Authority Issues

By Rachel Perkins and Kendall Miller

Welcome to Authority Issues, a podcast about leadership, management, and competitive prescription writing.

Hosted by Rachel Perkins (aka piebob), and Kendall Miller... more

4.6

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FAQs about Authority Issues:

How many episodes does Authority Issues have?

The podcast currently has 100 episodes available.

Authority Issues episodes:

June 01, 2023Episode 90: What does "take all the time you need" really mean, anyway?
In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about:
The long journey to a big whisky delivery
Kendall's triumphant return
The magical locale that is Port Townsend
A particularly pleasing hat
The conflict in question
What actual family means vs "your work family"
How the pandemic has strained the definition of "take all the time you need" for companies
Parental leave as a possible model for policymaking
Doing The Math
The SVB failure as a case study of doing the Math
What would you do?
The impact of the pandemic on views of the value of "working"
Opportunities as a leader to improve the situation when it arises
Kendall recommends: My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hands
rachel recommends: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, Pokerface (tv show) on Peacock
rachel's advice on cask programs
How to reach us
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
46min
May 11, 2023Episode 89: Ricardo Brízido (Stake)
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Ricardo talk about:
How we're a global podcast!
Rough times of wearing a suit to work in the morning
A lack of startups in Portugal in the early 2000s, moving to London on a whim
The Land Before APIs (and podcasts)
Discovering a penchant for leadership
The differences between raising VC money in EU vs US, definitions of success
Trying to keep a startup going after the runway runs out
German startup culture vs Portuguese startup culture
What does "long story short" even mean anymore? :)
Reflecting on past decisions
Suddenly realizing the scope of responsibility
Arriving at Stake (whew!)
An emotional response to being a builder vs a fixer
Pragmatism in technology choices
Running a sourdough bakery with his wife
You can find Ricardo at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardobrizido/
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
54min
March 02, 2023Episode 88: Is work the friends we made along the way?
In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about:
Freakin' time zones
Whisky delivery news
The subtleties of F to C conversions
Migration to Mastodon, bike community trends
Kendall's new CTO Lunches business undertaking and travel plans
Going from having all your friends come from work to having most friends originate outside of work
Benefits of socializing with your more senior colleagues
How the pandemic has impacted work friendships, especially for early-career people
The change in dynamic when you become the boss
Progressively wanting and needing less social contact at work as time passes
Hiring your friends
Relationship-building as a strategy
Giving less of a fuck as you get older, tolerating more weirdness in others
Energy level imbalance anxiety therapy session for rachel
The value of being optimistic about people you encounter at work
Recommendations: rachel recommends the Monk and Robot series of novellas by Becky Chambers. Kendall recommends you go sailing, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.
A warning from Kendall
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
50min
November 17, 2022Episode 87: Virgile Raingeard (Figures.hr)
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Virgile talk about:
Starting out as a CS student, but wanting more human interaction
A path through HR tooling to HR generalist role with a detour to Perth, Australia
The elephant in the room: is HR "the bad guy"?
How to manage the tension inherent in doing HR work
Differences in the role when a company is small vs large
Getting some experience in an entrepreneurial culture
Discovering firsthand the need for reliable compensation data
Tying the lack of data to salary level disparity and unfairness
Walking the line between corporate best interest and employee best interests
Deep differences between employment policies in the US vs France
The stress of hiring thoughtfully and effectively
How crucial it is to understand onesself before one can develop the empathy to manage others well
The ego required to feel ok about being responsible for peoples' livelihoods vs the humility required to do it effectively
How hard it is to give away one's legos
Fulfillment at work leading to a happier home life
How many bikes is too many bikes?
You can find Virgile on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vraingeard/
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
47min
October 13, 2022Episode 86: Growth, fast and slow, at companies, large and small
In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about:
Why rachel retired
A brief diversion into the fundraising lifecycle of a nonprofit
Why Kendall gets offered weed on the street in Portugal
Visas and the eldritch horrors of the permitting system
Settling one's family into Portuguese living
Appreciation of walkable living environments
How bootstrapped and venture-backed startups are different experiences
Merging acquisitions into larger corporate environments
rachel's theories about why Splunk was such a success story
Kendall's thoughts on new vs additive markets, effort, and growth
A Tale of Two Shitshows
An enumeration of variables in our defense
What attracts people to different stages of company growth
Freedom vs risk, another set of axes to consider
Minor regrets on scope
