Today's reality is that company leaders must constantly learn and gain insights from multiple sources to succeed. CTOs are not left out, but the problem is CTOs are too busy to alter their routine to learn. Thankfully there's a platform defying the odds - podcasts. Why do CTOs care about podcasts? Listen to Benjamin Shapiro, Founder, and CEO of I Hear Everything, as he discusses why CTOs love podcasts and more. Connect With: Benjamin Shapiro: Website // LinkedInThe CTO Podcast: Website Etienne de Bruin: Website // LinkedIn //  TwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to The CTO Podcast at www.ctopod.com/subscribe

Host Etienne de Bruin shares a powerful way to reframe difficult meetings with developers. In this episode, Etienne will discuss the ABC of getting on the same page and how to deal with complicated meetings that don't go as planned.Key ideas:Etienne shares his experiences of meetings with developers where there is a misunderstanding or disagreement about a project. He acknowledges the frustration and concern that can arise for a leader in these situations.The importance of creating a clear project vision, mission, and values, which serve as a governing document that provides guidance when things become challenging.The challenges leaders face in meetings where there is disagreement with their teams, such as repeated explanations, pushback, and exceptions that take up most of the meeting.The ABC approach for dealing with difficult meetings:Awareness: The first step in dealing with these meetings is awareness, where leaders should write down their feelings and observations during the meeting. This includes noting any fixation on a potential issue, and understanding what is happening in the meeting.Be Blameless: The second step is to approach the meeting without assigning blame. Leaders should aim to be blameless, which means not blaming others or themselves, but instead focusing on finding a solution.Be Committed: The final step is to stay committed to your goal. “Stay committed to your developers, stay committed to your team, stay committed to the projects and the outcomes that you're pursuing,” Etienne says.The ABC approach provides a framework for leaders to handle difficult meetings, reducing frustration and helping to find a solution that everyone can agree on.KEY QUOTES:“Stay committed to your developers, stay committed to your team, stay committed to the projects and the outcomes that you're pursuing.” - Etienne de BruinAre you a CTO looking to take your role to the next level? Or are you stepping into a new CTO position and want to make the most of your first 100 days? Then you won't want to miss out on this exciting new project! On March 7th, Etienne is releasing his highly anticipated book "The Essential First 100 Days for CTOs". It's a must-read for all aspiring and established CTOs. This comprehensive guide covers all the key elements to revamp your role as a CTO at your existing company, or get off to a strong start in your new role.Head over to CtoExellence.com and join the mailing list for all the latest updates on where and when you can purchase the book.Resources:CTO ExcellenceSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to The CTO Podcast at www.ctopod.com/subscribe

In this episode of the CTO Studio Podcast, host Etienne de Bruin sits down with Jorge Valdivia, the CTO of Fleetio. Jorge shares valuable insights on how his team handles software development, the role of engineers and product managers, and the importance of investing in people. He delves into the strategies and processes that have helped Fleetio stay ahead of the curve in the highly competitive world of software development. Jorge is the CTO at Fleetio, a fleet management software company that helps organizations track, analyze, and improve their fleet operations. Fleetio helps fleets track their own vehicles internally, and also helps with compliance reporting. Rather than doing the work for the customer, the platform helps users unlock the full potential of their fleet management. The company has around 40-50 engineers working on two main products: a web app for fleet managers and a mobile app for Android and iOS.The teams were initially divided by discipline (web, mobile, internal tools) but it wasn't scaling well, as mobile was always trying to catch up with web. As such, they reorganized the teams around domains of the system (Fleet Maintenance, Fleet Operations, Core Team) with developers from different disciplines working together towards the same goal.Fleetio adopted an Agile approach, with product managers running the day-to-day execution. Goals are set at a quarterly level and communicated down to teams. Product managers do customer discovery to understand what to work on.Engineers and product managers have different perspectives and goals, with engineers focused on the present and product managers focused on the future. This can lead to friction between the two groups, but it can also be beneficial in terms of balancing out different perspectives. The CTO may only need to intervene in individual cases.Fleetio’s early history and its founder's belief in remote work led to its remote-first culture. The company tries to pretend like everyone is remote, even if they work in the same office, to maintain a remote-first culture and encourage communication.The company places a high importance on the mental well-being of its employees, and works to maintain psychological safety and communication to ensure that employees are comfortable sharing their thoughts and concerns.Investing in people, whether through professional development or personal interests, will ultimately lead to a return on investment in the form of happier, more connected employees. Managers should be attuned to the well-being of their employees, proactively offer support, and invest in their growth and success.Some clients ask for SOC 2 reports as part of their due diligence process, which can speed up the sales process.The security team reports directly to the CTO, who is also responsible for cross-functional communication and business process optimization within the organization.The CTO must focus on strategic initiatives and coach others on how to work with them in their new role. Etienne points out that value stream mapping is a powerful tool for the CTO to facilitate conversation within the organization and create value for customers.KEY QUOTE:"Investing in people is one of the most important things a company can do. It's not just about hiring the best engineers, but also providing them with the tools and resources they need to succeed." - Jorge ValdiviaResourcesJorge Valdivia on LinkedInFleetio CareersSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to The CTO Podcast at www.ctopod.com/subscribe

