This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Duarte Cabral, Delivery Lead at Mindera, and someone I’ve had the privilege of knowing in more than one context first as a colleague, and later as a client.
Duarte is one of those people you instantly trust. Thoughtful. Reliable. Calm. He’s someone who genuinely cares about helping others do well, not because it’s expected, but because he wants to see people succeed. Our conversation explored what formed his leadership philosophy.
Duarte talked about the early experiences that shaped him, moments when he didn’t yet have the skills, but leaders brought him in, involved him, and supported him anyway.
“These guys respected me enough to make me part of their world… even though I didn’t have the skill yet.”
That involvement created two things every new leader needs:
Belonging - “I matter here.”
Confidence- “I can grow into this.”
And importantly:
“You’re not failing if you ask for help.”
In fact, the willingness to ask for help is what allowed him to develop resilience, not through pressure, but through support.
Duarte’s journey reinforced something many of us know intuitively:
We learn leadership by watching leadership.
He saw leaders who:
involved him in real work
respected him without needing him to be perfect
modelled the behaviour they expected from others
shared responsibility instead of protecting ownership
Those experiences later shaped Duarte’s own leadership principles.
1. Own outcomes - together. Leadership isn’t about carrying success alone. It’s about involving your team early, recognising their contributions, and standing with them when things go wrong.
2. No information silos. Transparency builds trust. Sharing both the “good” and the “difficult” allows everyone to grow faster and learn from each other’s mistakes.
3. Team-first thinking. Your team is responsible for your success and you are responsible for theirs. It’s shared accountability, not shared blame.
We reflected on what leadership looks like today especially for newer generations coming into remote and distributed environments.
What may be lost:
Slower personal growth
Fewer natural moments of observation
Less exposure to the nuances of behaviour and decision-making
Weaker in-person connection
In past decades, you learned by being around good leaders listening to calls, overhearing conversations, watching how they responded to pressure.
Remote work removes a lot of that by accident.
But what may be gained:
Access to people you would never have met locally
Opportunities for those who previously lacked them
More flexibility and autonomy
More self-driven growth
Teams that are intentionally diverse, not just geographically convenient
The key, Duarte says, is this:
“People will need to be more self-driven in finding ways to create connections.”
Connection won’t “just happen” anymore. It has to be cultivated.
Duarte’s view on sustainable leadership was simple and deeply human:
Be creative in the way you approach problems, it keeps work energising.
Build respectful relationships, they are the foundation for long-term collaboration.
Show empathy, especially when working with stakeholders and clients who are under pressure too.
None of these require intense effort. But all of them protect your energy over the long run.
Leadership is something we absorb before we practice it. We learn it through observation, belonging, and the behaviour of those who go ahead of us.
Duarte’s story is a reminder that sustainable leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about involving people, respecting them, and staying connected, even in a world that increasingly pulls us apart.
**🎵 Music licensed via Pixabay: “Podcast Interview Background Music.” Free for commercial use. No attribution required.**
This week, I had the privilege of speaking with Kristina, whose career as a global COO has spanned industries, continents, and complex organisational systems.
Our conversation was a fascinating exploration of what it means to lead sustainably not just across teams, but across time zones, cultures, and markets.
Leading at this level means balancing global consistency with local nuance, understanding when to adapt, when to listen, and when to hold firm. And in that balance, Kristina shared some powerful lessons worth reflecting on.
1. Trust and respect your team on the ground. They know their market best, the context, the culture, the customer. True leadership means empowering them to lead locally.
“Say you don’t know and ask for their opinion irrespective of hierarchy or title.”
2. Allow your team to make mistakes but make learning visible. The key is creating psychological safety for people to learn in the open which leads to better outcomes all round
3. Defend what’s important: your identity and your team’s. Whether facing gender bias, cultural pressure, or corporate politics, Kristina reminds us that boundaries are essential. Respect isn’t given; it’s modelled.
4. Build your own ecosystem for sustainability.
Core people No one sustains leadership alone. Kristina emphasised the importance of having sparring partners, people who challenge, listen, and offer perspective.
Self-care
Look after yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally leads to more sustainable energy, having some areas as non-negotiable
If you’re leading across geographies, here are some techniques to anchor your leadership:
Establish your “core rhythm.”Time zones can fragment connections. Create predictable rhythms, global stand-ups, weekly async summaries, or rotating meeting times so every team feels included.
