---
title: "Decoding Leadership Podcast"
description: "Where we break down the elements of humane and effective leadership"
url: "https://www.rubick.com/decoding-leadership/"
---

![Decoding Leadership Podcast](https://www.rubick.com/_astro/decoding-leadership-6.BZEhyLPF_Z1AiCx5.webp)

[Listen to Decoding Leadership](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership)

Where we break down the elements of humane and effective leadership.

> "This is hands down one of the best podcast discussions on incident management, coordination, and reliability I've seen in ages! Fantastic conversation between Beth Adele Long and Jade Rubick on the Decoding Leadership podcast. Definitely worth a listen for anyone working in this space."

— [Adrian Hornsby](https://www.resiliumlabs.com) [on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/adhorn_beth-adele-long-on-reliability-and-leadership-activity-7366471477837127682-ZXfV?rcm=ACoAAABlKc0BaeEYgJ_9P6NkNW6WS3BVMP2QmzA)

## Latest Episodes

### 39\. George Sudarkoff on leading with ADHD

September 2, 2026

George Sudarkoff is an experienced engineering leader who has made a consulting business out of coaching leaders with ADHD. We had a fascinating discussion relevant for leaders of all types: those who are neurodiverse, and those who work with them. We discussed his leadership journey, how to support ADHD employees, some of the challenges people with ADHD face at work, self-disclosure, focusing on your strengths vs covering for your weaknesses, and how to handle when a coworker is undiagnosed. I learned a ton, and hope you do too!

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/39--George-Sudarkoff-on-leading-with-ADHD-e3nuc15)

### 38\. Damon Kornhauser on experience mapping and building resilient work cultures

July 29, 2026

Damon and I worked together a few years ago, and he conducted a fascinating practice called experience mapping. He goes over the practice and why it can make such a big difference in how a company coordinates its activities to offer exceptional experiences. We also discuss how to build resilient work cultures.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/38--Damon-Kornhauser-on-experience-mapping-and-building-resilient-work-cultures-e3mcjf2)

### 37\. Ankit Jain on killing code review and solving the new bottlenecks in engineering

July 8, 2026

Ankit Jain is CEO of Aviator, and veteran of many companies. He's active in the developer experience space and maintains several online communities. He's in the middle of the conversation about where software is heading, and building some of the developer tooling to support it. We had a fascinating discussion where he covered: How to kill the code review. How to verify intent and validate at machine speed. Why he thinks all businesses are becoming developer tools companies. The paradox of automation and how it applies to increasingly automated systems. Will AI reinforce existing practices or explode them? Advice for building and supporting online communities.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/37--Ankit-Jain-on-killing-code-review-and-solving-the-new-bottlenecks-in-engineering-e3lpln0)

### 36\. Jason Yee on technical and developer advocacy

June 24, 2026

Jason is a veteran of the technical advocacy and developer advocacy space. I thought it would be useful for people to better understand these roles. He shares how advocacy roles have shifted over the years, where in the organization they belong, and teaches about how to do storytelling well. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/36--Jason-Yee-on-technical-and-developer-advocacy-e3l178c)

### 35\. Rebecca Hinds on designing the best meetings

June 10, 2026

Rebecca Hinds, Ph.D. is a world expert on meetings. She's released a new book on the topic (Your Best Meeting Ever), packed with ideas for how to improve the way your organization focuses, communicates, and works together. We discussed incentives, mechanisms for shaking up ineffective use of time, how to build a culture of effective meetings, and power dynamics.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/35--Rebecca-Hinds-on-designing-the-best-meetings-e3kd8fr)

### 34\. Todd Etchieson on radical alignment and what great product strategy looks like

April 15, 2026

Todd Etchieson and I were counterparts at New Relic. Of all the people I've worked with, he is one of the best at getting people radically aligned. This is often a huge challenge for product leaders -- the CEO and product leader alignment is notorious for being problematic. He breaks down how he does it, and how he learned to do it so well. We also discuss great product strategy and what it really looks like. We also talk about a new product we canceled because it was off strategy.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/34--Todd-Etchieson-on-radical-alignment-and-what-great-product-strategy-looks-like-e3hkb0q)

