Over the last decade, Leszek has developed several successful businesses, among them a software development agency that supports Fortune 500 companies. With the challenges a growing business brings, he observed that stepping out of a tech role into a leadership one brings the need for a different approach. As a host of the Better Tech Leadership podcast, Leszek is focused on bridging the gap between tech and people skills.
Working for many years with software engineering and architecture I forged skills that allowed me to cross the different layers in the organisation to communicate, align and inspire people to build the right thing. While focusing on customer success, I also strive to create better engineering experiences.I'm working with the amazing people behind the Zalando Partner Program, most specifically the Partner Growth and Optimisation pillar, where I lead a team responsible for providing insights for companies to understand how they are performing and seize growth opportunities while using our platform.
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In the episode, Matt interviews Mohamed Gamal who elaborates on the team’s role in shaping architectural vision and providing engineering tools. He highlights the importance of collaboration and collective decision-making within the team to ensure stability and alignment across projects. Mohamed also advocates for a balance between timely product delivery and architectural integrity, warning against short-term fixes and stressing the need for alignment between architecture and business needs.
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In this episode, Matt interviews José Ignacio Díaz, a seasoned Chief Technology Officer (CTO), who shares his extensive experience navigating the intersection of technology and business, from Spain to Amsterdam and Zurich. José reflects on the mental resilience required for a CTO and the importance of clear communication between tech leaders and non-tech personnel, especially in startups. He emphasizes that rapid, low-quality solutions can harm an organization, advocating for calmness and open communication within distributed teams.
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In this episode, Matt interviews Kelly Vaughn about her unique journey from studying psychology, social work, and public health to becoming a prominent engineer and technology leader. Kelly’s path to becoming the Director of Engineering was unconventional, beginning with freelance work during grad school that led to significant projects with Shopify. The discussion covers various topics including burnout from managing multiple ventures, the importance of problem-solving skills over coding abilities in hiring senior engineers, and Kelly’s efforts to rebrand herself from a Shopify entrepreneur to an engineering leader.
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In an interview with Leszek Knoll, Philipp Deutscher discusses his professional evolution from developer to CTO and now a coach and advisor. Philipp reflects on his varied industry experiences and increasing leadership responsibilities, culminating in founding his own consultancy to support CEOs and mentor engineers aiming to become CTOs. He emphasizes the scarcity of mentors in the field and aims to help ambitious engineers achieve their career aspirations.
