catalyst for transformation among tech leaders who face challenges such as communication issues, imposter syndrome, burnout, and the intricate demands of tech leadership roles.Timestamps:3:30 Assessing for a team's psychological safety.8:06 Foster healthy conflict for innovation and team growth.15:30 Create a psychologically safe environment by managing emotions.19:08 Conduct exit interviews to uncover reasons for talent loss.29:02 Reward and recognize behaviours that foster psychological safety.Build your dream team with personalized solutions that actually get results. Book a complimentary 30-minute call with Carol.Also, be sure to follow Carol on LinkedIn.Resources Mentioned:re:Work With Google | Archived WebsiteFind more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube and check out Adam's CTO coaching company Synova Tech.

Join The CTO Playbook Slack Community to learn more about the five-step playbook!In this episode, Adam dives into the challenges of transitioning from a technical leader to a strategic CTO, outlining a five-step playbook to help navigate this journey successfully. He also shares insights on overcoming common obstacles and embracing a leadership mindset.Timestamps:8:45 Make fewer decisions by delegating responsibilities.12:33 Adopt a learning mindset for your new role.18:47 Learn the language of the business to succeed.27:35 Empower your team by stepping back from technical details.Resources Mentioned:Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore | Book or AudiobookWhat Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter | Book or AudiobookTurn The Ship Around! by L. David Marquet | Book or AudiobookThe Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick M. Lencioni | Book or AudiobookThe CTO Playbook episode on The 2 Most Critical Components of a CTO Career with Andy Skipper | Spotify or AppleFind more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube and check out Adam's CTO coaching company Synova Tech.

Join The CTO Playbook Slack Community to learn more about empathic, dynamic reteaming!In this episode, Adam interviews Daniel Walters, a seasoned CTO coach and consultant. Daniel shares his experiences on leading change within organizations, focusing on collaboration, dynamic reteaming, and the emotional impact of restructuring.Daniel Walters is a Technology Strategy Consultant and CTO coach based in Auckland, New Zealand. With over 25 years of experience in technology leadership across various sectors, he specializes in systems thinking, technology strategy, and situational leadership. Daniel has held leadership roles, including CPTO at Weirdly and CTO/CIO at Seek Asia, and has consulted for notable organizations like Kiwi Rail and New Zealand Super Funds. While in Malaysia he successfully established a development centre for Experian Marketing Services. He was part of a small team at Prestariang that won a concession to replace Malaysia's immigration systems nationally (MYR8.6bn). He also helped integrate JobsDB and Jobstreet into Seek to successfully fend off global competitors whilst raising the quality of product experiences for candidates and hirers. Daniel started his career in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia where he was part of Hitwise' leadership that oversaw growth and eventual sale (USD240m). His blog 'Great CTOs Focus on Outcomes' is dedicated to supporting CTOs' success.Timestamps:4:15 How to use empathy to lead change effectively.10:05 Strategies for CTOs' to implement dynamic reteaming successfully.15:22 Why internal hiring is crucial for fostering innovation.20:48 Leveraging team identity to boost morale and performance.26:11 The 90-day strategy for assessing organizational needs.32:34 How to avoid common pitfalls in restructuring as a CTO.39:19 Why empathy should drive your leadership decisions.To get more tips check out Daniel's Blog: Great CTOs Focus on Outcomes on Substack and connect with Daniel on LinkedIn.Resources Mentioned:Six Simple Rules by Yves Morieux and Peter Tollman | Book or AudiobookTeam Topologies by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais | Book or AudiobookDomain-Driven Design by Eric Evans | BookFind more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube and check out Adam's CTO coaching company Synova Tech.

Join The CTO Playbook Slack Community to learn more about startups and scale ups!In this episode, Adam interviews John Broome, a seasoned product leader with over 20 years of experience. John shares insights on generative AI, collaboration between CTOs and CPOs, and the importance of being customer-centric in product management.John Broome is a product and operations practitioner having worked in customer service, development, sales, marketing and project management for the past 20 years. Spending most of his time managing products and UX leadership throughout finance, gaming, e-commerce and now hospitality. John is currently the CPO and COO at Chico Hotel Solutions in Stockholm, helping hotels to increase revenues, reduce costs and improve their guest experience.Timestamps:3:39 Bridging the gap between business goals and product strategy.10:46 Prioritizing customer needs over what they say they want.16:33 Constructing effective teams despite budget constraints.24:56 Collaborating to avoid idle engineers and wasted resources.33:33 Balancing the capacity for product and technical development.38:08 Leveraging generative AI as a tool, not a replacement.51:01 Holding product managers accountable for prioritization decisions.Connect with John on LinkedInResources Mentioned:Chico Hotel Solutions | WebsiteFind more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube and check out Adam's CTO coaching company Synova Tech.