### 33\. Seth Engelhard on being the head of engineering

March 4, 2026

Seth Engelhard has worked at some of the more interesting companies in the world: GitLab, Netlify, New Relic, and now Observable. He goes into a lot of detail about what practices he learned from these companies, and what the transition to being the head of engineering has been like. We cover topics like building a support network, transparency, career transitions, running meetings well, and being in an async and remote by default company.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/33--Seth-Engelhard-on-being-the-head-of-engineering-e3flsmc)

### 32\. Matt Otis on training that works

January 14, 2026

Matt Otis has spent his career around building effective training programs. Training is one of the most important aspects of building a successful organization, but it's often not well understood. Matt had a ton of insights on how to make training really land, and set up people with what they need to succeed. This is useful not just if you're doing training programs (for example, how do you train someone on something you don't know?) He also digs into how training is evolving in modern organizations, especially with the advent of AI.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/32--Matt-Otis-on-training-that-works-e3de0s6)

### 31\. Diana Larsen on retros, team liftoffs, agile fluency, and more

November 25, 2025

Diana was a delightful and insightful guest. She is a well-known expert on agile retrospectives, team liftoffs, agile fluency, and building resilient learning teams. She's probably the best in the world at these topics, so learn from her perspective!

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/31--Diana-Larsen-on-retros--team-liftoffs--agile-fluency--and-more-e3b8jag)

### 30\. Elaine May on making change and the dangers of SCRUM

October 29, 2025

Elaine May joined Decoding Leadership for a conversation on how to effectively make change as a leader. Elaine was an early agile practitioner, using it in very non-agile environments! She wrote about using agile methods five years before the agile manifesto. She taught me about a concept she calls change budgets. And shared how to deal with critics and naysayers. And then we talked about SCRUM and some of the downsides in the way it's practiced.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/30--Elaine-May-on-making-change-and-the-dangers-of-SCRUM-e39va7s)

### 29\. Charity Majors on building organizations you can believe in

September 24, 2025

Charity and I had a very personal discussion about the tremendous growth you can make personally as a leader, and the meaning you can derive from having an impact on the lives of the people around you. Full of nuance and perspective, Charity shares how her views have evolved over the years, and how her core values as a leader show up in the work she does. Such a pleasure to share this with you!

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/29--Charity-Majors-on-building-organizations-you-can-believe-in-e38akdc)

### 28\. Lena Reinhard on making space for leadership that matters

August 18, 2025

Lena shares insights on making space for leadership work, addressing the issues leaders face, and strategies for more thoughtful and rewarding leadership. With experience as a CEO, startup founder, and former VP of engineering, Lena offers a wealth of knowledge on overcoming challenges. We discuss managing energy levels, embracing productivity, and the importance of community and self-awareness in leadership.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/28--Lena-Reinhard-on-making-space-for-leadership-that-matters-e36tcqo)

### 27\. Beth Adele Long on reliability and leadership

July 30, 2025

I sit down with Beth Long to discuss her extensive experience with reliability engineering from working at companies like New Relic, Jeli, Gruntwork, and Adaptive Capacity Labs. Beth shares her insights on the role of executives in incident management, the balance between product development and reliability, and how different organizations approach incident coordination. We also explore reliability as a product and the importance of organizational culture in effective incident response. I learned a great deal, and thought about some aspects of reliability in completely new ways. I hope you do too!

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/27--Beth-Adele-Long-on-reliability-and-leadership-e36873b)

### 26\. Jade Rubick on reflecting power

June 4, 2025

Reflected Power is a way to use power you don’t have. Join me as I introduce the concept of Reflected Power. Reflected Power is using the authority of those above you to amplify your influence and achieve your goals. We’ll cover the nuts and bolts of how to use the positional authority of the people around you to be more effective. Curious to hear your thoughts on this approach! 00:00 Reflecting power: leveraging the power you don’t have 00:17 Introduction 01:26 What is reflecting power, and what does it look like? 03:14 They need to be aligned and view it as important 04:04 Can be done with peers, other leaders, and in a networked way 05:14 Don't overuse this tool 05:32 Delegating up, delegating laterally 07:24 Hierarchical thinking can limit us 08:18 Creating space for others to use your power 09:28 Conclusion

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/26--Jade-Rubick-on-reflecting-power-e33n0gd)

