The Herding Squirrels Podcast!

You're standing on uneven ground. Some days feel solid, other days you're balancing on smaller steps, wondering if you're doing the right thing. Your team is burning out. Deadlines are crushing. And somehow, you're supposed to care about people while shipping product. In this episode, Harini Rajagopal uses LEGO bricks to reveal what made her best team experience happen during COVID—when everything was falling apart. She builds the difference between micromanagement and trust, shows why "you don't have to be best every single time," and shares the leadership advice that turns three impossible options into thirty. If you're trying to balance time pressure with team care, wondering how to lead without all the answers, or navigating the constant tension between shipping and supporting, this conversation will give you permission to be human.

You’ve felt it before—that moment when your team just works. Everyone knows what they’re doing, has what they need, and you’re all moving in the same direction. But you’ve also experienced the opposite: the chaos, the misalignment, the daily fight for relevance. In this episode, Adam Tal uses LEGO bricks to build the difference between these two realities. Through hands-on models, Adam reveals what separates teams that thrive from teams that merely survive, why staying at an organization long enough to see the results of your decisions matters more than you think, and what new leaders need to know about supporting rather than directing their teams. If you’re navigating organizational change, leading through uncertainty, or wondering how to create stability in a fast-moving environment, this conversation is for you.

Oliver Gray, Director of Engineering at Trustpilot, shares his journey of transforming underperforming engineering teams into high-performing, self-directed powerhouses. Through hands-on LEGO models, Oliver reveals the power of bottom-up mission development, the pitfalls of fixed-price consulting projects, and why the best thing you can do as a leader is make your team stop needing you. From navigating AI adoption to creating psychological safety in hybrid environments, this conversation offers tactical wisdom for anyone leading technical teams through uncertainty.

In this engaging episode, Louie Celiberti, Managing Director and Head of Software Engineering at Guggenheim Partners, shares his insights on leadership through uncertainty, building cohesive teams, and navigating generational differences in the modern workplace. Through LEGO models, Louie demonstrates powerful concepts around servant leadership, embracing risk, and the cultural shifts happening in technology teams.

Nicole Tibaldi, Engineering Director at The New York Times, joins us to explore what makes teams truly exceptional. You'll discover why the "shortcuts" to psychological safety don't work, how to lead through uncertainty when there's no playbook, and Nicole's surprising take on what went wrong when leadership used project cancellation as a "test." This conversation reveals that the foundation of great teams isn't complex—it's about patience, transparency, and showing up consistently for your people.