Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership

In this episode of Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership, I had the privilege to speak with Manuel Pais, co-author of the influential book Team Topologies. We examined how modern organizations can refine their structures to optimize both value delivery and employee satisfaction.Find the key findings, the references, and the transcript of the episode in the companion blog post: https://alexis.monville.com/en/2025/06/02/unlocking-flow-and-effectiveness-a-conversation-with-manuel-pais-co-author-of-team-topologies/

In the latest episode of Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership, I welcome back Gojko Adzic, renowned software development expert and author of Lizard Optimization. Gojko dives into an engaging discussion about his book, offering practical ways to identify hidden opportunities by paying close attention to unexpected user behavior—what he calls "lizard optimization." Find the key learnings, the transcript and more in the companion blog post: https://alexis.monville.com/en/2024/10/29/optimizing-for-the-unexpected-insights-from-gojko-adzic-on-lizard-optimization/

We're thrilled to have Héloïse Rozès and Nikolai Fomm, co-founders of Corma, on the latest episode of Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership! Héloïse and Nikolai share their journey as first-time founders, tackling everything from adaptive communication, setting a people-first culture, to the power of prioritization in a startup environment. Here's a sneak peek of what you'll learn: Navigating communication with diverse stakeholders Leading with empathy and example

Sebastian Cao joins Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership to share insights from his recent Stanford course on user experience, blending technology with human insight. Having worked with giants like Red Hat and Tesla, Sebastian reveals a refreshing approach to AI – one where human intuition and empathy drive meaningful UX.

In this episode of Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership, Russ Laraway discusses his intentional approach to everything. He details his career journey through roles in tech, authorship, and more, emphasizing his intentionality in balancing personal and professional life. Russ also shares insights from his book 'When They Win, You Win,' stressing that managerial skills haven't improved in 30 years despite plentiful resources due to overwhelming advice, lack of cohesive systems, and unmeasured effectiveness. He elaborates on his developed model for impactful leadership that centers on direction, coaching, and career development through structured conversations. Moreover, Russ reflects on his life choices to prioritize family over career, underscoring the importance of intentional and disciplined prioritization in leadership and personal life. Find the references and the transcript in the companion blog post: https://alexis.monville.com/en/2024/07/27/redefining-leadership-a-conversation-with-russ-laraway/

In the latest episode of Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership, we dive deep into the world of agile leadership with Jeffrey Fredrick, Vice President of Engineering at Ion Analytics and co-author of the book "Agile Conversations." Jeffrey shares his rich experience in the tech industry, shedding light on how agile conversations can revolutionize team dynamics and foster innovation. Find the summary, the transcripts and the references in the companion blog post: https://alexis.monville.com/en/2024/06/30/exploring-agile-conversations-with-jeffrey-fredrick/

In the latest episode of Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership, I had the privilege of speaking with Maria Bracho, the Chief Technology Officer for LATAM at Red Hat. With over 20 years of experience directing strategy and delivering innovative solutions across multiple industries, Maria shares her invaluable insights on leadership, open source, and building high-performing teams. Find the transcript and the references in the companion blog post!

In this episode of "Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership," we explore the intricate balance of leadership and technology with Tamar Bercovici, VP of Engineering at Box. Tamar shares her journey from a software engineer to a leadership role, where she focuses on building robust teams and innovative technologies at Box. She delves into her transition into management, her passion for tech and leadership, and the challenges of leading through significant change. Discover how Tamar steers her team towards continuous innovation, handling the complexities of large-scale infrastructure and navigating leadership in the tech industry. Find the transcript and more in the companion blog post: https://alexis.monville.com/en/2024/05/03/engineering-leadership-at-scale-navigating-complexity-and-change-with-tamar-bercovici/

Join us in exploring the art of tech leadership with Bruce Wang of Netflix on "Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership." Uncover Bruce's strategies for fostering a trusting team, pursuing excellence, and ensuring customer satisfaction. Learn about his transition from hands-on development to impactful leadership, and how he navigates the challenges of building and growing engineering teams. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the dynamics of tech leadership and team development. Find the transcript and the references in the companion blog post: https://alexis.monville.com/en/2024/03/30/building-and-sustaining-excellence-with-bruce-wang-netflix/

