Public speaking is a skill that many engineers never actively develop. It's not emphasized in engineering school, and in many cases isn't viewed as that important anyway.

 

Neil Thompson had exactly that worldview. When he entered the working world, however, all of a sudden he was thrust into a position where regular presentations to company executives were required, meaning he had to improve his public speaking skills fast.

 

Inspired by that experience, Neil launched Teach The Geek dot com, a business dedicated to helping engineers develop their public speaking skills.

 

Today, Neil shares his advice for engineers everywhere on why public speaking is so important for engineers and how to improve as a public speaker.

 

See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode33

 

Download our free guide to leadership for engineers - Engineering Leadership 101: Practical Insights for Becoming an Engineering Leader at Any Stage https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/leadership101

Today, I speak with Wastefront's CTO, Henrik Selstam, about his company and their mission to address one of the world's most pressing environmental challenges: dealing with end-of-life tires.

 

By some estimates, over 1.5 billion tires are discarded each year. They're notoriously difficult to recycle, and many end up in landfills where they leach toxins into the soil and water.

 

By almost any measure, this is a huge problem, and growing.

 

That's why Wastefront, a startup based in Norway, has been working to develop methods of  recycling old tires to create products that can be used in tire production, mechanical rubber goods or as a filler for plastics.

 

See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode32

 

Download our free guide to leadership for engineers - Engineering Leadership 101: Practical Insights for Becoming an Engineering Leader at Any Stage https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/leadership101

My guest today believes that language is the most important thing for leaders to get right. In fact, he believes leadership is language.

 

The world we operate in today looks very different than it did 100 years ago. There is more complexity, more uncertainty, and greater competitive pressures than ever before. But, according to David Marquet, there's one thing that hasn't changed much in the last 100 years: how leaders speak to their teams.

 

Today, I speak with David Marquet on the importance of the language we use as leaders, what's wrong with the old way of engaging with our teams, and how to drive performance through what we say.

 

See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode31

 

Download our free guide to leadership for engineers - Engineering Leadership 101: Practical Insights for Becoming an Engineering Leader at Any Stage https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/leadership101

Whether we realize it or not, we are all leaders. If nothing else, we lead ourselves. We make the big decisions in our lives and careers and follow our own distinct paths.

 

The question is: are you leading yourself with intension?

 

For many of us, we lead ourselves haphazardly. We drift through our careers and make decisions based on the opportunities that present themselves, rather than creating the opportunities we really want.  Luckily, you really do have the power to lead yourself, and help others do the same.

 

In this episode of the Engineering & Leadership podcast, I speak with Dr. Ben Ritter about the importance of leading yourself and how to start if you've never tried.

 

See the full show notes at https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/episode30

 

Download our free guide to leadership for engineers - Engineering Leadership 101: Practical Insights for Becoming an Engineering Leader at Any Stage https://www.engineeringandleadership.com/leadership101