### 25\. Molly Graham on Google to Glue

May 21, 2025

I had the opportunity to interview Molly Graham, who has an impressive background working at Google, Facebook, and Quip, among other places. In 2022, she founded Glue Club, a community for startup leaders to learn from each other. Molly is best known for her concept of 'giving away your Legos,' which she developed from her experience with rapid organizational scaling. We discuss the emotional and practical aspects of change in startups. Molly also shares her (provative, deliberate, rare!) approach to organizational design, executive team dynamics, and her experience giving a TED Talk on the topic of cliff jumping versus ladder climbing with your career. It's a fascinating conversation full of insights for anyone interested in leadership and growth in fast-paced environments.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/25--Molly-Graham-on-Google-to-Glue-e332rfq)

### 24\. Brent Miller on team health assessments

April 23, 2025

In today's episode, we dive into the fascinating world of team health assessments with Brent Miller. Brent, who held the title of organizational architect and worked as a principal engineer at New Relic, shares insights on conducting team health self-assessments and their impact on organizational improvements. We explore the concept of team reviews, the challenges faced during initial implementations, and how self-assessments revealed critical patterns such as stakeholder misalignment and workload issues. Brent also discusses the value of an annual organizational retrospective, the role of leadership buy-in, and the potential for smaller, more frequent check-ins. This episode is a must-watch for anyone interested in organizational observability and leadership experiments.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/24--Brent-Miller-on-team-health-assessments-e31knpp)

### 23\. Jim Gochee on banning "prioritization", and getting functions to work together

April 9, 2025

In this episode of Decoding Leadership, host Jade interviews Jim Gochee, a seasoned expert in the software industry with a rich career spanning roles from engineer to CEO. They cover the controversial decision to ban the word 'prioritization' at Blameless, and go into some detail about how to get people to work well across departments. They discuss anti-patterns and common ruts in product and engineering interactions, the significance of clear goal-setting to unify teams, and the impact of understanding different roles within a company. Finally, Jim offers advice on leadership transitions, the role of curiosity and growth mindset in career progression, and the value of coaching and mentorship.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/23--Jim-Gochee-on-banning-prioritization--and-getting-functions-to-work-together-e319q0j)

### 22\. James Shore: what if we scaled our teams to unreasonable sizes?

March 26, 2025

Jim and I sit down and talk about his successful engagement at New Relic, where he brought modern autonomous team approaches the company. Jim shares how he has been doing it differently over the last few years, using an approach called Fluid Scaling Technology (FaST). We explore some parts of implementing FaST that I don’t believe are discussed anywhere else, such as how management works differently in an environment using FaST. And Jim shares how his recent engagement as a VP of Engineering has shaped his recent leadership work.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/22--James-Shore-what-if-we-scaled-our-teams-to-unreasonable-sizes-e30l94t)

### 21\. Jayanthan Bhattathiripad on introducing yourself, XP and Scrum, and waste

March 12, 2025

In this episode, we talk with Jayanthan Bhattatharapad. Jay has a very interesting way of introducing himself to his teams and organization, and I asked him to demo it to us. In doing so, he shares not only this interesting practice, but lots of tidbits about how he sees leadership. We had a fascinating discussion, can't wait to share it with you! \* Jay's career journey from consulting at ThoughtWorks to Expedia, to his recent role at Cisco. \* The importance of mental health and psychological safety in teams. \* Why Extreme Programming is harder (and better) than Scrum. \* The impact of lean principles on software development and tackling waste. \* The influence of cultural differences on communication and leadership.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/21--Jayanthan-Bhattathiripad-on-introducing-yourself--XP-and-Scrum--and-waste-e3018q2)

### 20\. Margaret Le on technical leadership and building strong engineering cultures

February 26, 2025

Join us as we welcome Margaret Le, VP of Engineering at Facet, to discuss her experience from software engineering leadership roles at New Relic, Heroku, Slack, and Facet. We dive deep into the engineering leader's role in technical direction, and building teams and culture. Margaret shares her insights on defining and executing technical vision. She also explains how to cultivate a thriving work environment by clearly defining core values. She talks about the value of psychological safety, transparency, and vulnerability.

[Listen now](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/decodingleadership/episodes/20--Margaret-Le-on-technical-leadership-and-building-strong-engineering-cultures-e2vctfj)