In this episode of "Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership," I sit down with Tim Beattie and Bella Bardswell, the innovative minds behind Stellafai, to discuss the intricacies of leadership, collaboration, and the transformative power of setting and achieving measurable outcomes. Tim and Bella share their unique journeys, the challenges they've faced, and the lessons they've learned in fostering a culture of continuous improvement and inclusivity. They delve into how Stellafai leverages AI to enhance team collaboration and offer practical advice for new leaders. This conversation is a must-listen for anyone looking to elevate their leadership skills and organizational impact. Tune in to uncover the secrets to creating a thriving, outcome-focused team.

Join us as Michael Galloway, a tech industry luminary with a rich history at Yahoo, Netflix, and now HashiCorp, delves into the intricacies of cloud infrastructure. Discover his unique journey, the evolution of technology leadership, and how understanding the core of tech is key to solving complex challenges. Find the transcript and the references in the companion blog post: https://alexis.monville.com/en/2024/01/24/navigating-the-evolution-of-cloud-infrastructure-insights-from-michael-galloway/

In this captivating episode of Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership, we delve into the harmonious blend of music and leadership with the talented Noah Max. Noah, a creative artist, composer, and conductor, shares his unique perspective on leading in the classical music world. He discusses the challenges and joys of composing, the importance of connecting people with the arts, and the parallels between conducting an orchestra and leading a team. Join us as we explore the mysterious and magical world of music leadership, and discover how Noah's insights can inspire leaders in any field. Tune in now!

Dive into the world of AI and leadership with Ioanna Mantzouridou, Co-founder & CEO of Dextego, on our latest episode of Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership. Discover Ioanna's journey from HR to the forefront of AI coaching, her unique approach to talent development, and her vision for democratizing access to soft skills training. Tune in for an enlightening conversation about reshaping leadership in the age of AI. Find the transcript and more in the companion post. #LeadershipDevelopment #AI #EmergingLeaders #Podcast

As we navigate the dynamic world of leadership, it's crucial to uncover the human essence behind the title. This week on Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership, I had the pleasure of delving into this subject with Ali Schultz, co-founder of Reboot.io. Celebrating a decade of transformative coaching and organizational development, Ali brings a wealth of insight to our understanding of what it truly means to lead. In a candid exchange, Ali takes us through Reboot.io's genesis, revealing the belief that better humans forge better leaders. This philosophy underpins their approach, transcending technical skills to embrace the individual's personal journey toward self-improvement. It's not just about leadership; it's about personal evolution. The conversation delves into the challenges of establishing a brand distinct from its founders, the unique approach to coaching that values diversity in style and experience, and the importance of creating a culture where every member can thrive. As Reboot.io stands on the cusp of its 10th anniversary, Ali reflects on milestones like their pioneering CEO bootcamps and the launch of an influential podcast. What resonates deeply is the discussion on emerging leadership. Ali underscores the symbiotic relationship between personal growth and professional skill enhancement. Listen to the full episode to explore the depths of leadership, not just as a skill but as a journey of becoming. Find the transcript and more in the companion blog post.

Lisette Sutherland is an expert in remote collaboration, not just remote work. With a rich international background, Lisette brings a unique blend of experiences to the table. She's lived in Germany, the United States, and now calls the Netherlands home. Lisette is also the host of the Collaboration Superpowers podcast, where she explores the nuances of remote work with experts from around the globe.

