52: How to lead with presence: 5 habits every technology leader needs
Join The CTO Playbook Slack Community to connect with other CTOs!Being busy isn’t your problem—being absent is.In this special episode, Adam dives into the hidden cost of not showing up—at work, at home, and especially as a leader. If you’ve ever coasted through a Zoom call, half-listened to a teammate, or checked your phone while spending time with your kids, this one will hit hard.Adam pulls back the curtain on what it really means to lead with presence—not perfection—and how that simple act can radically transform trust, engagement, and team performance. You’ll hear personal stories, hard-won lessons, and five tactical steps to build a leadership style grounded in consistency and connection. Whether you're burned out or just trying to level up, this episode delivers the wake-up call (and the playbook) you didn’t know you needed.You’ll Learn:How showing up with full presence activates trust, connection, and influenceWhy “being there” isn’t the same as actually being presentWhat distracted leadership signals to your team—and how it erodes performanceHow to create friction against distractions and train consistent focusWhy celebration is a strategic act—not a soft oneHow to structure 1:1s that deepen trust and engagementWhat a simple “thank you” does to long-term team motivationWhy consistency beats charisma in high-stakes leadershipHow to audit your calendar for high-impact presence opportunitiesWhat missed moments teach us about recommitment and integrityTimestamps:[00:00] Introduction[02:20] Why presence matters more than perfection[03:08] The real meaning of “showing up”[03:47] Story: daughter calls out her dad for not watching[04:29] Story: child notices when phone is put away[05:07] Why absence creates disconnection—even in the same room[05:35] What presence looks like in a professional setting[06:10] How presence builds or destroys trust[06:45] Story: transforming a demoralized team through consistency[07:56] The role of showing up in changing team culture[08:25] Why presence includes celebrating wins[08:58] Story: the 15-minute celebration that stuck[09:50] Why being noticed beats being rewarded[10:36] What makes consistency so difficult[11:05] The support systems that enable presence[12:02] Step 1: know where presence matters most[12:22] Step 2: create friction for distraction[12:45] Step 3: celebrate outcomes deliberately[13:04] Step 4: practice active presence in 1:1s[13:30] Step 5: acknowledge your misses and recommitResources Mentioned:The CTO Playbook Platform | WebsiteFind more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube, and check out Adam's CTO coaching company Synova Tech.
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51: Leadership, Change & Stillness: What Tech Leaders Can Learn from Hiking
Join The CTO Playbook Slack Community to connect with other CTOs!You’re leading everyone else—but are you quietly abandoning yourself?This episode features executive coach and former engineer Natalya Tarasova, who brings a rare blend of technical credibility, Eastern philosophy, and mountaineering metaphors to the world of tech leadership. With a background in physics, machine learning, and organizational coaching, Natalya doesn’t just talk about change—she’s lived it through multiple career pivots and international moves. Her perspective is especially powerful for high-performing CTOs who’ve built their careers on delivering results but feel disconnected from their own needs.In this conversation, Adam and Natalya break down why so many senior tech leaders are brilliant at leading others but terrible at leading themselves. You’ll learn how to recognize when you’ve put yourself last for too long, how to approach inner transformation with the same strategy you’d use for scaling a system, and why burnout often hides behind high output. Expect unconventional insights on emotional regulation, breathing as a leadership tool, the myth of waiting until you’re “ready,” and how to rewire your mental architecture for sustainable impact. This episode is a must-listen if you’re ready to stop sprinting and start leading from stillness.You’ll Learn:How high performers unknowingly sabotage themselves by avoiding stillnessWhy “putting yourself first” is essential—not selfish—for sustainable leadershipHow to use mountaineering metaphors to map out complex personal growthWhat breathing techniques reveal about nervous system regulation under stressHow to shift from reactive change to intentional transformationWhy visualizing your “inner mountain” creates clarity in career transitionsHow to identify the emotional weight you're carrying that’s slowing your progressWhat Eastern philosophy teaches about integrating body, mind, and identityHow to coach others more effectively by first learning to coach yourselfWhy most CTOs delay change until they feel “ready”—and why that’s a trapTimestamps:[00:00] Introduction[04:58] What constant career change reveals about personal adaptability[06:36] The hidden cost of being too externally focused[09:08] Are you a victim of change or a driver of it[10:18] How to take control of your state and response[12:30] Why CTOs say they don’t know how to put themselves first[14:56] Using a mountain metaphor to visualize growth[17:05] Why high achievers struggle to slow down[18:16] The role of stillness in understanding motion[20:12] Why breathwork is the fastest reset for high performers[23:12] How to prepare for the next phase of your leadership[25:11] How to know when it’s time to move[27:09] What leaders need to leave behind to grow[28:12] Change is not linear—it’s a spiral[30:01] What most high performers miss when working on themselves[31:07] Why change starts with rewiring your identity[33:00] Giving yourself permission to fail and learn[35:03] Why emotional empathy can’t be intellectualized[37:06] How embodied wisdom changes your leadership presence[39:04] The hidden power of integrating personal and professional growth[41:05] How self-leadership creates ripple effects across teams[42:12] The 4-step change framework for CTOs[44:05] Why timing your next change is a skill, not luckYou can connect with Natalya on LinkedIn and learn more about her company, Tarasova Coaching on its website.Find more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube, and check out Adam's CTO coaching company Synova Tech.
