This New Way

In episode #33, Amy Sandler lets us know what it takes to be challenging and caring. Amy Sandler, the Chief Content Officer at Radical Candor – an organization co-founded by Kim Scott and Jason Rosoff to help leaders learn the art of feedback. Prior to Radical Candor, Amy filled senior roles in marketing at the Young President’s Organization, Vistage, and the University of California in LA. In today’s episode, Amy explains how walking on fire (yes, real fire) six times took her out of her comfort zone and also... what it taught her about leadership. Amy and Aydin talk about how empathy, aggression, and insincerity play out at work and what we need to keep in mind when we provide critical feedback and also praise to our teams. Listen to this episode to better understand the importance of knowing and respecting the people we work with.

In episode 32, Farhan Thawar shares his biggest goal as a leader. Farhan is the Vice President of Engineering at Shopify. Prior to Helpful and Shopify, he was the VP of Engineering at Xtreme Labs, which was then (also) acquired by Pivotal – where Farhan took on the role of Chief Technology Officer of Mobile in 2013. Apart from an extensive career in Engineering, Farhan is an angel investor, writer, and speaker. In fact, he was named one of Toronto’s 25 Most Powerful People in 2010. In today’s episode, Farhan talks about why, as leaders, we should get involved with our team’s work and continue to practice tactical skills (such as coding) to build trust, empathy, and strong relationships. Tune in to hear about Farhan’s rich career in the world of engineering and his insights about management, hiring practises and the value of speed at work.

In episode 31, John Weigelt explains why the largest goal of management should be to get the best out of people... and reminds us that gentle nudges and words of feedback have more power than we think in helping our teammates do their best work. We also explore strategies that John uses to convince large institutions to adopt new ways of operating and doing business, which is no easy job! John Weigelt is the National Technology Officer at Microsoft Canada. Working closely with the government, education officials, and health care communities, John plays a key role in implementing Microsoft’s strategic policies and technology efforts across the country. Prior to this role, John worked for the Department of National Defense and was the Senior Director of Architecture, Standards, and Engineering at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. John is also a TedX speaker. (If you haven’t yet, we recommend watching his talk on Enabling Canada’s Economy Digitally.)

In episode 30, Cate Huston shares with us, the skills we need to work in remote and distributed team environments. Cate Huston is the Engineering Director of Mobile at DuckDuckGo. Prior to her current role at DuckDuckGo, Cate was the Head of Developer Experience at Automattic, Director of Mobile Engineering at Ride.com, and a Software Engineer at Google – experiences that have led her to live and work remotely in places such as China, Colombia, the US, Canada, and Australia. Tune in to this episode to learn remote best practices that you can adopt, such as leveraging asynchronous communication to let your team consume important information.

In episode 29, Bruce Tulgan identifies what it takes for teams to be able to collaborate confidently, make good decisions, and as a result, produce excellent work. Bruce Tulgan is the Founder and CEO of Rainmaker Thinking, an organization that has helped hundreds of leaders at companies such as American Express, AT&T, IBM, and Mercedes Benz build a culture of “strong leadership”. Bruce has authored over 20 books about management and leadership… and most recently published a book titled The Art of Being Indispensable at Work. Tune in to hear why, as leaders, we should schedule regular meetings to drive alignment and set priorities with our team.

In episode 28, Sarah reflects on some “bad boss behaviour” she has witnessed in her career… and shares how behaviour affects output. Sarah Milstein is the Senior Director of Engineering at Mailchimp, where she leads and coaches product teams. In this interview, Sarah talks about why diagnosing the conversations we have with our team matters… and why learning to listen and understand is often better than only reacting and responding. Tune in to hear all about Sarah’s leadership journey and the lessons learned along the way!

In episode 27,  Marcus reminds us that intentionality must come along with remote work. Marcus Wermuth is the Engineering and Product Manager at Buffer, a social media growth, engagement and management platform. Marcus is an advocate for remote work and is deeply passionate about helping managers build effective, distributed teams. Marcus talks about why hiring a team that is distributed around the world isn’t a bad idea and how he makes it work. We talk about asynchronous meetings and making sure your meetings are bi-directional and personal. Tune in to hear why we must remember to include humanness and personality in our work systems and structures because we are working with humans, and not avatars.

In episode 26, Hiten Shah reveals the difference between culture fit and work flow fit. Hiten is a multi time founder, building and growing his own companies such as Crazy Egg, KISSmetrics and Quick Sprout. He also co-hosts The Startup Chat, a podcast about startup life, insights and advice. In this episode, Hiten reflects on his first engineering hire and explains the importance of assessing talent accurately during the interview process to make sure they can succeed with you, in the environment you have created. We also talk about identifying slow moving teams, why managers need to be in tune with what their teams actually know (and what they don’t), and how founders can transfer their unique talents and skills to their teams. Tune in to hear Hiten share why environment fit matters to build a well oiled team.

In episode 25, Lenny Rachitsky shares a groundbreaking framework to improve your planning processes and performance reviews. Lenny is an expert in product management and has a wealth of knowledge about company growth, people, and management in the technology world. Previously a product lead at Airbnb, he is currently known for writing a weekly newsletter read by thousands of product leaders. In today’s episode, we talk to Lenny about the importance of unblocking your team by providing them with knowledge and support… so they can do the best work possible. We also explore decision-making and why, as leaders, we need to reframe change as an opportunity. Finally, Lenny walks us through his “W framework”, a step-by-step strategy that can help your team better understand logistics and responsibility.

In episode 24, Camille Fournier (Managing Director of Platform Engineering at Two Sigma) talks about the art of managing technical teams... and why leaders should always strive to develop and improve their own skills. Camille’s previous roles include being the Chief Technology Officer at Rent the Runway... a VP and Technical Specialist at Goldman Sachs... and a Software Engineer at Microsoft. In addition to a vast portfolio in the technology world, Camille is the author of two great management books; The Manager’s Path and 97 Things Every Engineering Manager Should Know. Listen to this episode to learn about the importance of structure, repetition, and managing stress as a leader.