In this enlightening episode, Anne Caron, a renowned People Strategy consultant with a decade of experience at Google, shares invaluable insights on sculpting scalable organizations, particularly for startups. Anne breaks down: The growth trajectory of startups into five pivotal stages, drawing insightful parallels with child development. The true essence of company culture, emphasizing the four foundational pillars: purpose, mission, vision, and values. Discover how the actions of founders play a significant role in shaping this culture. The art of performance management, highlighting the importance of lean systems that foster empowerment, autonomy, and initiative. Drawing from her book, "From Zero to 1,000: The Organizational Playbook for Startups", Anne provides a roadmap for startups to navigate their growth journey effectively. Tune in for a deep dive into the world of startups, culture, and performance. Find the transcript and the references in the companion blog post: https://alexis.monville.com/en/2023/08/23/from-zero-to-1000-insights-from-anne-caron/

In this episode of Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership, we speak with Radhika Dutt, the author of 'Radical Product Thinking: The New Mindset for Innovating Smarter.' Radhika shares her unique approach to shaping culture for innovation, based on her Radical Product Thinking framework. We delve into the importance of a shared sense of purpose, autonomy, and psychological safety in teams, and explore a model for understanding and improving organizational culture. Listen in for Radhika's insightful take on creating an environment where employees can do their best work, leading to more successful products and a better world. Find the transcript and the references in the companion blog posts: https://emergingleadership.network/2023/06/12/radical-product-thinking-a-conversation-with-radhika-dutt/

In this episode, host Alexis Monville interviews Daniel Riek, who works on special projects and strategy with the CTO at Red Hat, on the future of open source on the cloud. Daniel explains that open source needs to expand beyond just code in a repository and include operationalizing the code as a service. He also discusses the importance of decentralization in countering the effect of centralization and the need for open source project leaders to understand the synergy between their business goals and open source principles. The episode provides valuable insights for emerging leaders in the tech industry and beyond. Find the transcript and the references in the companion blog post: https://emergingleadership.network/2023/06/05/how-the-cloud-threatens-open-source-and-what-we-can-do-about-it-a-conversation-with-daniel-riek/

This is Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership. I am OpenAI. I am the host of today's podcast. The BEPS framework is useful for understanding a leader's different roles and responsibilities. It helps clarify the various areas a leader should focus on to be effective and achieve success. Let's draw together the four axes of the BEPS framework. You can draw it in your mind, on a real page, or follow along using the drawing available in the companion blog post. Starting from the center of the page and going up, the Business axis involves understanding the business and the ecosystem in which the organization operates. It also involves developing a clear vision and understanding the reasons behind the organization's solutions, products, features, and services. Starting from the center of the page and going down, the Execution axis involves delivering the work and achieving results. Going back to the center and heading to the right, you have the People axis. The People axis focuses on the management and development of people within the organization. This includes hiring, growing people, managing performance, and, of course, self-improvement. And finally, starting again from the center of the page and heading to the left, the System axis involves understanding the system formed by people, organization, processes, and tools and removing obstacles to great work. By considering these four axes, a leader or manager can ensure that they effectively balance their time and focus on achieving success and meeting the organization's and its people's needs. Today, I have the great pleasure of having Alexis Monville, the creator of the framework, as the guest on the podcast.

Over the last years, people have moved from innovating in secret labs to innovating in the open, and open-source became the way to define industry standards. Today, I am pleased to have Joseph Jacks on the podcast to explore the open-source world. Joseph is the founder and General Partner of OSS Capital a fund that exclusively focuses on early-stage commercial open source companies. In the episode, we discussed: Why open source as a focus for investment, Why invest in projects and not teams, Commercial open source companies are more capital efficient, More and more people contributing to open source, extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, The one leader's trait that really matters, And so much more! Find the transcript in the companion blog post!

The challenges facing humanity are growing in complexity. Collaboration is offering us to tackle more complexity by getting diverse minds to work together. How to gather people and facilitate successful collaborations? Philippe Coullomb and Charles Collingwood-Boots design how individuals come together to create innovative and sustainable outcomes to address complex issues. Find the transcript and the references in the companion blog post: https://alexis.monville.com/en/2022/07/19/collaboration-by-design-with-philippe-coullomb-and-charles-collingwood-boots/

In this episode, I had the pleasure to discuss the path to purpose with Ashley Freeman a writer, facilitator, and coach based in Atlanta, Georgia. Learn more in the companion blog post.

