Guest: Mateo Bervejillo, CEO of Xseed and author of Back to Basics

Mateo started his career as an attorney in Uruguay before moving into outsourcing operations, growing into VP-level roles leading teams across the US, Uruguay and India, and eventually becoming CEO of Xseed, a LATAM software talent company he helped grow from five people to a hundred. He has spent two decades in the gap between being good at a job and being good at leading people who do that job.

What we cover in this episode

The conversation covers what actually happens when you get promoted into leadership for the first time, and why the skills that earned you the role are rarely the ones the role requires. We talk about inheriting teams versus building them, the mistake of leading by authority rather than trust, why scaling a business means changing how you work rather than just working more, and how to tell whether you are actually succeeding as a leader.

Key topics and timestamps

[00:02] Why a legal background can become a "business prevention syndrome" and how to get past it

[08:00] The transition from corporate to entrepreneurship, and losing the fear of rejection

[11:00] Building a network before you need it: your 20s, 30s and 40s

[14:45] The book: what nobody tells you when they give you a team

[19:50] Inheriting a team, taking it slowly, and giving people the right chance

[22:30] Leading by authority versus leading by alignment

[26:45] Building a team from scratch, cultural fit, and hiring for the stage you are actually at

[29:00] Why unconscious bias in hiring is unavoidable, and how to design around it

[33:50] Scaling and the player-coach problem: when letting go of the work feels like not working

[41:00] Leadership myths: you are on camera constantly, and the little things matter more than you think

[45:50] How to know if it is actually working: results, attrition and growth

[48:00] Advice to his younger self: network outside the company, and start early

Mentioned in this episode

Back to Basics: Bridging the Gap Between Expectations and Preparation for the Leader Role by Mateo Bervejillo, available on Amazon in Kindle, paperback and hardcover. Also at www.xseed.com.uy/back-to-basics-book

First Break All the Rules by Gallup (on employee motivation and engagement)

Connect with Mateo

Company: www.xseed.com.uy

LinkedIn: search Mateo Bervejillo

Email: [email protected]

The Atom CTO Podcast is hosted by Bhairav Patel. New episodes cover technology, entrepreneurship and the people building things that matter. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.