Mastering Engineering Leadership

In this episode, I speak with Sears Merritt, Head of Enterprise Technology and Experience at MassMutual, where he is responsible for the company's technology, cybersecurity, data, and artificial intelligence strategy and vision. Sears started as a curious kid who loved building radios, Lego creations, and computers, which led him to study electrical engineering. His early career moved from telecom networks to healthcare IT, then into data science and AI. Along the way, he continued his education, earning a master's degree in telecommunications and a PhD in computer science from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and an MBA from MIT Sloan.

In our leadership segment, Sears talks about how one of his biggest leadership challenges was bringing data science to life inside a large insurance company at a time when few people understood what it was or why it mattered. He had to educate stakeholders, separate hype from reality, and lead a broad change effort across the policyholder value chain. That work required constant communication, storytelling, and influence to turn abstract models into tangible business impact.

Sears encourages engineers who want to lead to embrace ambiguity rather than chase perfect static answers. He reframes leadership as applied scientific method in a changing world where hypotheses, experiments, and learning loops are more valuable than certainty. His core message is to develop agility, comfort with change, and a mindset that treats leadership decisions like iterative experiments rather than one-time bets.

Explore the full episode summary, including guest bio, key takeaways, transcript, and recommended resources in the shownotes at www.drangeliqueadams.com/podcast

In this episode, I speak with Greivin Chavarria, Global Quality Strategy and Innovation Director at Medtronic.

Greivin grew up in Costa Rica, where he discovered chemical engineering by asking questions at a sugar mill. He launched his career in process optimization through a rotational program at CEMEX where he built global experience and led major manufacturing operations. After completing an executive MBA at MIT, he transitioned into the medical device industry.

In our leadership segment, Greivin discussed how, mere weeks into a new role, he inherited a 60 % capacity ramp project for a multi-shift production line. He combined strategic actions with political and cultural lenses, aligning cross-functional teams, protecting quality, and connecting the work to patient impact.

Greivin's advice to engineering leaders? Try small experiments in people leadership, study enduring operations principles like the Toyota Way, and pursue continuous learning. Embrace discomfort by raising your hand before you feel fully ready.

Explore the full episode summary, including guest bio, key takeaways, transcript, and recommended resources in the shownotes at www.drangeliqueadams.com/podcast

In this episode, I speak with Mel Kirk, an award-winning business leader who is renowned for re-engineering or transforming business operations at some of America's most admired corporations. 

Mel discovered engineering through a summer STEM enrichment program and chose industrial engineering for its blend of people, process, and performance. Early co-ops and a cohort-based engineering program at the University of Tennessee shaped his Listen First leadership and opened doors to Merck GE, Rider, and other top firms where he led large scale transformation across multiple industries. 

In our leadership segment, Mel shares how again and again he was asked to re-engineer processes and cultures often without formal authority. He learned to convene diverse voices, amplify technical talent, and make tough calls with integrity while shouldering real career risk.

Mel's advice to aspiring leaders: master the fundamentals, practice active listening for understanding, show consistency of character and say yes to stretch opportunities. Follow up on access moments and build one-to-one relationships with senior leaders.

Explore the full episode summary, including guest bio, key takeaways, transcript, and recommended resources in the shownotes at www.drangeliqueadams.com/podcast

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Claus Daniel, Associate Director for Advanced Energy Technologies at Argonne National Laboratory.

Born into a family of carpenters in Germany, Claus was the first in his family to finish high school and attend college. Encouraged by an observant elementary teacher, he pursued material science after discovering a passion for physics and chemistry and a childhood encounter with an astronaut who was also a material scientist. He later moved to the United States to improve his English and earned a Wigner Fellowship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he helped build an influential battery program. After spending time in industry at Carrier, he returned to the US National Lab System at Argonne, where he leads an organization of scientists, engineers, and analysts working to develop breakthrough solutions to grow the economy through a reliable and secure energy system and a strong workforce.

In our leadership segment, Claus talks about how he repeatedly chose harder paths from changing countries to starting battery work where it was not expected. Through those challenges, he learned to balance influence with listening so teams can diverge before converging on decisions. Strategic focus, reflection, and resisting reactive communication became central to his approach to leadership.

Claus's advice to engineering leaders? When communicating about your work, don't talk only about gadgets. Frame engineering as solving societal problems.
Schedule reflection, know what you can influence, and practice the discipline captured in the Serenity Prayer to lead with focus and impact.

Explore the full episode summary, including guest bio, key takeaways, transcript, and recommended resources in the shownotes at www.drangeliqueadams.com/podcast

In this episode, I speak with Barbie Bigelow, CEO of Emerald Growth Partners and an independent board director, strategist, and digital expert. Barbie is a first-generation college student who pivoted from pre-med to chemical engineering, then discovered a love for computing during an internship at a paper mill. During her internship, she saved the company millions of dollars and was offered a full-time position, but decided to pursue graduate school instead.

After graduate school, Barbie started at IBM and kept saying yes to stretch roles that led to system architect, integrator, business leader, and CIO and CTO positions across multiple industries.

In our leadership segment, Barbie talks about how in her first CIO role, a unified platform proposal was rejected by the top leader. After a hard reset, she coached her team to relearn the business unit by unit, delivered targeted wins, and converted a skeptic into a champion who later endorsed the broader platform. 

Barbie's advice to engineering leaders: be relentlessly curious, practice the now what mindset, and triangulate for the truth by aligning strategy, actions, and data. Lead with authenticity, personalize your coaching like Pat Summitt, and always do what you say. 