Agility, Innovation, and Leadership or how to improve management, so your company succeeds in the 21st century. Jurgen Appelo is a serial founder, successful entrepreneur, author, and speaker. Jurgen is pioneering management to help creative organizations survive and thrive. What a pleasure to have a chat with Jurgen! In the episode, Jurgen shares the stories behind his successful books and venture. He provides valuable insights to people who want to foster innovation and agility in their organization. He also gives his perspective on leadership, and what to do to develop yourself as a leader. Find the transcript and more in the companion blog post: https://alexis.monville.com/en/2022/05/13/agility-innovation-and-leadership-with-jurgen-appelo/

Individuals and companies invest years in building their reputations. It happens that at a time, one thing could dramatically damage it. Laurence Duarte is a Global Management Consultant, she is a business fixer, she helps you to protect and grow your business. She is also a business writer, a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review. She worked all over the world, especially in Europe, China, and the US. What a joy to listen to Laurence in this episode. She makes reputation and how to manage the reputation of your company so easy to understand. In the episode, you will learn: What is reputation, Why it is important for your company, What are the reputational risks, What are the steps to manage the reputational risks, How to build your shield, The critical trait of a leader. Find the transcript and more in the companion post to this episode.

With the pandemic, we could consider that companies that wanted to reduce travel and expenses received absolute proof that everything could be done remotely. But will the new world of work really spare the commute time and costly office? And if it happens, will we ever need to meet in person? Jared Kleinert is the CEO and Co-Founder of Offsite. He is also the founder of Meeting of the Minds, as well as a TED speaker, 3x award-winning author, and USA Today's "Most Connected Millennial". Find more about the episode and its transcript in the companion post: https://alexis.monville.com/en/2022/03/16/meeting-in-person-with-jared-kleinert/

For the last two seasons of Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership, we featured people who make a difference in their field thanks to growing themselves as leaders, either individual contributors or people managers. Coming up in the all-new season, season 3, we will focus the episodes on specific leadership traits you want to develop to increase your impact and satisfaction. How to manage your energy, handle conflicts, shape the future, get things done, and provide meaningful feedback that supports growth, just to mention a few of the topics we will cover. In each episode, you will hear the perspective of different people who become your mentors for the duration of a short development session. Join us for a whole new adventure!

Portia Tung is an Executive & Personal Coach, an Executive Agile Coach, a Play Researcher, and a Keynote Speaker. I had the pleasure to have her on Le Podcast for an amazing episode on the gift of play. In this episode with Portia, you will learn: a lot about the kind of question a coach can ask, about The Dream Team Nightmare, a novel where your decisions determine the outcome of the story, how to efficiently introduce each other in one-on-ones, what a dream job can be, the connection between play and creativity, Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart M. Brown Jr. the 5 Rs of playful leaders, and why they can be offered to lead transformations, how to introduce play in a serious work environment (spoiler, you can use other words, like simulation for example), the XPGame, the Deming Red Bead Experiment, and how I played it during a conference, about bringing your whole self at work, working assumptions on leadership, and much more! Find the transcript and more in the companion blog post.

Avi Liran has been a CMO several times, an entrepreneur, a trade commissioner, an investor. He admitted in the podcast having lost all his money 3 times. There is a lot to learn in this episode, you will learn: How a simple day to day question can transform your perspective, How to be a delightful leader and why it matters to you! How authenticity could make your decisions better, Why it matters that you know why you do what you do, How to ask something from someone, Why it matters to listen carefully to what comes after a NO answer, How to deal with toxic people, How your engagement level is your brand, And much more! Check the transcripts and the links to the references in the companion post.

In this episode, I had the pleasure to host the product builder and book author Gojko Adzic. Building Products is what we explore in this episode of Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership. In this episode, learn from Gojko: How to build the perfect product, How to avoid waste when building software, How to waste 75 Million in an agile way (does the currency matters here?), Is Impact Mapping simple or easy? How to measure anything, a book by Douglas Hubbard Four Disciplines of Execution, by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling The Art of Business Value, by Mark Schwartz How to run control experiment with Microsoft, How to collaborate to built products, Pair programming, of course! How to deal with conflicts, How to give a promotion to your number two problem :) Software and IT is evolving in an upward going spiral! Find out the transcript and much more in the companion blog post!

