S5E20 Francis Lacoste | Vulnerability, Psychological Safety, & Befriending Uncertainty

Being an Engineer

Francis shares his journey from software engineer to engineering manager to coach. He discusses strategies for balancing product development and organizational growth when scaling teams quickly. Listeners will greatly benefit from Francis's insights on accelerating their careers, enhancing productivity, and adopting best technical and leadership practices. Join us as we delve into the wisdom and experiences of a coach who has been instrumental in shaping the success of numerous engineering leaders and teams across the industry.

Main Topics:

• Defining and onboarding new team members to a strong engineering culture to prevent cultural dilution when scaling.
• Maintaining high performance through accountability and focus on results.
• Fostering a collaborative and supportive culture.

About the guest: Francis Lacoste, a distinguished VPE and CTO coach, known for his exceptional ability to guide engineering leaders and teams toward achieving remarkable growth, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture. With a wealth of experience in addressing the unique challenges faced by fast-scaling tech startups, Francis has mastered the art of balancing product development with organizational development, all while maintaining a strong focus on emotional intelligence and effective leadership.

Links:
Francis Lacoste - LinkedIn
VPE and CTO coach Website

About Being An Engineer

The Being An Engineer podcast is a repository for industry knowledge and a tool through which engineers learn about and connect with relevant companies, technologies, people resources, and opportunities. We feature successful mechanical engineers and interview engineers who are passionate about their work and who made a great impact on the engineering community.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at www.teampipeline.us

Chapters

1. S5E20 Francis Lacoste | Vulnerability, Psychological Safety, & Befriending Uncertainty (00:00:00)

2. Francis introduces himself and his background transitioning from engineering to coaching. (00:01:28)

3. Discusses balancing technical product work with organizational growth when scaling teams quickly, emphasizing the importance of cultural definition and onboarding. (00:01:37)

4. Aaron asks how Francis maintains high performance and psychological safety in scaling teams, and Francis emphasizes clarity of mission and investing in empathy. (00:06:30)

5. Exercises for building psychological safety like sharing defining life moments to foster vulnerability. (00:09:24)

6. Aaron discusses a question his team uses and Francis emphasizes following through on psychological safety. (00:12:30)

7. Francis describes addressing a leader's anxiety through befriending uncertainty with meditation exercises. (00:16:18)

8. Francis coaches navigating identity transitions for technical founders becoming leaders. (00:20:30)

9. Managing stress and anxiety through befriending the states with meditation. (00:25:39)

10. Techniques for decoupling anxiety into components using mindfulness. (00:30:39)

11. Francis and Aaron discuss experimenting with befriending uncertainty and preventing slowdowns. (00:37:15)

12. Francis shares listening as the most impactful coaching advice and importance for leaders. (00:39:24)