Our recommendations for distractions of late:
rachel recommends the Scholomance trilogy by Naomi Novik and the Star Wars show Endor
Kendall recommends learning Portuguese
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
52min
August 11, 2022Episode 85: Maya Mandel (Helios)
In this episode, Kendall, rachel, and Maya talk about:
Competitive athletics as a driver of leadership skills and high performance teamwork
The power of the history of the University of Michigan
Preparing for when athleticism will be a memory
Serving in the military, leading software dev teams...in the military
Doing things young, when you have less to lose, less context
Learning the value of a holistic product view
Wanting to change the world
Motivation differences in the military vs the civilian working world
Getting an MBA and why it felt kind of relaxing
Different leadership requirements for the different stages of childhood development
Getting her mind blown launching products at a huge org like Symantec
Adaptability and how the process of problem solving is essentially unchanged
Using authority as a tool vs a bludgeon
Being where she wants to be
You can find Maya on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayamandel/
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
50min
July 28, 2022Episode 84: Can you be a good leader without also being a systems thinker?
In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about:
The art of mending things beautifully (the words rachel was trying to remember are Kintsugi and Sashiko, in that order)
The art of mending things not so beautifully, aka hacking off the bottom of your favorite pants and adding bits of your favorite shirt so they fit better (Kendall subsequently found some photos, but none of them from after the shirt addition...)
Why Kendall sounds echo-ey (also, maybe this is why there's an annoying echo of rachel throughout this recording, apologies)
Why we're talking about systems thinking: https://twitter.com/johncutlefish/status/1518361842342453248 (no longer pinned)
Context, and why it rules from orbit
How seeing the big picture can be frustrating when one has limited power or scope
Optimization, in a shockingly nerdy gaming analogy
When it's hard to share context due to business volatility
Wait, what actually do we mean when we say systems thinking?
How systems thinking is actually largely about understanding people and their motivations
A former podcast guest we both think is a super impressive systems thinker but did not name ;)
Thanks to John Cutler (@jcutlefish on Twitter) for a thought-provoking list!
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
43min
July 14, 2022Episode 83: What does peak leadership look like?
In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about:
Not looking a gift Wagyu steak in the...mouth? marbling?
The primal/spiritual nature of singing with other people and joining a Threshold Choir
Taking Kendall Seriously
Moving to Portugal updates from Kendall
Dentistry nightmares
How far up the corporate ladder is far enough?
Theorizing about the impact of being part of Gen-X on rachel's career path
Caring about money vs caring about power and ways some companies exploit the latter
Speculation and validation around why Kendall keeps at the grind
An interlude to let you know that this episode was brought to you (in part) by gin
Things that complicate the equation of when to stop
rachel reins in her judginess (a bit)
How being a woman in the tech industry affects things
Kendall plugs the Radial Development Group
rachel marvels at Kids These Days and their nomadic lifestyles
Echoes of Episode 81
Deep Thoughts with Kendall and rachel
Kendall recommends a podcast: The Fall of Civilization, especially the episode about Assyria
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
50min
June 23, 2022Episode 82: Sarah Rieger (Jellyfish)
In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Sarah talk about:
Making the choice to go into software engineering
The daily life of a team lead
How one becomes a team lead, awesome support from Jasmine and others!
The power of empathy in leadership
Being able to ask questions across the org
Approaches to building trust
Being highly concensus-driven, associating "authority" with top-down directives
How leaders should always remember they have more to learn
Just How Very Tired Kendall Is
That it's important for leaders to be approachable/accessible to people at all levels of the org
How "Building up relationships in a company is like building up a friendship"
Learning how to paint, using 3D printed items to practice drawing
Disrupting the "deciding where to eat" market
You can find Sarah on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-rieger-66617a145/
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
42min
May 26, 2022Episode 81: The more things change, the more they stay the same
In this episode, Kendall and rachel talk about:
The good vs the bad kind of underwater
Why one should make one's own underpants
Ear infections and their provenance, also Kendall made a pearl with his ear
rachel's new e-bike and how it's awesome
Kendall learns about the magical thing that is kolhrabi
rachel's plans and anxieties about travel during the pandemic
Why Kendall chooses the opposite of "stability"
How that impacts motivation to invest in the future in a given community
rachel learns about the turbo-plus version of notarization called "apostille"
Kendall's new working situation, goals for work environments
Why work when you don't have to?
Feelings of pointlessness regarding activism
The magical allure of Portugal
Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3
...more
47min

FAQs about Authority Issues:

How many episodes does Authority Issues have?

The podcast currently has 100 episodes available.