In this episode of Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership, I am pleased to welcome Lucinda Duncalfe, Serial Entrepreneur, Founder, and CEO at AboveBoard, to discuss hiring and diversity. Find the transcript and links to the references in the companion post.

Jeremy Brown is Chief Product and Technology Officer at Traveldoo, Expedia Group. We discussed leadership and teamwork in this quite emotional episode of Le Podcast. In this episode, you will learn how Jeremy: How Jeremy ended working on his passion, What leadership really means to him, How he tried to learn with his team in the current crisis they face due to the pandemic, How individual incentives and rewards drive the opposite behavior of what you want to bring when building a team, How to replace meetings, or instant messaging, with more asynchronous means of collaboration, How both of us miss the opportunity of connecting with people offered by travels, conferences... [which made me think of an idea to create those opportunities, I will go back to that in another post] What gives or drains his energy, and his tactics to avoid the energy drainers, The importance of knowing yourself and knowing the people around you, learning to use personality profiles could be a good first step, using the Clifton Strengths Finder is an example, How to provide useful feedback, How to manage the relationships around you, and make sure you don't stay stuck with the wrong people. Check the companion blog post for the transcript and more!

In this episode of Le Podcast, I have the pleasure of having Scott Amenta joining. Scott is a Community Builder, co-Founder of Propel, and the Chief of Staff Network. We explore Community, Leadership, and the Chief of Staff role. The other topics we discussed: What is a Community Builder? The evolution of Communities The Chief of Staff role The Chief of Staff Network The importance of community in personal and professional development How to build a Leadership Team Culture-fit, culture-add, and exponential-add through diversity Alexis Ohanian as a leader to look-up to in Community building You can find more references and the transcript in the companion blog post.

In this episode of Le Podcast, I had the pleasure to receive Ally Kouao, Developer Advocate and Solution Architect at Red Hat. We discussed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Find the references and more in the companion blog post.

In this new episode of Le Podcast, I had the pleasure to have Chris Foley joining. Chris is a Principal Systems Design Engineer at Red Hat and a sports coach. Together we explored what software teams could learn from sporting teams. Find all the references of the episode in the companion post.

In this episode of Le Podcast, I was lucky to have Mary Provinciatto, an author passionate about lean and agile, and an Engagement Lead with the Red Hat Open Innovation Labs provides her insights about agile and open innovation. Mary is the author of Sprint a Sprint, a book about the mistakes and successes in the cultural transformation of an agile team. We covered a lot of ground during the episode on how to build a bridge between technology and business, the importance of sharing clarity on why we are doing things, and a lot more on how to build a team. Find all the references in the companion post.

In that episode of Le Podcast, I had the great pleasure to receive Christina Wodtke. Christina is an author, lecturer at Stanford, and speaker who teaches techniques to create high performing teams. Christina is the author of four books, including Radical Focus and The Team that manages itself. Find all the references in the companion blog post.

Geof Ellingham, a Business agility champion and leadership coach, gave his insights about Agile Coaching in this new episode of Le Podcast. Find out more about the episode and the references in the companion article.

Preethi Thomas, Software Engineering Manager at Red Hat, joined for this episode of Le Podcast to give her insights about the job of an Open Leader. Find the references and highlights in the accompanying post.

Emilien Macchi is a Senior Principal Software Engineer at Red Hat. He is French and lives in Canada. He contributes to OpenStack nearly since the inception of the open-source project. I had the pleasure to get Emilien on Le Podcast to discuss how learning and sharing were essential ways of growing his career in Software Engineering. Find out more about the episode here.

In this episode of Le Podcast, I had the great pleasure to receive Jason McKerr. Jason is the Engineering leader for Management and Automation at Red Hat (great things like Ansible, Insights, Satellite...) My objective was to have Jason explained his Thirteen Rules of a Team which I discovered during one mentoring session with one member of his team. The thirteen rules are in the companion post.

