40% Better - Engineering Leadership

Hosted by Bill

Business Management

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Episodes

128

Latest episode

Sep 2026

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About the show

Every week, we invite 1 expert on employee engagement and deep-dive into unlocking previously unheard of performance levels in teams and leaders. 40 Percent Better https://40pb.com

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60 recent

October 23, 2026Episode 13447 min

Settlement vs. Resolution: Why Winning the Argument Isn’t Enough

“You can build a case and fix blame, or you can build a relationship and fix the problem.” Bill meets with Sam Imperati, a former trial lawyer and part-time judge who has been a full-time mediator since 1992. They dig into why people fight at work, why clearly defined expectations prevent so much conflict, how to ask questions instead of making statements, and how two-week trials can break a deadlock. Plus: why a settlement isn’t the same as a resolution, and what an over-68 soccer league teaches about ego. Connect with Sam: https://icmresolutions.com Connect with Bill: https://40pb.com

October 23, 2026Episode 13354 min

It’s Our Job to Create Our Own Happiness, with Basel Yandem

You don’t find happiness. You create it. Bill chats with Basel Yandem, a civil engineer and life and leadership coach who started leading at age 10 in the Scouts and was running engineering teams by 26. They dig into how taking initiative gets you promoted, why you should always bring a solution with your problem, why five efficient hours beat eleven exhausted ones, and why you should only retire from work you don’t enjoy. Plus: the New Year’s Eve story Basel says he’s never told anyone before. Connect with Basel: https://www.leilacoaching.com Connect with Bill: https://40pb.com

October 23, 2026Episode 13253 min

Seen, Heard, and Understood, with Aaron Streeton

There are only three things people want: to be seen, heard, and understood. Bill listens to wisdom from Aaron Streeton, an operations consultant and executive coach who was running 13 schools in Japan at 27. They dig into the difference between management and leadership, why leadership starts with understanding yourself, why an organization is an ecosystem rather than a machine, and why values that aren’t lived are worse than none at all. Plus: “constructive intolerance,” why trust works like a piggy bank, and a grizzly bear encounter that says a lot about today’s attention spans. Connect with Aaron: https://www.tenguconsulting.ca Connect with Bill: https://40pb.com

October 23, 2026Episode 13559 min

Whatever Is in the Way Becomes the Way, with Dave Saunders

“I never once raised my hand and said I want to be a manager. I just led.” Bill talks with Dave Saunders, who joined an internet company in 1989 and has been building ever since, through dial-up’s boom, Lucent Bell Labs, surgical robotics and now waste-to-diesel. They dig into understanding the why behind customer requests, Covey’s workers-managers-leaders “wrong jungle” story, plan-do-check-act as a startup turnaround tool, and why you need to decide what you’re not building. Plus: a phone call from Steve Jobs, and the bus tour that foreshadowed Lucent’s collapse. Connect with Dave: https://davesaunders.net Connect with Bill: https://40pb.com

October 23, 2026Episode 13142 min

The Human in the Loop: Leading and Building With AI

“If you’re already good at what you do, AI is great. If you’re not, don’t expect it to do everything for you.” Bill talks with Kam Low, a self-taught technical founder who left school early, started and exited several startups while traveling the world, and only became a leader when a team of juniors was handed to him. They dig into why you can’t lead people like machines, staying lean with AI, why fully automated engineering raises warning bells, and whether teenagers should still learn to code. Plus: what Claude said when Kam asked what it thought of him. Connect with Kam: nitrosend.com - Agentic email and communications substrate. sourcey.com - Home to the sourcey open-source documentation engine, and also a registry of software services, startup offers and what agents can actually do with those services. ausca.com - Pay-per-call infrastructure for agents. gofrantic.com - A bounty board for agents to take on paid work. runx.ai - An orchestration framework for agentic work, this is what I use to run my local models and automate most of my day-to-day work. 0state.com - My own personal ramblings and code projects. Connect with Bill / 40% Better: https://40pb.com

October 23, 2026Episode 13052 min

From 45 Days to 20 Minutes: What Happens When You Empower the Front Line with Chad Harris

Rank and authority aren’t the same as respect, and you don’t need a title to lead. Bill talks with Chad Harris, a software engineering leader from Melbourne, Australia, whose first leadership lessons came from the Australian Air Force Cadets. They dig into leading as an individual contributor, running weekly experiments backed by data, building allies instead of blindsiding people, and getting past imposter syndrome. Plus: how a small team with one rule, “don’t break the law,” cut a 45-day hardship withdrawal process to 20 minutes. Connect with Chad: https://factorhouse.io Connect with Bill: https://40pb.com

October 22, 2026Episode 12952 min

You Are Capable of More, with Chris Sund

Success is what you build; significance is who is better because of you. Bill talks with Chris Sund, a healthcare staffing leader and author of You Are Capable of More. Chris started leading in his early twenties at a restaurant where everyone was older than him. They dig into why recruiting is a leadership role, how to stand out when hiring is competitive, what really holds people back, and why younger employees asking “why” is a chance to lead better. Plus: the holiday-party thank-you that inspired Chris’s book, and Bill’s four-question script for networking events. Connect with Chris: https://chrissund.com Connect with Bill: https://40pb.com

October 22, 2026Episode 12857 min

Success Is a Matter of Time, with Harshit Omar

You can wait for the waves to stop, or you can just jump in. Bill sits down with Harshit Omar, co-founder and CTO of cloud cloning platform Fluid Cloud. They talked about what the CTO role really demands, why failed startups are stepping stones, and Harshit's belief that success is a matter of time. They dig into how AI shortcuts can wear down engineering skills, why culture is caught rather than taught, and how to run a team as a system. Plus: the vibe-coded login bug that an engineer spent two days on and Harshit found in five minutes. Connect with Harshit: https://fluidcloud.com/ Connect with Bill: https://40pb.com

October 22, 2026Episode 1271 hr 7 min

Why That Coworker Drives You Crazy (It’s Not Them): with Kenny Whitelaw-Jones

Ever notice that one coworker who drives you crazy? It might have less to do with them than you think. Bill talks with Kenny Whitelaw-Jones, co-founder of infrastructure finance firm Gridlines and now a shadow work therapist, about his upcoming book The Shadow at Work. They explore how the parts of ourselves we hide show up as triggers and projection, why leading a team is its own kind of shadow work, and why psychological safety drives performance. Plus: the workshop exercise that showed Kenny how projection works, and Bill’s two-minute Starbucks recipe for beating social anxiety. Connect with Kenny: https://www.deepprocesstherapy.com/ Connect with Bill: https://40pb.com

October 21, 2026Episode 1261 hr 7 min

Be Uncomfortable Figuring It Out, with Joseph Martin

What if the standard startup playbook is just a pattern someone else invented? Bill talks with Joseph Martin, a Marine Corps veteran and anti-money laundering expert who founded a regtech company for the gaming industry after finding an $8 billion casino company fighting financial crime on spreadsheets. They dig into learning anything new by being willing to be uncomfortable, why Joseph skipped “start small” and went straight for the biggest operators, smart capital, and why engineers in the AI era need people skills. Plus: how growing up as military kids taught both of them to be comfortable with discomfort. Connect with Joseph: https://www.kinectify.com/ Connect with Bill / 40% Better: https://40pb.com

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