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, and ask some tough questions: Are we living the lives we should be? Are we prioritizing what we value most? If this world we live in really is this fragile, are we taking the opportunity we have to make a difference? It's forced the reinvention of ourselves. For my guest...

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 the ranks. Armed with knowledge of AutoCAD and second-order differential equations, there would be nothing we couldn't handle. For anyone who's been in the workforce for any length of time knows, however, is just how far that is from the truth. That's why author,...

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 full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode23

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 at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode22

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 notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode21

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 full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode20

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 with my co-host Jeff Perry.  See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode19

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: Make 1 Billion Happier People. I ask Steve about the importance of his mission, how gratitude helps leaders, and what engineering managers can do today to start practicing gratitude each and every day.

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 so happens, the section on disrupting the way organizations work reads like a modern organization's playbook. Without realizing it, the modern workplace looks almost designed to disrupt the normal operations of a business. I focus on...

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.

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.

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 the book, how he balanced work with a major side project, and how he has developed his own leadership skills through the experience. See the show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode14 for more information.

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 resources mentioned in the show, as well as a full transcript at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode13.

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.

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 full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode11

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 pandemic.

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 you read about today. Below, I list the links that I mention throughout the show […]

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 feedback on the show. Please leave a comment at the end of the show notes […]

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 time. 2. It will be very difficult for you to invest in your career if you don’t love your work. 3. You’ll never be truly great at what you do if you don’t love your work. 4. People who aren’t into their work don’t get promotions 5. Most importantly, you won’t feel fulfilled.

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 and cons of each path and help you decide which might be best for you.

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 out of my week than the average engineer.