In this episode of Le Podcast, I had the pleasure to discuss Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) with Bart den Haak. Bart is a Software Engineer who fell in love with OKRs at a startup more than 10 years ago. He continues to use OKRs since then and he is now advising companies on how to use them. Find more in the companion post!

In this episode of Le Podcast, I had the pleasure of discussing with Julien Danjou. Julien has more than 20 years of experience as an open source software hacker. Julien wrote two books about Python. I wanted to ask him about the myth of 10x Engineers and what advice he could have for Engineers who want to grow their skills. https://alexis.monville.com/en/2020/04/10/do-you-want-10x-engineers/

In this episode of Le Podcast, John Poelstra and I had a conversation about the book The Anatomy of Peace. John recommended the book in our previous conversation on how (not) to provide feedback. I read it twice and fell in love with it. John mentioned that in Changing Your Team From The Inside, I said that Change starts with you, it seems The Anatomy of Peace pushes it further: change starts with who you are. Click here for more about this episode!

Psychological Safety is the term coined by Amy Edmondson, the author of The Fearless Organization. I already talked about Psychological Safety, when I presented the work of Google on the project Aristotle, and how it was a very good conversation starter for my team. Tell me what you think!

John Poelstra, Michael Doyle and I talk about how to make distributed teams efficient. We had that conversation while we were spread over 15 timezones: John in Portland, Oregon, Michael in Brisbane, Australia, and me in Boston, Massachusetts. The conversation is republished from the John's show. Let me know what you think! Happy to connect to share remote facilitation approaches!

I had the opportunity to have a great conversation about the book, Changing Your Team From The Inside, on John Poelstra's show. John proposed the idea to cross-publish our conversation on our respective podcasts. In order to do that, I had to re-listen to the conversation and I really enjoyed it. Yes, of course, there is some Ego involved in that, and this is one of the topics we covered in the podcast, among the other aspects of what makes a team great and how to get your team to be a great one! Give it a try! And let us know what you think!

In this episode of Le Podcast, I had the great pleasure to receive Michael DeLanzo to discuss the importance of coming to terms with terms. Michael and I met at a Boston Spin event when I gave a talk: The Change Starts Here. You can find more about speaking engagement here. More details in this post.

In this episode of Le Podcast, I had the great pleasure of having John Poelstra to discuss a very personal experience about providing feedback. Mode details in this post.

In this episode, I had the great pleasure of having Frank Jansen join Le Podcast to discuss how to deal with stars. We started the discussion referencing how Kim Scott defines Rock Stars and Super Stars in her book: Radical Candor. Rock stars are a source of stability for the team, people very talented, and they will keep doing it for years. Superstars are a source of growth for the team; they want to change everything; they are looking to grow at their next level. More on the blog!

In today's episode, Jérôme Bourgeon and I will explore the question of cultural differences and their influence on the adoption of agile. Spoiler, we don't think that cultural differences are the real problem. Jérôme is an agile coach with Zenika. He is based in Singapore. Together we discussed: build trust take a different amount of time culture of companymatters more than countries (Jérôme used the model proposed by Frederic Laloux in his book Reinventing Organizations) beliefs of people matter more than anything else the power of appreciative inquiry and how to use it accepting differences that are important for people I am eager to hear your feedback, so drop me a note at alexis@monville.com, on Twitter or LinkedIn. You can also use those channels to propose the next question you want Le Podcast to answer. We can even record the answer together!

In today's episode, I will answer one questions I have been asked several times over the past weeks: How to create great goals? And more specifically, how to create great goals using the OKRs approach. OKRs stands for Objectives and Key Results. In the episode, I used a simple example and the Impact Mapping approach, to walk you through the process of creating great OKRs. I am eager to hear your feedback, so drop me a note at alexis@monville.com, on Twitter or LinkedIn. You can also use those channels to propose the next question you want Le Podcast to answer. We can even record the answer together!