Engineering and Leadership Podcast

By Pat Sweet, P.Eng, MBA, CSEP, PMP

Technology Business Careers

What's Engineering and Leadership Podcast about?

Helping engineers thrive. Engineering || Management || Leadership || Productivity

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Engineering and Leadership Podcast episodes:

03.18.2022
The Key to Successful Digital Transformation Projects
In this episode, I discuss digital transformation projects with speaker, author, and former football player Tanvir Bhangoo, and why these projects are much less reliant on technology than you might expect. See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode49 Download our...
03.08.2022
Learning and Development: The Antidote to the Great Resignation
In this episode, I chat with Anthony Fasano, president of the Engineering Management Institute, about the importance of leadership, management and career development for engineering staff. See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode48 Download our free guide to leadership for engineers...
03.01.2022
Three Critical Considerations for Managing International Engineering Teams
With the world becoming increasingly interconnected and colocation becoming less and less critical to business operations, engineering organizations everywhere are transcending national boundaries. While organizations absolutely benefit from finding talent globally and integrating a diversity of thought and background into...
02.08.2022
Why Clarity is the Secret to Great Communications and Stronger Teams
Dolores Hirschmann believes that clarity of message is critical to effective leadership. A leader’s team can’t buy in to a vision without first understanding it. In today’s episode, Dolores helps engineering leaders understand the importance of clarity of message, how...
02.01.2022
Making Soulless Companies a Thing of the Past
Ralf Specht is on a mission to rid the world of soulless companies. On today’s episode, he explains why it’s good for business for a company to have soul, and gives great advice on how to reinvigorate your organization with...
01.24.2022
Business Engineering: Why Engineers Should Have Business Skills
Duncan Oyevaar believes in the power of business engineering. He has seen that organizations can dramatically improve themselves by equipping their engineers with excellent business skills, and he’s got the data to prove it. Today, we talk about why engineers...
01.17.2022
From One Day to Day One: The Future of Engineering and Leadership
In this special edition, I tease the next episodes of the show and make a major announcement about the future of the Engineering & Leadership project. See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode43 Subscribe to the free Engineering Leadership Weekly newsletter to...
11.03.2021
EL042 – From CEO to Master Coach: The Story of one Engineer’s Mission to Empower Others
Download our free guide to leadership for engineers - Engineering Leadership 101: Practical Insights for Becoming an Engineering Leader at Any Stage https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/leadership101 See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode42 Joseph Seiler has spent his career helping engineers do incredible work by...
10.26.2021
EL041 – How to get your Engineering Teams to Take Ownership and Stay Curious (and why it’ll save your company)
Peter Drucker, the father of modern management thinking once said that "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." That wasn't a knock on how important strategy is, rather, he's emphasizing the importance that culture plays within an organization. Today's guest would share...
10.19.2021
EL040 – How to instantly make your meetings shorter, more productive, and less painful
Today, I share my best tips and tricks on how to make your meetings shorter, more productive, and less painful. See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode40 Download our free guide to leadership for engineers - Engineering Leadership 101: Practical Insights...
10.13.2021
EL039 – How to become a better leader by letting go
One of the struggles many engineering leaders have is knowing how and when to let go and allow their teams to move forward with their daily work. It can be incredibly difficult to know how to transition from working in...
09.27.2021
EL038 – How to find (or become) an engineering mentor
Mentorship in the world of engineering is an incredible tool. It helps those being mentored improve job performance, satisfaction, and achievement of long-term goals. For the mentor, it helps connect with earlier stage professionals, organize their thoughts and frameworks around...
08.30.2021
EL037 – Demystifying Sales and Selling for Engineers
Sales and business development are key skills for engineers who want to grow in their careers. For many senior engineers and engineering managers, helping to grow their company through new business is an absolute necessity. In this episode, you'll learn...
08.03.2021
EL036 – Culture of excellence: How to build brilliant engineering teams through incredible culture
Culture is the glue that holds an organization together. It's the unwritten, ethereal rules of engagement - the collection of "how things work around here". Today, I speak with Mark Kinsella, VP of Engineering at Opendoor about organizational culture: what...
07.19.2021