Adapt your communication lens. Directness means respect in some cultures and confrontation in others. Use “mirroring” to listen for the tone and phrasing your team uses and match their style without losing authenticity.
Reference: The Practice of “Co-Elevation” (Keith Ferrazzi) In distributed teams, the best leaders shift from “managing people” to “co-elevating peers.” Mutual accountability lifting each other while delivering results.
Make learning collective.When mistakes happen, turn them into shared retrospectives rather than private corrections. It signals psychological safety and normalises growth.
Invest in cultural intelligence (CQ). CQ is a powerful tool for building empathy and agility in global teams.
Drive (motivation to work across cultures)
Knowledge (understanding cultural norms)
Strategy (planning for cross-cultural interactions)
Action (adapting behaviour effectively)
Developed by Christopher Earley & Soon Ang, CQ focuses on four capabilities:
Protect your energy cycles. Global leaders live in overlapping days. Build micro-buffers short breaks, clear boundaries, digital quiet hours to maintain clarity and empathy.
Leading across borders is as much about humility and trust as it is about strategy and structure. If we lead with curiosity, respect, and self-awareness, we can deliver stronger results, build cultures that can sustain themselves long after we’ve logged off for the day.
Kristina’s key takeawaysSome additional Practical Takeaways from Industry-Recognised Practices✨ Reflection
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This week’s conversation with Lee Whiting was a reminder of why I value the people I’ve worked with as much as the work itself. Lee is one of the most positive, can-do people I’ve met, someone who lifts a team not with titles or hierarchy, but through action, optimism, and genuine care for others.
We talked about the hugely accountable role of Quality Assurance and what true leadership looks like inside it, a discipline that demands balance between precision and pragmatism, between holding standards and helping progress.
“How do we compromise? How do we work together to get this done? Everyone has a different approach, but you can always work together to get the result you’re after as we all ultimately want the same end goal usually.”
Focusing on the outcome, It’s the difference between being right and being effective.
In high-pressure delivery environments, compromise isn’t about lowering the bar, it’s about aligning everyone on what really matters right now and how to get there together.
Lee spoke about the importance of real-time collaboration, sharing updates, blockers, and wins with both peers and senior stakeholders as they happen. That openness creates alignment and accountability without the need for micromanagement.
“To me, leadership isn’t a role above somebody. It’s another role within the team… someone has to be that strategic manager and people person, but it’s no different. Everyone is just as valuable in getting that outcome.”
Leadership, in Lee’s view, is side-by-side, not top-down.
When challenges appear, his advice is simple:
“Get in front of it. Get in the trenches.”
Visibility builds credibility. People trust leaders who are willing to show up, stay calm under pressure, and help solve the problem shoulder-to-shoulder.
Sustainability, for Lee, isn’t just about processes, it’s about people.
“Make work as fun as possible, and make time for yourself too.”
That balance matters. Teams perform better when leaders model enjoyment, not exhaustion.
And perhaps the most powerful piece of advice came at the end of our conversation:
“Don’t hold onto things too tightly. Trust the people you’ve hired. Don’t micromanage, and always praise good work when you see it. Don’t take ownership or credit for yourself, your role is to build other people up.”
It’s easy to forget that leadership doesn’t have to be complicated. Lee’s approach: compromise, trust, fun, and visibility, reminds us that simplicity can be powerful when it’s lived consistently.
Sustainable leadership is about showing up, setting clear outcomes, and creating the conditions for others to succeed.
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Free for commercial use. No attribution required.**
This week, I had the joy of speaking with the wonderful Elzbieta Wiedemann, a fantastic leader and my peer coach.
I loved hearing what truly feeds her soul being in nature, connecting with people, and helping young professionals step into leadership roles. There’s something powerful about that combination of connection, service, and reflection; it’s the foundation of sustainable leadership.
What stood out most was Ela’s incredible self-awareness. She spoke about regularly checking in with her intuition, taking time to pause, to ask herself what’s needed in that moment of growth or learning.
We also reflected on how our shared iPEC coaching training gave us language and structure for something we all experience but rarely stop to understand: the cycle of change.