When you're building a business, you shouldn't hire people to add capacity but to buy time out of your calendar. If you don't, you'll end up building a business that you grow to hate and want to shut down because it's taking over your life. Dan Martell teaches entrepreneurs the sequence of how to replace themselves in their business as fast as possible to get the most value at the least amount of risk. He takes listeners on a journey through time as he shares his story and the lessons he’s learned along the way - lessons he also shares in his book.Dan Martell is founder and CEO of SaaS Academy, a coaching company for software entrepreneurs, and managing partner at High Speed Ventures. A serial entrepreneur, he has started and sold multiple successful businesses over the course of his career, starting his first company at age 24 and selling it at age 27, becoming a young millionaire. Dan is also an author whose book, Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire, compiles expert advice to fellow entrepreneurs.Dan shares how he discovered his passion for programming and entrepreneurship. While cleaning out cabins at a church camp, he found an old 486 computer with a book on Java programming and quickly became addicted to writing code. He taught himself how to code and started building tools and apps using different programming languages. He started his own tech organization, Spheric Technologies, which became the fastest growing company in Canada. He eventually sold the company and became a millionaire at 27. After selling Spheric Technologies, Dan moved to Silicon Valley to explore more opportunities in business and entrepreneurship. A successful business was one of his goals, and he didn’t want to regret not following his dreams of building one.Silicon Valley is “Disneyland for software entrepreneurs,” according to Dan. The environment is intense and rife with billion dollar ideas, and being there among other ambitious people enabled him to think bigger and achieve more. He went on to build more tech companies, raise venture capital and became an angel investor in multiple software companies, including Intercom, Bootsuite and Unbounced.Dan’s book, Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire, aims to arm entrepreneurs with the knowledge and techniques they need to conquer their worthiest adversary: time. He believes that our job is to develop ourselves and share what we learn on that journey with others, which he seeks to do with Buy Back Your Time. Entrepreneurs and creators should create more, Dan remarks, as is their God-given purpose. He wants to help entrepreneurs break through the pain line of building the business in the wrong order so that the world will have more solutions, more abundance, more problems solved and more creators creating. When applying the buyback principle, rather than freeing up time to do nothing, trade your time to do valuable things you can get paid for. Start by identifying what you don't like doing and what skills you need to develop to get your desired outcome. Dan encourages people to trade their time, become more valuable, and create economies by creating opportunity for others in the value chain.KEY QUOTE“The human experience is to face adversity, learn how to overcome it, and if you're not a complete ding dong, teach somebody else how to get through that faster. Our responsibility to people around us is to become better so that we can be an example of possibility.” - Dan MartellResourcesDan Martell on the Web | LinkedIn | TwitterSaaS AcademyEmail Dan: dan@danmartell.com Get your copy of Buy Back Your Time here!The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim FerrissSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to The CTO Podcast at www.ctopod.com/subscribe