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50: From Chaos to Clarity: Using KPIs to Protect, Persuade, and Prioritize as CTO
Join The CTO Playbook Slack Community to connect with other CTOs!Your KPIs aren’t just underperforming—some of them are actively lying to you.In this episode, Adam sits down with Lior Gerson, co-founder and CEO of Target Board, a company that's redefining how tech leaders track and prove their impact. With two decades of experience leading both e-commerce and SaaS companies, and advising giants like Macy’s and Sephora, Lior brings a brutally honest take on why most CTOs are flying blind when it comes to metrics—and how to fix it.This conversation is a no-BS breakdown of the most overlooked lever in engineering leadership: meaningful, actionable KPIs. You’ll learn how to turn your data into a defensive shield, why most dashboards are vanity theater, and what it actually takes to align your metrics with strategic business outcomes. If you’re a CTO tired of being reactive—or worse, irrelevant—this is your wake-up call. Expect a tactical playbook for building real visibility, accountability, and leverage inside your org.You’ll Learn:How bad KPIs create blind spots—and how to replace them with metrics that drive resultsWhy most dashboards fail to align with business outcomes (and what to do instead)How to use KPIs as a defensive shield to prove your value as a CTOWhat engineering leaders can learn from consumer companies about data disciplineWhy many CTOs unconsciously resist accountability—and how that holds teams backHow to build a metric system that connects engineering output to revenueWhy founder-led companies often ignore metrics—and what fractional CTOs must do differentlyHow to identify whether your team is measuring for impact or just checking boxesWhat makes a KPI actually meaningful (hint: it’s not speed or story points)How to avoid the DORA trap and surface the metrics your exec team actually cares aboutTimestamps:[00:00] Introduction[00:52] Why KPIs are critical infrastructure, not just reports[01:28] Common CTO struggles with metrics and alignment[03:54] The shock of entering a $100M SaaS company with no metrics[05:32] The impact of analytical leadership on performance[06:18] Why understanding other C-level roles gives CTOs an edge[07:12] How fractional CTOs prove impact fast[08:48] Why engineering teams resist accountability and tracking[10:51] How internal pressure forces KPI adoption[11:23] Using metrics as a defensive shield in leadership[12:42] How lazy KPI systems fail ambitious CTOs[14:11] Why every team needs different metrics to improve[15:28] Why most BI teams can’t deliver what CTOs need[16:42] How Target Board replaces data teams in days[17:52] Why DORA metrics don’t move the business needle[19:07] Connecting metrics to revenue and business outcomes[20:26] Why paychecks depend on the metrics people ignore[22:13] What causes misalignment between execs and data[23:31] How OKRs can sabotage team performance[25:01] Why full metric visibility empowers better decisions[27:01] Automating metric modeling across platforms[28:13] The hardest part of using KPIs effectively[29:58] The mindset shift needed to use metrics well[31:09] What data can’t fix when politics blocks accountability[32:28] A step-by-step playbook for KPI-driven executionYou can connect with Lior and his company on Linkedin.Find more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube, and check out Adam's CTO coaching company Synova Tech.
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49: What’s the Point of Your Tech Team? Why Most CEOs are Missing the Signals
Join The CTO Playbook Slack Community to connect with other CTOs!"Compliance doesn’t make you good—so how do you really know if your tech team is any good at all?"In this episode, Adam sits down with Andy Graham, former CTO with 30 years of M&A and enterprise tech leadership, and Dane Eldridge, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Stackup. Together, they’ve built a deceptively simple tool that’s flipping the script on how tech leaders assess their teams—and uncover hidden risks before they explode.You’ll learn why most CTOs are unknowingly flying blind, how to detect the silent killers of innovation (like misaligned architecture or fuzzy definitions of "automation"), and how a single 30-minute assessment can surface the unknown unknowns holding your business back. Whether you're a scaleup CTO, a board member trying to evaluate tech health, or a founder wondering if your dev team is as strong as they say—they break down the real reason so many companies move slow, and how to fix it. You'll walk away with a new lens on language, leadership, and the hidden liabilities inside most tech functions.You’ll Learn:How benchmarking reveals hidden risks and weak spots in your tech functionWhy compliance frameworks can create a false sense of confidenceHow to detect misalignment between your tech strategy and business goalsWhat most CTOs miss about the real cost of technical debt during scale-upWhy “automation” means different things to different teams—and why that’s dangerousHow to use Stackup’s 30-minute assessment to surface unknown unknownsWhat poor communication habits are silently sabotaging CTO credibilityHow to use objective scoring to drive strategic investment and track improvement over timeTimestamps:[00:00] Introduction[04:41] Common pitfalls in developer-turned-CTOs[06:33] Triggers for assessing your tech function[08:00] How Stackup surfaces unknown unknowns[09:23] Real-world horror stories that drive urgency[10:07] Why misaligned language leads to costly misunderstandings[11:56] When tech due diligence reveals million-dollar mistakes[13:35] What technical debt really costs in scaleups[14:20] Why early architecture choices are critical[16:14] Planning upgrades with trigger points[17:45] How Stackup supports smarter, faster decisions[20:39] Why slowness doesn’t show up on the P&L[26:15] Using storytelling to align leadership around tech[28:01] What Stackup assesses in just 30 minutes[29:47] Simple questions that reveal massive security flaws[31:08] Why shiny tools like AI won’t fix misalignment[33:22] How to counter hype with strategy and expectations[35:31] When to use Stackup as a new or evolving CTO[37:59] Proving your tech value with objective results[39:13] Why Stackup delivers reports in video and podcast formats[41:19] Running the assessment quarterly to track growth[43:12] Focusing on just four priorities for maximum ROI[45:10] How the scoring system ensures objectivity[47:31] Why most leaders want to improve—transparently[49:12] Upcoming AI-powered CTO assistant and benchmarking[52:06] Using Stackup data to shape strategy and performanceYou can follow Andy and Dane on LinkedIn and learn more about their work here.Find more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube, and check out Adam's CTO coaching company Synova Tech.
