Episode
Building Trust and Psychological Safety in Engineering Teams I Brandon Rockhold
- Published
- Sep 2, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3719
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Summary
In this episode of the 40% Better podcast, Bill Lennan sits down with Brandon Rockhold, VP Engineering at Aquia, to explore the principles of effective leadership, psychological safety, trust, emotional intelligence, and building high-performing technology teams. Brandon shares his journey from software engineering to leadership and explains how he stepped into management to protect and strengthen a team culture he deeply valued. The conversation explores why low ego and high support environments help teams collaborate, learn, and perform at their best. They also discuss how leaders can build trust by leading by example, creating psychological safety, embracing vulnerability, and recognizing their own emotional reactions before responding. Brandon shares practical insights on handling difficult conversations, staying calm under pressure, developing patience, and creating space between stimulus and response. The episode also dives into the idea of unconscious competencies and how leaders can identify the skills people naturally excel at, break those skills down into teachable parts, and help others develop them. Bill and Brandon discuss curiosity, self-awareness, confidence, continuous learning, servant leadership, and how technology leaders can reduce friction so their teams can do their best work. Key topics covered: * Brandon Rockhold's journey from software engineer to VP Engineering * How to build psychological safety within technology teams * Why low ego and high support create high-performing teams * Building trust through consistent leadership and leading by example * The role of vulnerability in effective leadership * Emotional intelligence and managing reactions under pressure * How to handle heated conversations and difficult situations * The importance of pa…