EL035 – Women In Engineering: Combating Bias and Redefining Success for a Better Future
In today's interview, I speak with Stephanie Slocum, author of She Engineers and founder of Engineers rising about supporting women in engineering through addressing unconscious bias, redefining success at creating a better, more inclusive future. See the full show notes...
07.12.2021
EL034 – Leading Engineers to Success in Hybrid Workplaces
In this episode of the Engineering & Leadership podcast, I interview psychologist Dr. Robin Rosenberg about the risks posed by hybrid workplaces, how to overcome them, and the future of hybrid work. See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode34
06.30.2021
EL033 – The Engineer’s Guide to Public Speaking (Without Getting Awkwardly Sweaty)
Today, Neil Thompson of Teach The Geek shares his advice for engineers everywhere on why public speaking is so important for engineers and how to improve as a public speaker. See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode33
06.21.2021
EL032 – Tired Tires and the Circular Economy: How Wastefront is Saving the World One Tire at a Time
Today, I speak with Wastefront's CTO, Henrik Selstam, about his company and their mission to address one of the world's most pressing environmental challenges: dealing with end-of-life tires. See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode32
06.13.2021
EL031 – Leadership is Language: David Marquet on The Power Behind What You Say (And What You Don’t)
Today, I speak with David Marquet on the importance of the language we use as leaders, what's wrong with the old way of engaging with our teams, and how to drive performance through what we say. See the full show...
06.06.2021
EL030 – Leading Yourself: How to Take Control Of Your Career and Do What You Love
In this episode of the Engineering & Leadership podcast, I speak with Dr. Ben Ritter about the importance of leading yourself and how to start if you've never tried. See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode30 Download our free guide to leadership...
05.23.2021
EL029 – Metric Madness: The 5 Most Common Problems With Engineering Metrics and How to Fix Them
Today, I'm going to share five common issues I see with engineering project metrics in professional practice, and how to address them on your projects. See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode29 Download our free guide to leadership for engineers -...
05.16.2021
EL028 – How to launch a successful tech start-up
any of us dream of going it alone one day - of shedding the 9 to 5 and trading in your cubicle for a desk in a garage. Society lionizes the likes of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, and it's...
05.10.2021
EL027 – How to change the world through a mission-driven team
One of the hallmarks of a great leader is the ability to draw people together in the name of something greater than themselves. They establish bold missions for their teams and paint a vivid picture of what a better future...
05.03.2021
EL026 – Learning, Teaching, and the Pursuit of Engineering Management Excellence
Many of us think of our lives in as though they move between discrete phases. First we get educated, then we work, then we enjoy life in retirement. My guest in today's show turns that notion on its head by...
04.26.2021
EL025 – Performing a Hard Reset on Life: How One Engineer Went From Rock Bottom To True Happiness
We have all heard that necessity is the mother of invention. If there's any good that has come from the COVID-19 pandemic, it's that it has forced many of us to re-evaluate our lives, take stock of where things stand,...
03.29.2021
EL024 – What Teaching at MIT for 20 Years Taught This Engineer About Success
We all go to school expecting to learn the skills we need to succeed in the real world. As engineers, we probably felt confident that would end our degrees equipped with everything we needed to build strong careers and climb...
03.22.2021
EL023 – Leadership Lessons from a CTO
In today's episode, I speak with Andrew Hinkelman, founder of Priority-1 Group, and former CTO of Parametric, about leadership and management in the technical world, and how to set yourself up for success as a leader in tech. See the...
03.13.2021
EL022 – Managing Brilliant Jerks
In today's episode, I interview Dr. Katrina Burrus about the challenges technical experts face when moving in to management, the importance of cultural fit, and the kinds of skills you need to succeed as a manager. See the full show notes...
02.06.2021
EL021 – From the Shop Floor to the Corner Office
In this week’s episode, I interview Josh Mathias, the Managing Director at the Hythe Group, a multi-disciplinary engineering firm from the UK on leadership, management, and his ascent from the shop floor to the corner office. See the full show...
01.16.2021
EL020 – Five Things They Don’t Tell You When You Become an Engineering Manager
In this week’s episode, I share five things that nobody tells you when you transition into engineering management. It's a summary of the biggest lessons learned in my own career, and how to put them to work for you. See the...
12.11.2020
EL019 – How to future-proof your engineering career
In this week’s episode, I share three strategies for future-proofing your career so that you can move forward with confidence, even in a pandemic. You’ll hear advice on gaining career clarity, beating impostor syndrome, and establishing yourself as a leader, along...
