burnout Archives

190: Receive the Best Performance Review of Your Engineering Career with Curtis Mitchell

by Max Ahumada | Oct 14, 2024 | Podcast

In this episode, get the one key that unlocked the best performance review of Curtis Mitchell’s career.

It’s not what you think it is, either.

Curtis Mitchell is a graduate of The Lifestyle Engineering Blueprint™️ coaching program for engineering managers. He has over 15 years of experience in data science and software engineering roles.

He was told his performance was below average, and unacceptable, by his leaders at various Silicon Valley startups.

When he finally landed a role at NASA’s Ames Research Center, a dream job for the 12-year old inside, he knew he had to turn that around.

That’s when he hired a coach, changed his mindset, took new actions… and received the best performance review of his career.

Curtis is currently working on AI and privacy engineering programs with the United States Census Bureau as an emerging technology fellow, and now lives in San Francisco, California.

So press play and let’s chat… it’s time to unlock your future growth with one simple strategy!

184: Give Me 90 Days and I’ll Give You a Career Transformation with Bruno Yoshioka | Principal Manager at Microsoft

by Max Ahumada | Sep 2, 2024 | Podcast

In this episode, you’ll see what career transformation looks like with Bruno Yoshioka, graduate of the Lifestyle Engineering Blueprint, my intensive coaching program for engineering leaders.

Bruno is currently a Principal Software Engineering Manager at Microsoft working on Microsoft Intune, a cloud-based endpoint management solution. He joined Microsoft out of college in 2014 after completing undergraduate degrees in computer science and music performance.

Throughout his 10+ years of working at Microsoft, he has experienced ups and downs from burnout to great success and elation, and found himself at one of those low points in late 2023.

That’s when he silenced the skeptic in his head, and joined a community of like-minded engineering leaders in coaching and training for career growth and lifestyle design.

He’ll share how he changed his mindset from fixed to growth, renewed his energy, created extreme clarity in his purpose and vision, and overall transformed the quality of his work life…

In just ninety days.

So press play and let’s chat… it’s time to get off the bleachers and into the arena of your life!

182: Take a Plunge Over the Growth Edge with Christopher Belcastro | Chief Technology Officer

by Max Ahumada | Aug 19, 2024 | Podcast

In this episode, we talk with Christopher Belcastro, a high performing and focused CTO with global leadership experience managing large, diverse engineering projects & teams.

Christopher is one of us. He has over a dozen years of product development experience in power electronics for mission critical power protection applications.

If you want to be known for your ability to transform organizational performance, driving revenue and operating results for your company, then stick around because that’s what Christopher is known for.

But it didn’t come easy. After being told by HR when he was a new engineering manager that, “people don’t like working for you,” he had to make major adjustments or go down in flames.

Spoiler alert, he’s a successful CTO now, and he shares those lessons learned with you today.

A coach at heart, Christopher loves to give back to the global engineering community.

So press play and let’s chat… it’s time to take the plunge over your growth edge!

179: Beware the Lazy Engineer’s Way to Promotion

by Max Ahumada | Jul 29, 2024 | Podcast

In this episode, I dive into the common trap many engineering managers fall into when they pursue career growth the lazy way: by working harder and longer hours.

We explore Rahul’s journey, a dedicated engineering manager who achieved success through hard work only to find himself overwhelmed and burned out. Through Rahul’s story, I highlight the importance of shifting from an individual contributor mindset to a leadership mindset, focusing on strategic delegation, and prioritizing tasks that matter most.

This episode is all about understanding the pitfalls of the “work harder” mentality and embracing a smarter, more sustainable approach to career advancement.

So press play and let’s chat about how to level up without burning out!

170: Are You Feeling Bored or Burned Out Lately? with Erika Rothenberger

by Max Ahumada | May 31, 2024 | Podcast

In this episode, meet a woman who gave up the idea of being bored and focused on changing into the leader she dreamed of becoming, Erika Rothenberger.

Discover her secret to growth when you feel like you have nothing else to give. As you’ll see, she makes most of us look flat out lazy.

She currently manages a full-time career as Director of Performance Systems for a big national utility
contractor, Henkels & McCoy. She started two female empowerment networking groups in her community, and serves on multiple charity boards.

Erika is a mom, a published author, traveling keynote speaker, wellness entrepreneur, real estate investor, and oh yeah…host of the “Grit, Grace, & Glitz” podcast!

So press play and let’s chat… because you have the resilience inside of you for glitz without burnout!

152: Biggest Lie Blocking Happiness is Everywhere with Eric Nehrlich | Chief of Staff @ Google

by Max Ahumada | Jan 22, 2024 | Podcast

In this episode, you’ll meet Eric Nehrlich. He used to be miserable.

An achiever who always exceeded expectations, he landed a dream job at Google. But a couple years later he was working 8am to midnight every day, including most weekends, drowning in emails and meetings.

Eric felt completely stuck, with no idea how his life was ever going to change.

Today, his work is meaningful and inspiring, and he is happy. Eric spends quality time with his family, while still having time for his own pursuits.

What changed?

He realized he had a choice.

Now an Executive Coach to top technology leaders at companies like X (Twitter), Amazon, and of course Google, Eric authored the book, “You Have a Choice: Beyond Hard Work to Meaningful Impact”, to help you realize the same thing.

So press play and let’s chat… if you want to be happy and successful in your career, the choice is yours.

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