Change can feel uncomfortable, even when we know it’s needed. Sometimes it’s easier to stay still, to wait, to convince ourselves that not deciding is safer than deciding. But as Ela reminded me, not acting is also a choice.
And while most of us say we want change, what we really want is the version of life that comes after the change, the part that feels lighter, easier, clearer.
Here’s a simple way of understanding the process we all go through when navigating change:
Phase 1: Shuffle This is the stage of healing and reflection. We’re recovering from a previous cycle, taking stock, and evaluating what truly matters, usually through the lens of our values. There might be feelings of loss, but also the beginnings of renewal: energy, clarity, and hope start to return. We explore our options and land on a path forward
Phase 2: Deal Here, we begin experimenting and rebuilding. We network, learn, and test new ideas/paths. Optimism and self-trust grow as the building blocks come together; this is where momentum builds, and confidence follows.
Phase 3: Play the Game This is the phase where we’re living the vision, thriving, feeling aligned, in flow. But even in this high-energy stage, presence is key. The next wave of change is always ahead, and noticing it early can help us navigate it with more grace.
Phase 4: Toss In Every cycle eventually ends, sometimes in success, sometimes in disappointment. Either way, endings can trigger resistance, fear, or grief. Many of us “hibernate” here, taking time to process and reset before a new cycle begins. But with patience and awareness, this phase often leads to renewal, a new beginning waiting just beyond the pause.
Change is normal and often necessary. When we take it one small step at a time, we begin to see the good in every phase: the learning, the pause, the rebuilding, the joy.
Fear, doubt, and resistance are natural; they’re part of being human. But we move forward from each phase when we’re ready.
Life is, after all, a series of cycles, a rollercoaster with highs and lows, pauses and surges.
And as Ela reminded me, when we learn to listen to our intuition and trust the process, change becomes less of a threat and more of a teacher.
**🎵 Intro music licensed via Pixabay: “Podcast Interview Background Music.”
Free for commercial use. No attribution required.**
This week, I had the joy of speaking with the wonderful Elzbieta Wiedemann, a fantastic leader and my peer coach.
I loved hearing what truly feeds her soul being in nature, connecting with people, and helping young professionals step into leadership roles. There’s something powerful about that combination of connection, service, and reflection; it’s the foundation of sustainable leadership.
What stood out most was Ela’s incredible self-awareness. She spoke about regularly checking in with her intuition, taking time to pause, to ask herself what’s needed in that moment of growth or learning.
We also reflected on how our shared iPEC coaching training gave us language and structure for something we all experience but rarely stop to understand: the cycle of change.
Change can feel uncomfortable, even when we know it’s needed. Sometimes it’s easier to stay still, to wait, to convince ourselves that not deciding is safer than deciding. But as Ela reminded me, not acting is also a choice.
And while most of us say we want change, what we really want is the version of life that comes after the change, the part that feels lighter, easier, clearer.
Here’s a simple way of understanding the process we all go through when navigating change:
Phase 1: Shuffle
This is the stage of healing and reflection. We’re recovering from a previous cycle, taking stock, and evaluating what truly matters, usually through the lens of our values. There might be feelings of loss, but also the beginnings of renewal: energy, clarity, and hope start to return. We explore our options and land on a path forward
Phase 2: Deal
Here, we begin experimenting and rebuilding. We network, learn, and test new ideas/paths. Optimism and self-trust grow as the building blocks come together; this is where momentum builds, and confidence follows.
Phase 3: Play the Game
This is the phase where we’re living the vision, thriving, feeling aligned, in flow.
But even in this high-energy stage, presence is key. The next wave of change is always ahead, and noticing it early can help us navigate it with more grace.
Phase 4: Toss In
Every cycle eventually ends, sometimes in success, sometimes in disappointment.
Either way, endings can trigger resistance, fear, or grief. Many of us “hibernate” here, taking time to process and reset before a new cycle begins.
But with patience and awareness, this phase often leads to renewal, a new beginning waiting just beyond the pause.
Change is normal and often necessary.
When we take it one small step at a time, we begin to see the good in every phase: the learning, the pause, the rebuilding, the joy.
Fear, doubt, and resistance are natural; they’re part of being human. But we move forward from each phase when we’re ready.