11.25.2020
EL018 – One Engineer’s Mission to Make 1 Billion People Happier
In this week’s episode, I Interview Steve Foran, a progressional engineer whose career took a major turn nearly 15 years ago, when he launched a company to help make people happier through gratitude. Steve’s mission is simple, yet incredibly daunting:...
11.17.2020
EL017 – The CIA’s Guide to Making Engineers Miserable
In this episode, I explore a WWII-era guide to "Simple Sabotage" published by the CIA's predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services. It explains how disgruntled citizens of foreign nations can do little things to be disruptive and cause trouble. As it...
11.09.2020
EL016 – How to give useful feedback without it being awkward for everybody
In this episode, I interview Pam Scott, Founder of MentorLoft.com, about feedback. We discuss common problems that she sees in her coaching practice and gives practical guidance on how to address those problems. See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode16.
09.27.2020
EL015 – The Art of Prioritization
In this episode, I give a sneak peak into my engineering productivity course and give away five of my best tips to help engineers prioritize their work. If you'd like to learn more, see the show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode15.
09.20.2020
EL014 – Leadership, Writing, and Side Projects with Engineer and Author Matthew G. Dick
In this episode, I have a conversation with Matthew G. Dick, author of SEED: A Hard Science Fiction Novel about Survival, Colonization, and Leadership. Matthew is an engineering manager who recently completed his first novel. He shares his experience writing...
09.12.2020
EL013 – How To Find Your Dream Engineering Job (Even During A Pandemic)
In this episode, I interview Sol Rosenbaum of theengineeringmentor.com about strategies for finding your next engineering job, especially during a pandemic. We cover modern job search techniques, networking, using LinkedIn, interview skills, and much more. Find all the links and...
08.30.2020
EL012 – 8 Simple Strategies To Master Your Inbox
In this episode, I provide 8 of the specific strategies I use to process email, keep my inbox clean, and focus more time on what really matters - getting work done.
08.24.2020
EL011 – Beating Impostor Syndrome with Jeff Perry
In this episode, I discuss impostor syndrome with Jeff Perry from morethan-engineering.com. We dig in to what it is, how it affects engineers, and how to manage it if you're ever faced with it in your own career. See the...
08.19.2020
EL010 – Recognition: The Superpower You Didn’t Know You Had
In this episode, I discuss the the importance of recognition, how it can influence your engineering team for the better, the risks of not recognizing your engineers, and simple - yet effective - ways to recognize people, even during a...
08.09.2020
EL009 – 4 Reasons Going Off-Grid Will Supercharge Your Mind
In this episode, I discuss the value of disconnecting and getting away. Disrupting your normal work habits to make time and space to think deeply can yield wonderful results in terms of generating new and innovative ideas. Everyone needs time...
08.01.2020
EL008 – The Life-changing Magic of Saying No
In today’s episode, we talk about the life-changing magic of saying no - the most powerful word in your professional vocabulary.
08.01.2020
EL007 – The Honest Truth About When Engineers Can Lead
In this episode, I explore the difference between management and leadership and explain how engineers can lead at any stage in their career. I also give concrete examples of how you can lead no matter what career stage you're in.
08.01.2020
EL 006 – (Re)Introduction to the Engineering and Leadership Podcast
In this episode, we relaunch the podcast and tell you a bit about what to expect in the coming weeks.
03.25.2017
EL 005 – The engineer’s productivity formula
In this podcast/ blog post, you’ll hear all about the formula that I’ve developed over the last decade to really improve my productivity as an engineer. It uses a three-tiered approach that makes it different from most of the strategies...
03.05.2017
EL 004 – The importance of money for engineers
Welcome to the fourth episode of the Engineering and Leadership podcast! This episode digs into why understanding money is incredibly important for engineers, and goes into the most important thing to know about money. It would be great to get your...
09.11.2015
EL 003 – Why you need to love your job
In the show today, I go through the five top reasons you need to love your job. The five reasons are: 1. At least a half of your waking hours spent at work, so it would be good to actually enjoy that...
08.21.2015
EL 002 – Is it better to become CEO or a technical Guru?
Welcome to the second episode of the Engineering and Leadership podcast! This episode covers whether it is better to become a manager or a technical specialist as you move forward in your career as an engineer. I cover the pros...
08.16.2015
EL 001 – Introduction and Productivity Hacks
Well, I've gone and done it and started a podcast. This is the very first episode of the Engineering and Leadership Podcast. In this episode, I introduce the show, and share 5 productivity hacks that I use to squeeze more...

