"I don't think about being an ally as a badge or a thing... I start from the point of view of wanting to be a better person and be good to the people around me."

While many discussions about allyship in tech focus on company-wide initiatives, what concrete steps can individual contributors and technical leaders take to create more equitable environments? How can you use your influence, expertise, and social capital to support colleagues from underrepresented groups?

In this episode, Lena speaks with Leo, an experienced staff engineer who shares practical, behind-the-scenes ally actions that senior technical contributors can implement, regardless of their management status.

This conversation explores:

• Understanding the socio-technical systems that shape workplace dynamics

• Simple meeting tactics that create space for more voices to be heard

• How documentation can serve as a powerful tool for influence and recognition

• Building relationships and trust that enable you to advocate effectively

• Learning from missed opportunities and growing as an ally

• Using established credibility to challenge unfair practices

Whether you're a senior engineer, tech lead, or individual contributor with influence through tenure, expertise, or connections, this episode offers actionable approaches to supporting colleagues and creating more inclusive environments.

Full episode transcript link.

Resources

• People of Color in Tech: Empowering Diversity

Why this podcast exists

Leadership Confidential provides a space for honest conversations about the hard parts of leadership that most people only discuss behind closed doors. From my close work with dozens of leaders every week, I know that many struggle with topics like creating inclusive environments, navigating power dynamics, and supporting team members effectively. This podcast is where we talk about it.

About your host

I'm Lena Reinhard (she/they), a fractional VP Engineering, leadership coach, mentor, and facilitator. Having served as an engineering executive with companies like CircleCI and Travis CI, and as a SaaS startup co-founder & CEO, I have dedicated my career to helping fast-paced organizations across the globe succeed in times of high change and challenging markets. You can regularly find me speaking at tech conferences and read my practical guides for leaders in the technology space on my website.

“People don’t always take it well, unfortunately. But managers, a lot of the time, don’t do it out of malice.”
Neurodivergent employees face unique challenges in tech—struggling with information overload, unspoken workplace norms, and the pressure to mask their differences. Yet, many organizations fail to provide the support they need to thrive.
In this episode, Lena sits down with Adya, an experienced professional in tech, to explore the lived realities of being neurodivergent at work. From navigating ableism in performance reviews to advocating for accommodations, Adya shares deeply personal stories and actionable insights for leaders who want to build truly inclusive teams.
They discuss:

• How neurodivergency impacts communication, collaboration, and career progression
• The subtle but pervasive ways ableism shows up in tech
• Why many neurodivergent employees hesitate to ask for accommodations—and how leaders can change that
• Practical strategies for making workplaces genuinely supportive
• What managers and peers need to unlearn about “normal” work behaviors

This conversation is a must-listen for anyone who wants to better understand neurodivergency, create more inclusive teams, and move beyond performative allyship to real change.

⁠⁠⁠Full episode transcript link⁠⁠⁠.

Resources:

• LinkedIn post about communication feedback for autistic people

• Manual of Me: Personal user guides for better working relationships

• Book recommendation on Amazon

• Goblin Tools: Productivity tools for neurodivergent people

• Flown: Focused work environments

• Neurodiversity Employment Survey: Adjustments Interim Report

• Law Society: Reasonable Adjustments in Organizations - Best Practice for Disability Inclusion

• HR Magazine: Neurodiversity and PIPs - Dropping the Mask

• Harvard Business Review: Stop Asking Neurodivergent People to Change the Way They Communicate

Why this podcast exists
I make this podcast as a space for honest conversations about the hard parts of leadership that most leaders only dare to talk about behind closed doors—after all, we're supposed to be “in charge” and “on top of things" at all times. But from my close work with dozens of leaders every week, I know that more leaders than you may think are struggling with topics like self-confidence, imposter syndrome, unclear expectations, or difficult bosses. This podcast is where we talk about it.

About your host
I’m Lena Reinhard (she/they), a fractional VP Engineering, leadership coach, mentor, and facilitator. Having served as an engineering executive with companies like CircleCI and Travis CI, and as a SaaS startup co-founder & CEO, I have dedicated my career to helping fast-paced organizations across the globe succeed in times of high change and challenging markets. You can regularly find me speaking at tech conferences and ⁠read my practical guides for leaders in the technology space ⁠⁠on my website⁠⁠⁠.

“The micromanager is rather someone who uses the details for control. You want to assert your own perspective on most things. You take the lead in driving projects, making decisions, taking direction, and not allowing your team any room or space to do that.”

While most advice about micromanagement focuses on quick fixes or confrontation, the reality of handling a controlling boss – especially at the executive level – requires a more nuanced approach. How do you maintain your autonomy and leadership presence while working with someone who wants to control every detail?

In this episode, Lena and Claire explore practical strategies for handling micromanagement through the lens of Claire's multi-year experience with a C-level micromanager.

Claire shares honest insights about:

• Recognizing the difference between hands-on leadership and controlling behavior
• Understanding the underlying causes of micromanagement at the executive level
• Maintaining your team's trust while managing up to a controlling boss
• Setting boundaries without damaging important relationships
• Specific tactics that worked (and didn't work) in shifting the dynamic
• How to avoid becoming a micromanager yourself when under pressure

Together, they examine how to navigate this challenging dynamic while staying true to your leadership values and supporting your team.

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⁠⁠⁠Full episode transcript link⁠⁠⁠.

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Resources

• ⁠⁠Effective Skip-Level Meetings: A Guide and Templates for Managers of Managers

• • How to Manage Your Boss (With a Free Communication Template!)

• • Managing Up: The Most Important Skill for Anyone Who Has a Manager

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Why this podcast exists 

I make this podcast as a space for honest conversations about the hard parts of leadership that most leaders only dare to talk about behind closed doors—after all, we're supposed to be “in charge”, and “on top of things" at all times. But from my close work with dozens of leaders every week, I know that more leaders than you may think are struggling with topics like self-confidence, imposter syndrome, unclear expectations, or difficult bosses. This podcast is where we talk about it.

About your host

I’m Lena Reinhard (she/they), a fractional VP Engineering, leadership coach, mentor, and facilitator. Having served as an engineering executive with companies like CircleCI and Travis CI, and as a SaaS startup co-founder & CEO, I have dedicated my career to helping fast-paced organizations across the globe succeed in times of high change and challenging markets. You can regularly find me speaking at tech conferences and read my practical guides for leaders in the technology space ⁠⁠⁠on my website⁠⁠⁠.

“This collaboration and making it work really well is such a critical factor to delivering great software for your clients.”

In theory, product and engineering teams share the same goal - building great software that solves real problems. Yet in practice, these teams often find themselves working in silos, dealing with misalignment, and sometimes even engaging in blame games. What separates organizations where this partnership thrives from those where it struggles?

In this episode, Lena and product leader Reina unpack the complexities of the product-engineering relationship and share practical strategies to strengthen it.

Drawing from her extensive product management experience across multiple organizations, Reina shares candid insights about:

Together, they explore actionable approaches for both product and engineering leaders to foster better collaboration, improve communication, and ultimately deliver more value to users.

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⁠⁠Full episode transcript link⁠⁠.

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Resources

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Why this podcast exists 

I make this podcast as a space for honest conversations about the hard parts of leadership that most leaders only dare to talk about behind closed doors—after all, we're supposed to be “in charge”, and “on top of things" at all times. But from my close work with dozens of leaders every week, I know that more leaders than you may think are struggling with topics like self-confidence, imposter syndrome, unclear expectations, or difficult bosses. This podcast is where we talk about it.

About your host

I’m Lena Reinhard (she/they), a fractional VP Engineering, leadership coach, mentor, and facilitator. Having served as an engineering executive with companies like CircleCI and Travis CI, and as a SaaS startup co-founder & CEO, I have dedicated my career to helping fast-paced organizations across the globe succeed in times of high change and challenging markets. You can regularly find me speaking at tech conferences and read my practical guides for leaders in the technology space ⁠⁠on my website⁠⁠.

How do you respond when your boss or board asks “What's our AI strategy?” In this episode, Lena Reinhard talks with Daniel Paulus, VP of Engineering at Checkly, about developing a pragmatic approach to AI initiatives that creates real value while avoiding the pitfalls of hype-driven development.

Daniel shares his experience leading AI initiatives and provides actionable insights for engineering leaders, including:

Whether you're facing pressure to "do something with AI" or genuinely exploring how AI could benefit your organization, this episode provides a practical framework for moving forward thoughtfully rather than just chasing the latest trend. Lena and Daniel discuss how to balance innovation with pragmatism, and share specific approaches for validating AI initiatives before making major investments.

Resources

Research & Studies:

Frameworks & Tools:

Technical Resources:

GitHub Projects:

Additional Resources:

Chapters

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Full Transcript

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We want to hear from you! Email us with feedback, questions, or topic ideas; I can't promise we'll always respond, but I can promise we read every email! At [email protected].

“Can you actually explain in clear terms how your company makes money? If you can't, that's a problem.”

In today's tech landscape where efficiency and productivity metrics are increasingly scrutinized, it isn't enough to just write good code. You need to demonstrate how your engineering investments contribute to the bottom line - especially if you've suddenly found yourself in management feeling overwhelmed by new business expectations.

Communicating the business impact of engineering investments is important for decision-making and stakeholder engagement – and ensuring your company knows you’re indispensable if they decide to have another round of layoffs.

In this episode, Lena and Amani explore how engineering leaders can effectively communicate their teams’ business value.

Our guest Amani brings wisdom gained from nearly 15 years of tech industry experience to share how engineering leaders can:

Together, they explore practical strategies for engineering leaders to understand, measure, and articulate their team's business impact in an environment of constant change.

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⁠⁠Full episode transcript link⁠⁠.

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Resources

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Why this podcast exists 

I make this podcast as a space for honest conversations about the hard parts of leadership that most leaders only dare to talk about behind closed doors—after all, we're supposed to be “in charge”, and “on top of things" at all times. But from my close work with dozens of leaders every week, I know that more leaders than you may think are struggling with topics like self-confidence, imposter syndrome, unclear expectations, or difficult bosses. This podcast is where we talk about it.

About your host

I’m Lena Reinhard (she/they), a fractional VP Engineering, leadership coach, mentor, and facilitator. Having served as an engineering executive with companies like CircleCI and Travis CI, and as a SaaS startup co-founder & CEO, I have dedicated my career to helping fast-paced organizations across the globe succeed in times of high change and challenging markets. You can regularly find me speaking at tech conferences and read my practical guides for leaders in the technology space ⁠⁠on my website⁠⁠.

How do you lead your team through ambiguity?

As an engineering leader, one of your key responsibilities is to navigate and guide your team through the uncertainty that often comes with new projects and goals. You are to ensure your team has the information they need to do the work that needs to be done. What, then, if you’ve gone to great lengths to bring clarity to your team, only to realize you’ve reduced ambiguity so much that there is no engaging challenge, no room for creative problem-solving?

In this episode, we discuss our guest’s recent trouble with helping her team gain clarity.

Originally, Sarah thought she needed to bring clarity to take her forming and storming team to a new level. However, over the course of the conversation, we realize that Sarah has focused too much on clarity, and her team needs her support in a different way. She has to reconsider her own role to her team, how she provides value to them, and challenge some assumptions she's made about them.

By the end of this episode, you'll come away with actionable strategies for shifting your focus from constantly driving for clarity to helping your team embrace and thrive in ambiguous environments.

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⁠⁠Full episode transcript link⁠.⁠

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Why this podcast exists 

I make this podcast as a space for honest conversations about the hard parts of leadership that most leaders only dare to talk about behind closed doors—after all, we're supposed to be “in charge”, and “on top of things" at all times. But from my close work with dozens of leaders every week, I know that more leaders than you may think are struggling with topics like self-confidence, imposter syndrome, unclear expectations, or difficult bosses. This podcast is where we talk about it.

About your host

I’m Lena Reinhard (she/they), a VP Engineering, leadership coach, mentor, and facilitator. Having served as an engineering executive with companies like CircleCI and Travis CI, and as a SaaS startup co-founder & CEO, I have dedicated my career to helping fast-paced organizations across the globe succeed in times of high change and challenging markets. You can regularly find me speaking at tech conferences and read my practical guides for leaders in the technology space ⁠⁠on my website⁠⁠.

"Interviewing knocks down pretty much everyone's confidence."

With all the lost time and huge frustration that comes with interviewing, it's easy to compromise your values in favor of feeling the relief that comes from getting to the end of the interviewing process and finally landing a job. In the long run, though, you don't want to compromise your values and non-negotiables.

In this episode, we discuss a massive problem everyone in the tech industry faces:

The challenge of finding a company whose values align with yours and navigating the infamous, often confusing and frustrating, interview process the tech industry is known for.

My guest, engineering manager Alyssa, and I talk about her own experiences interviewing and finding a job that fits her needs and values. Alyssa shares her challenges in finding a company with aligned values, the painful experiences of interviewing, factors to consider in her job search, how to assess fit and requirements, and how to ultimately find what you're looking for.

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⁠Full episode transcript link⁠.

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Why this podcast exists 

I make this podcast as a space for honest conversations about the hard parts of leadership that most leaders only dare to talk about behind closed doors—after all, we're supposed to be “in charge”, and “on top of things" at all times. But from my close work with dozens of leaders every week, I know that more leaders than you may think are struggling with topics like self-confidence, imposter syndrome, unclear expectations, or difficult bosses. This podcast is where we talk about it.

About your host

I’m Lena Reinhard (she/they), a VP Engineering, leadership coach, mentor, and facilitator. Having served as an engineering executive with companies like CircleCI and Travis CI, and as a SaaS startup co-founder & CEO, I have dedicated my career to helping fast-paced organizations across the globe succeed in times of high change and challenging markets. You can regularly find me speaking at tech conferences and read my practical guides for leaders in the technology space ⁠on my website⁠.

“There's way more variability in people than a Python environment.”—Many leaders (myself included) have felt it: “Everyone has it all figured out, but I don’t”, also known as Imposter Syndrome. And you may have been told (unironically) at some point to “be more confident”, “fake it ‘til you make it”, or “better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.”

Working in tech, we’re in a fast-changing space where confidence is currency. And the gnawing self-doubt that’s often described as Imposter Syndrome doesn’t exactly come out of nowhere.

In this episode, we unpack it—all of it:

What imposter syndrome is, and why it, ironically, is a fraud.

My guest, an experienced engineering director, shares his experience with it, how his imposter syndrome shape-shifted going from engineer to manager, and how he’s dealt with it. We talk about the role of trust and vulnerability, community, and handling the unknowns.

I share my own experience with imposter syndrome, and get into:

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Full episode transcript link.

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Resources

Research

Guides for dealing with Imposter Syndrome

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Why this podcast exists 

I make this podcast as a space for honest conversations about the hard parts of leadership that most leaders only dare to talk about behind closed doors—after all, we're supposed to be “in charge”, and “on top of things" at all times. But from my close work with dozens of leaders every week, I know that more leaders than you may think are struggling with topics like self-confidence, imposter syndrome, unclear expectations, or difficult bosses. This podcast is where we talk about it.

About your host

I’m Lena Reinhard (she/they), a fractional VP Engineering, leadership coach, mentor, and facilitator. Having served as an engineering executive with companies like CircleCI and Travis CI, and as a SaaS startup co-founder & CEO, I have dedicated my career to helping fast-paced organizations across the globe succeed in times of high change and challenging markets. You can regularly find me speaking at tech conferences and read my practical guides for leaders in the technology space on my website.

A special episode of this podcast.

Like many of you, during the tech downturn of the last 2 years, I've been trying to understand the real data beyond anecdotes and bold news headlines, on questions like:

I'm happy to share the data with you today in this episode: In The Engineering Leadership Report 2024, which I'm publishing in collaboration with tech events & publishing company LeadDev.

Join me for this conversation with LeadDev's editor-in-chief Scott Carey, an experienced tech journalist. Together, we ran a survey and heard from over 1,100 engineering leaders on:

Note: This podcast goes live while Scott and I present a talk version of our conversation at LeadDev London - this is for everyone of you who can't be in person with us.

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Download the full report at ⁠bit.ly/engleadershipreport⁠.

Full episode transcript.

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We want to hear from you! Email us with feedback, questions, or topic ideas; I can't promise we can always respond, but I can promise we read and care about every email! At [email protected].