Life is, after all, a series of cycles, a rollercoaster with highs and lows, pauses and surges.
And as Ela reminded me, when we learn to listen to our intuition and trust the process, change becomes less of a threat and more of a teacher.
**🎵 Intro music licensed via Pixabay: “Podcast Interview Background Music.”
Free for commercial use. No attribution required.**
This week, I had a truly enjoyable conversation with Jamie, a leader whose approach to his team is as insightful as it is refreshing. He shared a simple but powerful idea that speaks volumes about his leadership philosophy:
"I don’t want to be the smartest person in the room. At that point, I need to find a different room to be in."
That one sentence reveals so much about how he leads, grounded, humble, and focused on collective success over individual credit. Jamie explained that real leadership isn't about being the hero; it’s about setting everyone else up for success, even if it means stepping back and supporting others. As he put it:
"If it enhances the output of the whole team, then so be it."
This kind of low-ego mindset doesn’t happen by chance. It comes from experience, reflection, and learning from mistakes. And often, it’s cultivated in cultures that reward genuine contribution, not individual control.
We often talk about ego in a negative way as if it’s all about arrogance or self-importance. But it’s not that simple. Ego is really our sense of self, the part of us that says “this is who I am.”
We can think of it like this:
Finding Balance: Our ego sits between our instincts and our values. It helps us make choices that meet our needs while staying true to what feels right and fair.
How We See Ourselves: It’s the part that builds the story we tell ourselves about who we are shaped by our experiences, beliefs, and the things we care about.
Staying Grounded: When it’s healthy, ego keeps us centred. It helps us handle stress, manage emotions, and stay adaptable when things get tough.
When It Gets in the Way: When it’s out of balance, ego can show up as defensiveness, comparison, or the need to be right and that’s when it starts to get in the way.
In short, ego isn’t something we need to get rid of, it's something we need to understand. When we learn to work with it rather than for it, we lead with both confidence and humility.
The Power of Human Connection
Despite his highly technical background, one of Jamie's favorite parts of work isn't code or architecture, it’s building genuine connections with his colleagues. He put it perfectly:
"We all have complex lives, but building a genuine connection with close colleagues is perhaps my favorite part of work."
In a world obsessed with speed, AI, and automation, that message is more important than ever. Human connection is the quiet infrastructure of sustainable teams. It’s what creates a foundation for honesty, innovation, and psychological safety. Without it, collaboration can quickly turn into mere compliance.
Leading With Clarity and Empathy
When we discussed working with stakeholders and customers, Jamie’s advice was refreshingly direct:
"Clear honesty, backed by data, and a bit of optimism, that’s key."
To this, I would add one more crucial element: empathy. As a leader, it's vital to put yourself in your stakeholder's shoes.
What information do they need?
Why do they need it?
What pressures are they under, and how can you genuinely help?
When you lead with this level of awareness, communication becomes less about proving a point and more about creating real understanding.
So, what is ego really?
In today’s fast-paced environment, most businesses are moving at breakneck speed. Competition comes from every direction, and the pressure to innovate never stops.
It’s easy, in that context, to look around and ask:
“What are people doing all day?” “Why aren’t we using more tech, governance or process to move faster?”
And when leaders can’t see the work when teams are remote, distributed, or async the instinct is to lean in harder. More 1:1s. More check-ins. More status updates. A Slack message here, a “quick call” there.
But as Rosi and I discussed, that’s often when the balance starts to tip.
From the other side of the screen, this kind of pressure lands differently.It feels like a slow squeeze, less ownership, less room to think, less space to breathe.
Eventually, people stop experimenting or offering ideas. They think:
“You don’t trust me anyway, just tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”
That’s when creativity, innovation, and initiative quietly disappear.
Rosi shared that her biggest growth as a leader came when she stopped managing tasks and started trusting the person.
She realised she got the best from people when she:
Gave autonomy, freedom, and responsibility without interference.
Fought the temptation to micro-manage.
Focused on creating the right environment and lifting the obstacles her team couldn’t remove themselves.
It sounds simple. But under real pressure, it’s one of the hardest shifts to make.
So how do we get this right when the stakes are high?