What's Engineering and Leadership Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Engineering and Leadership Podcast episodes:

The Key to Successful Digital Transformation Projects

Learning and Development: The Antidote to the Great Resignation

Three Critical Considerations for Managing International Engineering Teams

Why Clarity is the Secret to Great Communications and Stronger Teams

Making Soulless Companies a Thing of the Past

Business Engineering: Why Engineers Should Have Business Skills

From One Day to Day One: The Future of Engineering and Leadership

EL042 – From CEO to Master Coach: The Story of one Engineer’s Mission to Empower Others

EL041 – How to get your Engineering Teams to Take Ownership and Stay Curious (and why it’ll save your company)

EL040 – How to instantly make your meetings shorter, more productive, and less painful

EL039 – How to become a better leader by letting go

EL038 – How to find (or become) an engineering mentor

EL037 – Demystifying Sales and Selling for Engineers

EL036 – Culture of excellence: How to build brilliant engineering teams through incredible culture

EL035 – Women In Engineering: Combating Bias and Redefining Success for a Better Future

EL034 – Leading Engineers to Success in Hybrid Workplaces

EL033 – The Engineer’s Guide to Public Speaking (Without Getting Awkwardly Sweaty)

EL032 – Tired Tires and the Circular Economy: How Wastefront is Saving the World One Tire at a Time

EL031 – Leadership is Language: David Marquet on The Power Behind What You Say (And What You Don’t)

EL030 – Leading Yourself: How to Take Control Of Your Career and Do What You Love

EL029 – Metric Madness: The 5 Most Common Problems With Engineering Metrics and How to Fix Them

EL028 – How to launch a successful tech start-up

EL027 – How to change the world through a mission-driven team

EL026 – Learning, Teaching, and the Pursuit of Engineering Management Excellence

EL025 – Performing a Hard Reset on Life: How One Engineer Went From Rock Bottom To True Happiness

EL024 – What Teaching at MIT for 20 Years Taught This Engineer About Success

EL023 – Leadership Lessons from a CTO

EL022 – Managing Brilliant Jerks

EL021 – From the Shop Floor to the Corner Office

EL020 – Five Things They Don’t Tell You When You Become an Engineering Manager

EL019 – How to future-proof your engineering career

EL018 – One Engineer’s Mission to Make 1 Billion People Happier

EL017 – The CIA’s Guide to Making Engineers Miserable

EL016 – How to give useful feedback without it being awkward for everybody

EL015 – The Art of Prioritization

EL014 – Leadership, Writing, and Side Projects with Engineer and Author Matthew G. Dick

EL013 – How To Find Your Dream Engineering Job (Even During A Pandemic)

EL012 – 8 Simple Strategies To Master Your Inbox

EL011 – Beating Impostor Syndrome with Jeff Perry

EL010 – Recognition: The Superpower You Didn’t Know You Had

EL009 – 4 Reasons Going Off-Grid Will Supercharge Your Mind

EL008 – The Life-changing Magic of Saying No

EL007 – The Honest Truth About When Engineers Can Lead

EL 006 – (Re)Introduction to the Engineering and Leadership Podcast

EL 005 – The engineer’s productivity formula

EL 004 – The importance of money for engineers

EL 003 – Why you need to love your job

EL 002 – Is it better to become CEO or a technical Guru?

EL 001 – Introduction and Productivity Hacks