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48: Why CTOs Need to SLOW Down in Order to Speed Up
Join The CTO Playbook Slack Community to connect with other CTOs!"Most CTOs spend all their time chasing rabbits—and miss the real future right in front of them."In this sharp, no-fluff episode, Adam cuts through the chaos CTOs face daily and reveals the underrated superpower every tech leader must develop: strategic foresight. Forget firefighting and sprint planning—this is about learning to think deeply and see the horizon others can’t. Adam shares why boredom (yes, boredom) might be your secret weapon for unlocking creativity and how slowing down can give you the attitude needed to lead confidently instead of just managing crises. You’ll get a clear three-step playbook to zoom out beyond the immediate, create deliberate mental space, and build a network that challenges your perspective. If you’re ready to escape the cycle of reactive firefighting and step into real leadership, this episode will push you to rethink what it means to lead technology—and how to spot the future before it’s obvious to anyone else.You’ll Learn:How strategic foresight shifts CTO leadership from reactive to visionaryWhy boredom can unlock breakthrough creativity and clear thinkingHow to create mental space for insight in a nonstop, distraction-heavy worldWhat the loneliness of leadership really means—and how to handle itHow to spot hidden risks and opportunities before they become urgent problemsWhy zooming out beyond the quarter accelerates better decision-makingHow to build a support network that challenges your perspective and expands your thinkingWhat deliberate stillness in your schedule does for creative problem-solvingHow small early mitigations prepare you for future challenges without wasting resourcesWhy acting with conviction on unseen signals separates leaders from managersTimestamps:[00:00] Introduction[00:20] Why CTOs need to prioritize strategic thinking[01:30] The loneliness of seeing the future before others[03:00] Overview of the CTO playbook coaching programs[04:10] Analogy of terriers chasing rabbits to explain reactive behavior[05:10] Why CTOs get stuck solving immediate problems instead of leading[06:00] The value of seeing what others don’t yet see[07:00] Example of cascading impacts from a tech stack decision[08:00] How thinking several steps ahead expands perspective[09:00] Why being ahead of the curve can feel isolating[10:00] Personal story about early career risks and mitigations[11:00] Importance of finding a thinking partner or mentor[12:00] How natural abstraction helps in leadership altitude[13:00] The power of stillness and boredom for creative insight[14:00] Example of deliberate boredom sparking creativity in kids[15:00] How adults avoid boredom and lose creative moments[16:00] Using walks and notebooks to capture ideas without distractions[17:00] Integrating stillness into calendars as a priorityFind more from Adam on LinkedIn and YouTube, and check out Adam's CTO coaching company Synova Tech.
Join Adam Horner, a CTO with over 30 years in the tech industry, on The CTO Playbook — the podcast dedicated to helping CTOs excel. Perfect for CTOs and tech leaders navigating the complexities of their roles, each episode offers clear insights, innovative strategies, and practical advice from top leaders in tech.
With Adam’s extensive experience mentoring engineers and tech leaders, and over a decade as a CTO, you’ll gain the tools and knowledge to build and refine your own CTO playbook. Whether you're tackling complex projects, fostering innovation, leading teams, or shaping your company's tech strategy, this podcast is your go-to resource.
Adam’s journey from engineer to strategic CTO was challenging. He learned through the school of hard knocks, making avoidable mistakes and facing countless challenges. Often out of his comfort zone and wishing for more guidance, he created this podcast to provide the support and advice he once lacked.
Tune in for engaging interviews, leadership tips, and the latest in technology strategy. Each episode is designed to help you lead with confidence and level up as a CTO.
Listen now to start your journey with The CTO Playbook and build your own playbook to excel in your role.
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