Team Alliances are a way to create a relationship with others in order to achieve common goals. They help people stay healthy and motivated, and they can be helpful when it comes to resolving conflicts. Brittany Cotton joins host Etienne de Bruin to share the benefits of a Team Alliance.Brittany Cotton is Head of Coaching at 7CTOs and Program Leader, Coach, Trainer and Facilitator at Accomplishment Coaching. She is also Executive Coach at Be Radical Coaching. Certified by the International Coaching Federation as both a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and an Associate Certified Coach, Brittany is an expert in leadership development, career development and life coaching, and corporate training.A Team Alliance is a conversation around intention, commitment, and contribution, Brittany explains. It’s an agreement to come together under shared goals and collaborate, establishing clear expectations about what needs to be done to achieve those goals.Many people are uncomfortable answering questions about their goals and aspirations, and give themselves little time to think about what they truly want in life. Without a clear idea of what they want, people tend to live their lives at the effect of their circumstances, rather than being in control of them.It’s important to identify potential obstacles or “leaks” that could prevent the team from achieving their goals. In a boat, a leak may not be noticeable, or it may even seem manageable, but it diverts your attention and energy from the real goal, which is getting to your destination. Similarly, leaks in the team slowly sap you of willpower, forcing you to keep attending to the same recurring issues.Your Team Alliance needs to be able to communicate openly and honestly with the group if something is not working, without assigning blame or guilt. This requires a certain level of vulnerability.In order to prepare for a Team Alliance conversation, people should come to the forum with a willingness to let go of the past and forgive themselves and others for any mistakes or shortcomings, Brittany shares. Etienne advises people who might feel stuck or like they're repeating the same process as last year that it's important to approach the Team Alliance conversation with a fresh perspective and openness to new insights and ideas.Facilitators of Team Alliances are there to facilitate the discussion and handle any situations that come up. Members are encouraged to communicate their needs and what they would like to experience from their facilitators.KEY QUOTE“A Team Alliance is a conversation around intention, commitment, and contribution.” - Brittany CottonResourcesBrittany Cotton on the Web | LinkedInBe Radical Coaching7CTOs ForumSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to The CTO Podcast at www.ctopod.com/subscribe

In this episode of the CTO Studio Podcast with host Etienne de Bruin, Mark Hunter discusses the myths of leadership and how they can be harmful to individuals and organizations. He goes on to discuss how leaders can overcome their fear and create gaps in order to identify opportunities for growth. Finally, he encourages CTOs to build authentic relationships with their teams in order to foster trust and communication.Mark Hunter, author of “The Brink: How Great Leadership Is Invented,” is founder and President at Pinnacle Coaching, and Senior Program Leader at Accomplishment Coaching. As a business and executive coach, Mark works with both corporate and individual personal clients to help them get out of their own way and into new levels of possibility, transformation, leadership, and results.Mark believes that context and relationship are foundational concepts for sustainable and scalable teams. Leaders in particular need to develop relevant skills such as understanding context, understanding the audience, and situational awareness.Fear is not inherently bad, Mark comments, but the way we treat it creates problems. Because we view fear as something leaders shouldn’t have, we don’t tell others when we are afraid, which creates shame, and we suffer in silence.Enrollment is important because it ensures that people are committed to what they’re doing. If you complete tasks just because you’re expected to without any real attachment or investment in that goal, it will be much easier to quit when the going gets tough.Leaders should understand that gaps in teams are opportunities for growth.Humans are problem solvers, and if we don’t perceive that we have problems to solve, we manufacture them. Hierarchy exists, but you don’t have to lead from it. The hierarchy creates a fundamental imbalance of power, and leading from it deepens that imbalance. There is a difference between issuing orders from the title you possess, and using that title as the source of your power. ResourcesMark Hunter on LinkedInThe Brink: How Good Leadership Is InventedSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to The CTO Podcast at www.ctopod.com/subscribe

