Effective leadership in tech means crafting a collaborative culture where growth happens through real-world challenges and strong interpersonal connections – not individual technical accomplishments.

Rob Dinsmore has an extensive background in leadership and team development, particularly in technical organisations like Cisco. He built a highly regarded programme for top engineering talent, helping these specialists expand their leadership skills and integrate them across the company to produce meaningful, business-driven outcomes.

Three reasons to listen

• To find out how to enable technical leaders to work effectively as a team
• To learn why leadership for technical experts is as much about collaboration and influence as it is about technical proficiency
• To hear how Cisco integrated senior technical leaders across departments, forming partnerships that transformed business initiatives

Episode highlights

• [00:09:34] Leadership at Cisco
• [00:14:39] Global Tech Leader Program
• [00:20:26] Using data to save the rhinos
• [00:25:27] Helping technical leaders build interpersonal skills
• [00:29:42] Learning the business and how to pitch it
• [00:32:18] Takeaways from Pia and Dan

Links

• Connect with Rob via LinkedIn
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note

Effective teaming requires intentional design and can’t be achieved simply by putting people together on a project.

Teaming by Design emphasises the importance of embedding team effectiveness skills within the context of real work, rather than teaching it as a separate subject.

This approach recognises that valuable teaming skills are often developed through practical experience and reflection, rather than through theoretical instruction alone.

For this episode, Dan and Pia are joined in-person by Sara Beckman, who developed the concept of "teaming by design" while teaching MBA students. Sara works on integrating team effectiveness training into various courses, particularly in innovation, design, and new product development, and has conducted research on team dynamics, including studies at Hewlett Packard.

Three reasons to listen

• To discover a unique approach to teaching teamwork called which embeds team effectiveness skills into project-based courses
• To explore goal congruence and its critical role in team performance
• To learn about the challenges of bringing about psychological safety in teams and how it relates to conflict management

Episode highlights

• [00:09:29] Teaming by design
• [00:14:42] Teaming in corporate vs academia
• [00:19:00] Conflict
• [00:19:59] The University of Unlearning
• [00:25:59] The importance of shared goals
• [00:29:55] How students view leadership
• [00:32:11] What is the future of teaming?
• [00:36:22] The benefits of teaming by design
• [00:38:05] Sara's book recommendation
• [00:40:07] Takeaways from Dan and Pia

Links

• Connect with Sara via LinkedIn
• Books by Claire Keegan
• Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
• Rough Sleepers, by Tracy Kidder
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note

Agile isn’t just for software teams – its principles can be effectively applied to HR and other business teams, offering a pragmatic approach to improving workflow and efficiency.

It goes beyond flexible working or nimble decision-making, representing a philosophy and set of principles for getting work done more effectively.

Nebel Crowhurst is the Chief People Officer at Reward Gateway, and has extensive experience in HR. She’s worked across a variety of industries, helping teams understand and transition to Agile.

Three reasons to listen

• For a pragmatic approach to implementing Agile principles in HR and business teams
• To discover how Agile can help teams prioritise work, reduce friction, and improve efficiency in meetings
• To explore the benefits and potential challenges of applying Agile methodologies outside of traditional software development

Episode highlights

• [00:08:46] Revisiting engagement surveys
• [00:13:40] What Agile is and is not
• [00:17:30] What Agile looks like in practice
• [00:22:08] Handling Agile scepticism (including your own)
• [00:24:55] Transitioning your team to Agile
• [00:31:53] Taking your first steps into Agile
• [00:33:17] Nebel's media recommendation
• [00:35:51] Takeaways from Dan and Pia

Links

• Connect with Nebel via LinkedIn
• Books by Natal Dank
• The Multi-Hyphen Method, by Emma Gannon
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note