If you are finding this podcast helpful, please rate and review so other CTO's can join the conversation.In this episode, Adam explores the different types and stages of a CTO's journey, offering insights and practical strategies to help you identify your strengths and align with your organization's needs.Timestamps:3:15 Understand the stages of CTO growth.4:30 Determine what type of CTO your organization needs now.7:20 Assess your strengths and weaknesses using a SWOT analysis.10:24 Identify the gaps between your skills and organizational demands.13:06 Consider coaching and feedback to accelerate your growth.Resources Mentioned:The Startup CTO's Handbook by Zach Goldberg | BookThe Unicorn CTO: Daniel Jarjoura's Startup CTO Growth Cycle | WebsiteSaaS Academy | WebsiteRealforce | WebsiteFind more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube and check out Adam's CTO coaching company Synova Tech.

In this episode, Adam speaks with Andy Skipper, the founder of CTO Craft and a seasoned CTO coach. Andy delves into the benefits of coaching for new CTOs, the growth of the CTO Craft community, as well as offers advice for navigating leadership challenges.CTO Craft helps thousands of CTOs and Senior Engineering Leaders build skills, experience and resilience, to survive the pressures and demands of the most senior technology role in modern business, as well as provide real commercial impact within their organizations. CTO Craft helps both new and experienced CTOs by providing a safe space for learning and growth among one of the largest peer networks of senior engineering leaders in the world.Alongside the free community, they help hundreds of CTOs through private mastermind Circles, one-to-one CTO coaching, conferences and other resources. The CTO Craft mission is to increase the success of technology-enabled startups and scale-ups by providing CTOs with the skills and support they need.Prior to coaching and mentoring new leaders, Andy held CTO roles at Made.com, Comic Relief, and interim roles at dozens of companies such as JustPark, Intu, Threads Styling, Living Maps, Spyscape, VONQ and The School of Life, and has advised and invested in several massively successful businesses in the UK, as well as many VC firms and accelerators.Timestamps:3:00 Addressing leadership gaps through coaching.10:36 Emotional intelligence improvements in personal life.16:39 Convincing CEOs about coaching benefits.20:28 Value of external mentoring groups.24:03 Networking opportunities at CTO events.29:11 Managing personal expectations in leadership roles.31:50 Importance of CTOs focusing on the first team.Stay connected with Andy on LinkedInResources Mentioned:CTO Craft | WebsiteCTO Craft Events | WebsiteCTO Craft | YouTubePatrick Lencioni's Books | AmazonFind more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube.

In this episode, Adam interviews Warren Beazley, a seasoned CTO recruiter, about how tech leaders can effectively communicate their professional identity and attract ideal clients. Warren shares insights into leveraging LinkedIn for networking, strategic job searching, and the importance of personal branding.Based in the UK, Warren is one of the best CTO recruiters, even going by the tagline "The CTO Recruiter". Warren has been hiring CTOs since 1997 and has an extensive network, a proven methodology, and a desire to help. He has hired against every brief he has had since 2015!Connect with Warren on LinkedIn and book a 15 min Intro Call!Resources Mentioned:Edison Hill Search | WebsiteFind more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube.

In this episode, Adam interviews Steven Renwick, who dives deep into the relationship between the CEO and CTO in early-stage startups. Steven shares his journey with Adam at Satago, emphasizing the importance of vision alignment and efficient software deployment.Steven Renwick is a British technology entrepreneur living in Berlin, with a unique combination of experience in healthcare, fintech and technology. He is a product-focused CEO/founder with a passion for building businesses that actually make a difference in people's lives. In an earlier life, he started out working as a consultant in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, advising on IP valuation, deal structuring, and M&A.In November 2021 he co-founded Tilores, a start-up that specializes in helping tech scale-ups to radically transform their data infrastructure efficiency using Tilores, their entity resolution technology, while dramatically cutting prototyping time and decreasing operating costs. With Tilores, scale-ups can achieve unlimited processing scalability without adding a single machine or headcount to the tech budget.Steven founded Satago in 2012 to help SMBs use technology to improve credit control and cash flow, before pivoting the company into a fintech business providing invoice finance through software. He raised ~£5M (debt & equity) to develop the business from VCs and Angels and grew the team to 16 people. He exited Satago in 2017. The company is currently listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London.Connect with Steven on LinkedInResources Mentioned:Tilores | WebsiteSatago | WebsitePalantir | WebsiteGraphQL | WebsiteFind more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Welcome to the CTO Playbook! I'm Adam Horner, your host, with over 30 years in the tech industry and more than a decade as a CTO. In this podcast, we cover essential topics, strategies, and practical advice to help CTOs excel. Join me as we explore my journey, share insights from industry leaders, and build your unique CTO playbook. Whether you're navigating the rapid changes in technology or handling growing responsibilities, you're not alone. Tune in for valuable resources, community support, and expert interviews.In this episode, Adam shares his journey to becoming a CTO, the challenges he faced, and the reasons for starting this podcast. He also emphasizes the importance of building a personalized CTO playbook and the evolving role of the CTO.Resources Mentioned:Synova Tech | WebsiteFind more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube.