Leman Tech Leadership Podcast

▶︎ #147 | Change Is Not Going to Stop — But Your Team's Suffering Can

Every tech leader asks the same question eventually: "When will it slow down? When will I finally have time to think, plan, and breathe?" In this episode, Alex gives the answer that nobody wants to hear — and the reframe that makes it survivable.

It won't slow down. Constant adaptation isn't a phase. It's the new permanent state of tech leadership. And the leaders who accept that earliest are the ones who stop being destroyed by it.

In this episode, your host, Aleksandra Lemańska, reframes what resilience actually means: not the ability to endure constant stress without breaking, but the ability to return to balance quickly after a disruption — and that is a skill that can be built systematically, not a personality trait you either have or don't.

The core of the episode walks through a worked example using the CQ Leadership Method's 4-phase Change Checklist: the role restructure from Junior-Mid-Senior to Mid-Senior-Staff Engineer. Alex maps every risk this change creates when handled poorly — high turnover, distress spikes, motivation drops, trust erosion — and shows exactly how each phase of the checklist addresses them. From the Prep Phase where data and stakeholder buy-in are built, through Communications and Training tailored to individual personality Bases, into Implementation and Stabilization with real pulse checks built in.



✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/

▶︎ #146 | From Big 4 Consulting to Building a FemTech Startup w/ Maggie Lusk @ex-KMPG, @ex-Deloitte, @Seala Sync

Join your host, Aleksandra Lemańska, for a compelling episode of the Leman Tech Leadership Podcast as we engage in a conversation with Maggie Lusk, an experienced consultant and Founder of Saela Sync, a pioneering FemTech Startup. Maggie shares her journey from her consulting days at KPMG and Deloitte to founding a startup that builds the first adaptive hormone and performance intelligence platform for women.

In this episode, Maggie opens up about the hard decisions faced by entrepreneurs and the challenges of building a product from scratch. She shares her personal health story, which inspired her to create an app that provides the support she lacked when she needed it most.

We discuss the impact of health issues on performance, efficiency, and creativity, emphasizing the importance of maintaining health to achieve extraordinary results. Maggie also highlights managing the complexity and the importance of focus required to build something remarkable, as well as the significance of smart networking and community engagement for Founders.


✔︎ Mentioned in the episode:

Dr. Ellen Langer’s work

“The Mindful Body: Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health”


✉︎ FOLLOW MAGGIE ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @maggielusk
Saela Sync: www.saelasync.com


✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/

▶︎ #145 | 70% of Tech Change Initiatives Fail — And It's Not a Technical Problem

Seventy percent of organizational change initiatives fail to meet their intended outcomes. That number has been consistent across industries and decades — and in almost every case, the failure has nothing to do with the technology involved. It's a people problem. A communication problem. A leadership problem.

In this episode, your host, Aleksandra Lemańska, walks through the five root cause buckets behind the 70% failure rate — lack of employee buy-in, insufficient leadership support, poor planning, poor communication, and treating go-live as the finish line — and makes the case that most of these are not mysteries. They're predictable, avoidable, and still happening everywhere because leaders either don't know what to look for or are too overwhelmed to act before the damage is done.

The episode also addresses the buy-in problem specifically: why one-size-fits-all communication consistently fails in tech teams, why announcing a restructure on a Friday afternoon is a distress trigger for a significant portion of your team, and why a leader who publicly signals ambivalence about a change will watch their team mirror it within days.


✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/

▶︎ #144 | Directions of Tech Teams Transformation, Meaning of "AI Natives" & Creating Thriving Startups w/ Punit Jajodia @Programiz

Join your host, Aleksandra Lemańska, for an insightful episode of the Leman Tech Leadership Podcast as we engage in a conversation with Punit Jajodia, an experienced Startup Co-Founder and the current CEO at Programiz. Punit shares his journey of starting a startup with friends, navigating pivots, and the critical role of a leadership technology background at various stages of a tech organization.

We delve into the dynamic changes occurring in tech team structures and the evolving landscape of leveraging AI. Punit explains what it truly means to integrate AI into an organization and the concept of being AI Native. He emphasizes the growing importance of documentation as it serves as the foundational fuel for AI models to learn.

This episode also explores the necessity of continuous learning in leadership within the technology sector. Punit provides valuable insights into how leaders can adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing environment, making this discussion essential for anyone looking to stay ahead in the tech industry.


✔︎ Mentioned in the episode:

“Click. How to Make What People Want.”


✉︎ FOLLOW PUNIT ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @punitjajodia
Programiz: https://www.programiz.com/


✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/

▶︎ #143 | The IT Burnout: 6 Categories That Are Quietly Destroying Your Team

The data is already alarming: 62% of IT professionals feel physically or emotionally drained, 47% of tech leaders feel that way every single week, and only 21% can be considered genuinely healthy when it comes to burnout risk. But the bigger problem isn't the scale — it's that most leaders are treating burnout as one thing, and applying generic fixes to what is actually six very different problems.

In this episode, your host, Aleksandra Lemańska, introduces the 6 Burnout Categories from the CQ Leadership Method: Stretching Too Much, Excessive Workload, High-Pressure Environment, Constant Learning Pressure, Work-Life Imbalance, and Lack of Recognition. Each one has a different set of early behavioral signals. Each one requires a different leadership response. And any single category, left unaddressed, is enough to lose someone.

The episode unpacks what each category looks like before the crisis point — because by the time someone hands in their notice, you've already lost. Alex shares Maya's story: perfect delivery every sprint, never a complaint, gone in two weeks because nobody saw her as a person beyond her output. Replacement cost: six to nine months of lost productivity and over $40,000 in recruitment. Recognition isn't a soft problem. It’s a strategic one.



✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/

▶︎ #142 | From Legal Practice to Technology Program Delivery w/ Deborah Kaminetzky @DeFacto PM

Join your host, Aleksandra Lemańska, for an enlightening episode of the Leman Tech Leadership Podcast as we sit down with Deborah Kaminetzky, a seasoned lawyer turned tech entrepreneur. As the Founder of DeFacto PM, Deborah delivers comprehensive technology program delivery for ERP, SaaS, and infrastructure implementations.

In this conversation, Deborah shares how her background in Law and English studies, as well as her years of experience as a lawyer, equipped her with the skills necessary to successfully pivot and work in the technology space. We explore the importance of a risk register in making entrepreneurial and leadership decisions and discuss the art of leading without authority, particularly in a project management setup.

Deborah emphasizes the significance of involving people in decision-making processes and how coaching or mentoring can propel leaders in technology to the next level. Her insights offer a roadmap for those looking to navigate the intersection of law, technology, and leadership.

✔︎ Mentioned in the episode:

“Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee” Podcast:

“The Game with Alex Hormozi” Podcast:


✉︎ FOLLOW DEBORAH ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @deborah-kaminetzky-pmp-fractional-project-manager
DeFacto PM https://www.defactoprojectmanagement.com/


✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/

▶︎ #141 | Nobody Wakes Up Wanting to Ruin Your Day: The OK-OK Matrix Every Tech Leader Needs

Most team friction isn't malicious. It isn't even intentional. It's the result of people operating from belief systems they developed as children and have never consciously examined — and a leader who understands that will respond to difficult behavior completely differently than one who takes it personally.

In this episode, your host, Aleksandra Lemańska, reminds you about the OK-OK Matrix: four positions that shape how people show up in every interaction, every meeting, and every moment of pressure. Each position comes with its own automatic set of beliefs, feelings, and behaviors — and most tech leaders, under deadline pressure, quietly default to "I'm OK, You're Not OK" without realizing the damage that creates.

When a leader exits OK-OK, their team mirrors it. Distress is contagious. Psychological safety erodes. And the harder the leader pushes, the more they confirm to the team that they aren't trusted. Alex uses Mike's story to show how a single operating assumption from a boss — "he knows what he's doing, I don't need to explain" — can put a strong person into a three-month distress spiral.

The episode closes with a practical, 10-second internal check to run before any difficult conversation, and a framework for identifying your own most common exit from OK-OK — so you can build the habit of returning before the conversation goes sideways.


✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/

▶︎ #140 | Scaling Nations, Building Ecosystem & Building Leadership Lifelong Learning w/ Ajit Shah @YPO, @Lotus Holdings

Join your host, Aleksandra Lemańska, for an enlightening episode of the Leman Tech Leadership Podcast as she engages in a rich conversation with Ajit Shaw, a seasoned entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience across diverse business sectors. Currently serving as the Director and CEO of Lotus Holdings, Ajit leads a family office with ventures in real estate, handmade rugs, healthcare, IT, offshoring, and business process outsourcing. He is also a YPO Board Member.

In this episode, Ajit shares his vision of "local roots and global branches," discussing his efforts to empower Nepalese people as exceptional remote workers on the global stage. The conversation delves into the advantages and challenges of remote work setups, highlighting the importance of building ecosystems and communities that support professional growth.

Ajit emphasizes the significance of doing work that supports others and the value of lifelong learning in leadership. Through his experiences and insights, this episode provides a valuable roadmap for leaders looking to harness the power of remote work while fostering community and continuous development. Whether you're leading a global team or nurturing local talent, Ajit's journey offers inspiration for creating impactful and sustainable business practices.




✔︎ Mentioned in the episode:

“Sam Altman Biography: His Journey from Y Combinator to Artificial Intelligence Visionary, OpenAI, AGI & Gen AI | The Optimist Behind ChatGPT and the Race to Build the Future of AI”

The Founders Podcast


✉︎ FOLLOW AJIT ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @ajit-shah-7610a745
YPO https://www.ypo.org


✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/

▶︎ #139 | You Can't Debug a Human: Why Your Developer Skills Are Failing You as a Leader

You were exceptional at your job. Then you got promoted — and suddenly the skills that made you great started working against you. In this episode, your host, Aleksandra Lemańska, breaks down the most common and most costly transition in tech: moving from expert individual contributor to people leader, and why so many technically brilliant professionals struggle to make that shift.

You can't debug a human relationship. You can't refactor someone's motivation. You can't unit-test trust. These aren't philosophical observations — they're the exact gaps that explain why 86% of employees say poor communication causes workplace failures, and why 44% of tech professionals miss deadlines because of unclear communication. The problem isn't a lack of technical skill. It's that technical thinking, applied to people problems, consistently produces the wrong output.

Alex walks through Mike's story — the best developer on the team, now drowning in his second week as Team Lead — to make the stakes concrete. Then she introduces the three things the CQ Leadership Method gives you that no amount of technical expertise can replace: a pattern recognition system for human behavior through PCM, a contracting approach that eliminates ambiguous agreements before they become conflicts, and the Wheel of Conflict framework that helps you diagnose what's actually broken instead of fighting the same team dysfunction on a loop.



✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/

▶︎ #138 | AI Community, Building Thriving Startups & Dev Teams Change w/ Oleksandr Paraska @Togal.ai

Join your host, Aleksandra Lemańska, for a compelling episode of the Leman Tech Leadership Podcast as she sits down with Oleksandr Paraska, an experienced Machine Learning Engineer and CTO, currently leading as the CTO at Togal.ai. In this insightful conversation, Oleksandr sheds light on the often-overlooked aspect of change management processes within organizations, particularly during tech implementations and transformations.

The episode explores the intricacies of building effective tech teams and the critical role of sales skills in the success of startups. Olek also shares his experiences and the benefits of being part of an AI community, emphasizing the importance of community support for startup Founders and Tech Leaders alike.

Through Olek's expertise and stories, this episode offers valuable perspectives for leaders navigating the challenges of tech transformations and team dynamics. Whether you're leading a tech initiative or building your startup, Olek's insights provide a roadmap for fostering a supportive community and implementing successful change management strategies.


✔︎ Mentioned in the episode:

“On Bullshit”


✉︎ FOLLOW OLEKSANDR ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @shoniko
Togal.ai: https://www.togal.ai/


✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/