Quick, critical thinking is one of the core strengths of a CTO, but unlearning the problem-solving mindset might do them good. Jeff Miller, founder and CEO Jeff Miller Coaching, defines and discusses curiosity. In this episode replay, Jeff describes his experience coaching CTOs and why they struggle with curiosity. The environment that raises CTOs is one that teaches them to solve problems as quickly as possible. CTOs have been rewarded for their ability to think quickly and critically in efficient ways, but has this critical mindset actually stunted their curiosity?Executives of all kinds have been brainwashed into separating themselves from others, Jeff shares. While a good thing in some situations, it can hinder them from being as effective as they can be. CTOs, in particular, need to relate to many people across their organizations, which becomes difficult if they’re always seeing themselves as different.Jeff has observed that the higher the intellect and the more successful a CTO is, the more skeptical they are of coaching. Curiosity is an invitation to learn, make mistakes, and have fun without necessarily having the answer. We need to give ourselves permission to be curious and not program ourselves into thinking in one way.ResourcesJeff Miller on LinkedIn | WebsiteSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to The CTO Podcast at www.ctopod.com/subscribe

Curiosity exists in the realm of the unknown, and it cannot be predicted or directed. Joanie Connell of Flexible Work Solutions returns in this episode of the CTO Studio Podcast to discuss how we can learn from not knowing. Team members can preface their questions by stating their curiosity, Joanie shares. Saying “I’d like to take a moment to be curious” immediately identifies the present time as inquiry mode, opening the floor to others to share their curiosity as well.Fueling your curiosity with rage takes away from the genuine desire to learn something new because you have a specific end in mind with your questioning. Participative curiosity is performative, whereas reflective curiosity is introspective. Participative curiosity only appears to be curiosity, but when this is applied, you’re not absorbing anything. Reflective curiosity, however, occurs when you are actually open to changing your mind and willing to consider something new. It’s important to have diverse perspectives in teams to stir creativity. Whether people agree or disagree, keeping the conflict centered around the issue they disagree on can lead to more creative solutions or more thorough answers.ResourcesJoanie Connell on LinkedIn | Twitter | WebsiteSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to The CTO Podcast at www.ctopod.com/subscribe

Asking questions is an outcome of curiosity, and curiosity leads to questions - but not all questions represent curiosity. Joanie Connell of Flexible Work Solutions returns in this episode of the CTO Studio Podcast to share how to foster curiosity in our teams by changing the way we ask questions.Open-ended questions invite people to answer in ways that reveal their thoughts and ideas. Beginning a question with “I wonder if…” is a great way to start, Joanie shares.Reserving judgement is key. Genuine curiosity withholds assumptions, leaving space for people to speak freely and convey what they mean without fear of being judged.Curiosity within relationships is about feeling excited to see what the partnership and intention you’re setting with someone is going to produce.We are often imperfect communicators, but we may be even worse when we’re curious. In our haste to learn, we may unintentionally convey the wrong message to people by how we phrase our questions and tone of voice. We should be mindful of being approachable when asking questions. Better yet, we can also tell others how we’d like to be spoken to, and how to phrase their questions in ways that don’t cause harm.ResourcesJoanie Connell on LinkedIn | Twitter | WebsiteSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to The CTO Podcast at www.ctopod.com/subscribe

Empathy is more than simply putting yourself in someone else's shoes - it begins with curiosity and asking questions. Joanie Connell, founder of Flexible Work Solutions, defines curiosity and describes how being curious can help interpersonal relations at work. She joins Etienne de Bruin to discuss how leaders can nurture curiosity among team members.Part of the curiosity mindset is the courage to take risks, be vulnerable, and try things that may not work.In relationships, being inquisitive can be difficult since it often involves asking people what they're feeling even when you don't know what that might be. You have to be humble and be open to the possibility that you may be mistaken.By setting expectations for how questioning will be used, leaders can establish a culture of curiosity. Employees may be hesitant to ask questions for fear of being punished, so leaders must take the initiative to make their environment a safe zone for curiosity.There is a time and place for curiosity; if you keep the questions rolling at a bad time, you can slow the process down and miss deadlines.ResourcesJoanie Connell on LinkedIn | Twitter | WebsiteEmail Etienne: etienne@7ctos.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to The CTO Podcast at www.ctopod.com/subscribe