Explore the full episode summary, including guest bio, key takeaways, transcript, and recommended resources in the shownotes at www.drangeliqueadams.com/podcast

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Zach Sims with Small Business Consulting Corporation. He is a Technical Director of Laboratory Capability Integration and Transition with Air Force Global Strike Command. Zach followed an early inspiration from his engineer father, studied physics, then pivoted to applied materials and energy engineering. He worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, completed a PhD through the University of Tennessee's Bredesen Center, became a Lawrence Fellow at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, and moved into joint faculty at the University of Tennessee. He now serves as a technology and stakeholder advocate linking Air Force needs with national lab capabilities.

In our leadership segment, Zach talks about how while at the University of Tennessee, he organized idea days to match Tennessee Valley Authority program leaders with university researchers. He aligned two very different stakeholder groups by setting a clear objective, curating the right presenters, enforcing audience-appropriate depth, and giving direct feedback to ensure outcomes.

Zach's advice to engineering leaders? Grow by taking progressively larger risks and building the resilience to recover from mistakes. Tailor your story to the audience, deliberately practice your communication skills, and use listening and reflection to convert stakeholder needs into actionable steps.

Explore the full episode summary, including guest bio, key takeaways, transcript, and recommended resources in the shownotes at https://drangeliqueadams.com/podcast/.

In this episode, I speak with Chris Whaley, founder and principal consultant of Escape to Expand, where he brings together people from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to unlock their full potential.

Chris fell in love with engineering after seeing Star Wars. He started his engineering journey in aerospace at UT Knoxville, pivoted to industrial engineering, and developed leadership through a decade in the volunteer fire service. He moved into project management at Phillips, earned a PMP and Six Sigma Black Belt, led large reorganizations, and advanced to VP of HR with a global assignment in Amsterdam before launching his consulting firm.

In our leadership segment, Chris discusses how, as a new HR business partner in a multi-billion dollar medical device business, he faced inconsistent talent perceptions among senior leaders. He accelerated an externally calibrated leadership assessment program, shifting his mindset from optimizing HR timelines to serving the business need. Chris's advice for engineering leaders,

Build trust by delivering and collaborating, seek cross-functional projects for visibility, learn fast by pairing immediate strengths with targeted mentoring, and use storytelling to connect data to meaning.

Explore the full episode summary, including guest bio, key takeaways, transcript, and recommended resources, in the show notes at drangeliqueadams.com/podcast.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Srijib Mukherjee, senior scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Srijib entered engineering as an accidental tourist, switching from physics to electrical engineering in India before earning a master's and PhD in the United States. He built a career across utility operations, trading, consulting, and teaching and now works in research with a joint appointment mentoring graduate students. His through line is curiosity, humility, and seeking broader impact across engineering, business, and academia. 

In our leadership segment, Srijib discussed how early in grid operations he had to earn credibility with tough, highly experienced operators. He chose humility, listened, learned the system hands-on, and focused on team trust and shared problem-solving. That mindset carried into later roles where he emphasized ownership, ethics, and mentoring. 

Srijib's advice to leaders: treat leadership as a responsibility, not a status. Balance IQ with EQ, take ownership for outcomes, and let peer respect validate your readiness. Prepare to make unpopular decisions, stay authentic, and build teams that elevate the whole organization. 

Explore the full episode summary, including guest bio, key takeaways, transcript, and recommended resources in the show notes at drangeliqueadams.com/podcast.

In this episode, I speak with Paulo Novaes, Chief Technology Officer at Aperam. Paulo grew up around engineering through his father, loved math and lab work, and ultimately chose metallurgy and materials engineering. He faced rejections to elite academies, persisted, and launched a career in specialty steel, moving from shop-floor engineer to multi-site leader.

In our leadership segment, Paulo discusses his approach to leading cross-border teams. He rejected fast top-down rollouts in favor of collaborative, on-site, people-first approaches. He built buy-in by traveling to each site, listening deeply, and co-creating roadmaps with local teams.

Paulo's advice to aspiring engineering leaders: Practice a beginner’s mindset, get comfortable acting with incomplete information, and prioritize soft skills, purpose, belonging, and self-care. The goal is sustained team performance and human-centered leadership.

Explore the full episode summary, including guest bio, key takeaways, transcript, and recommended resources in the shownotes at https://drangeliqueadams.com/podcast/.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Terry Alger, Vice President for Applied Research and Development at UL Solutions. Terry discovered mechanical engineering at West Point, found his passion in combustion and engines during graduate work at the University of Texas, and built a career spanning hands-on lab work, automotive research, and organizational leadership. Terry views leadership as a force multiplier, allowing engineers to stay connected to complex problems that fascinate them but can't fully take on themselves due to bandwidth, while also providing an opportunity to mentor and grow others. 

In our leadership segment, Terry gave us not one, but two great examples of the different ways engineering leaders can impact their environments. As a technology leader, Terry challenged industry orthodoxy by promoting cooled exhaust gas recirculation, or EGR, when lean burn was the prevailing trend, eventually influencing the direction of the automotive industry.

As an organizational leader, he identified that the best project managers were those with broad experience and responded by creating a rotational program for early career engineers, strengthening both talent development and management pipelines.

Terry's advice to aspiring engineering leaders? See yourself as a leader from day one and act accordingly. Communicate simply and directly, pair complementary strengths, study leadership deliberately, and embrace failure as part of innovation while staying humble enough to pivot when data proves you wrong.

Explore the full episode summary, including guest bio, key takeaways, transcript, and recommended resources in the shownotes at www.drangeliqueadams.com/podcast