Here are a few reflections from our discussion:
Hire well for your pace and culture. The right fit makes trust easier. If you’ve hired people who can handle the pace and own their space, let them.
Build trust intentionally. Use tools like the “Fears and Hopes” exercise it’s remarkable what surfaces when people can express what drives their behaviour. https://learningloop.io/plays/workshop-exercise/hopes-and-fears
More Unblocking, less oversight. Once trust is there, you can shift roles. Instead of managing people/situations, start managing friction. It can be so empowering for the team if you removing obstacles for them to go faster with autonomy and trust
In times of pressure, it’s tempting to grab the wheel tighter.
But trust and autonomy aren’t luxuries for when things are just calm, I believe they are the foundation of sustainable performance when things are chaotic.
The leaders who get this right don’t slow down.They create conditions where others can move faster with ownership, clarity, belief and most importantly trust. People will go that extra mile when they know you believe in them and trust them.
The Impact on the PersonRosi’s ReflectionFinding the BalanceA Closing Thought
When the pressure to deliver is high, how do we balance trust and control? It came up in my conversation with Rosi, my guest this week on The Sustainable Tech leader podcast.
In today’s fast-paced environment, most businesses are moving at breakneck speed. Competition comes from every direction, and the pressure to innovate never stops.
It’s easy, in that context, to look around and ask:
“What are people doing all day?” “Why aren’t we using more tech, governance or process to move faster?”
And when leaders can’t see the work when teams are remote, distributed, or async the instinct is to lean in harder. More 1:1s. More check-ins. More status updates. A Slack message here, a “quick call” there.
But as Rosi and I discussed, that’s often when the balance starts to tip.
From the other side of the screen, this kind of pressure lands differently.It feels like a slow squeeze, less ownership, less room to think, less space to breathe.
Eventually, people stop experimenting or offering ideas. They think:
“You don’t trust me anyway, just tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”
That’s when creativity, innovation, and initiative quietly disappear.
Rosi shared that her biggest growth as a leader came when she stopped managing tasks and started trusting the person.
She realised she got the best from people when she:
Gave autonomy, freedom, and responsibility without interference.
Fought the temptation to micro-manage.
Focused on creating the right environment and lifting the obstacles her team couldn’t remove themselves.
It sounds simple. But under real pressure, it’s one of the hardest shifts to make.
So how do we get this right when the stakes are high?
Here are a few reflections from our discussion:
Hire well for your pace and culture. The right fit makes trust easier. If you’ve hired people who can handle the pace and own their space, let them.
Build trust intentionally. Use tools like the “Fears and Hopes” exercise it’s remarkable what surfaces when people can express what drives their behaviour. https://learningloop.io/plays/workshop-exercise/hopes-and-fears
More Unblocking, less oversight. Once trust is there, you can shift roles. Instead of managing people/situations, start managing friction. It can be so empowering for the team if you removing obstacles for them to go faster with autonomy and trust
In times of pressure, it’s tempting to grab the wheel tighter.
But trust and autonomy aren’t luxuries for when things are just calm, I believe they are the foundation of sustainable performance when things are chaotic.
The leaders who get this right don’t slow down.They create conditions where others can move faster with ownership, clarity, belief and most importantly trust. People will go that extra mile when they know you believe in them and trust them.
The Impact on the PersonRosi’s ReflectionFinding the BalanceA Closing Thought
When I caught up with John Durrant, we ended up talking about something that doesn’t often come up in leadership conversations — how work actually flows between different roles and departments in tech teams.
Over the years, I’ve seen plenty of frameworks come and go: RAD, Waterfall, Agile, Product-Led, Platform, Stream-Aligned. Each one aims to make teams faster and more collaborative. But what really shapes outcomes isn’t just the framework it’s how people interact, depend on each other, and keep things moving.
When that flow works, the work moves easily. When it doesn’t, the energy fades not because people aren’t trying, but because the system itself isn’t built to support flow.
Maybe sustainable leadership starts with noticing where that flow breaks down, and what gets in the way of people doing great work together.
Two most prominent themes from my conversation with Mitul Sudra on the very first episode of The Sustainable Tech Leader Podcast.
Two topics stood out:
👉 How leaders build alignment when hybrid and remote work have become the norm.
👉 How to stop debates from draining energy and instead move towards clear decisions.